Public telephone network, intelligent network, and internet protocol network services interworking

A method for providing signaling interworking between a public telephone network and an internet protocol network, comprising the steps of:

• receiving at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message from the public telephone network in an SS7 protocol format;
• extracting at least one of the ISUP message and the TCAP message from the SS7 protocol format;
• and
• encapsulating at least one of the ISUP message and the TCAP message in an IP protocol format, such that at least one of the ISUP message and the TCAP message can respectively be forwarded to the internet protocol network to permit signaling interworking therethrough.

A method for selectively interworking the public telephone network and the IP network, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a TCAP message from the public telephone network in a first format;
• extracting the TCAP message from the first format;
• and
• encapsulating the TCAP message in a second format, such that the TCAP message can be forwarded to the IP network to permit interworking therethrough.

An apparatus for selectively interworking a public telephone network and an IP network, wherein the public telephone network transmits and receives a TCAP message in a first format and the IP network transmits and receives a second type of message in a second format, wherein the apparatus comprises:

• a first interface for communicating with the public telephone network, said first interface adapted to exchange TCAP messages in the first format with the public telephone network;
• a second interface for communicating with the IP network, said second interface adapted to exchange the second type of messages in the second format with the IP network;
• and
• a processor, operably connected to at least one of said first interface and said second interface, wherein said processor is adapted for translating the TCAP message received in the first format from the public telephone network, encapsulating the TCAP message in the second format, and forwarding the encapsulated TCAP message to the IP network.

A system for selectively interworking a public telephone network and an IP network, comprising:

• a first network node;
• a second network node;
• and
• at least one interworking apparatus, operably connected to at least one of said first network node and said second network node, wherein each interworking apparatus further comprises:
• a first interface for communicating with the public telephone network, said first interface adapted to exchange TCAP messages in a first format with the public telephone network;
• a second interface for communicating with the IP network, said second interface adapted to exchange Internet messages in a second format with the IP network;
• and
• a processor, operably connected to said first interface and said second interface, wherein said processor is adapted for extracting a TCAP message received in the first format from the public telephone network and forwarding an encapsulated TCAP message in the second format to the IP network, and wherein said processor is adapted for translating an encapsulated TCAP message received in the second format from the IP network and forwarding a TCAP message in the first format to the public telephone network.

An apparatus for selectively interworking the public telephone network and the IP network, comprising:

• means for communicating with the public telephone network, wherein said means for communicating with the public telephone network is adapted to exchange TCAP messages over the SS7 protocol format with the public telephone network;
• means for communicating with the IP network, wherein said means for communicating with the IP network is adapted to exchange TCAP messages over the IP protocol format with the IP network;
• and
• means for translating a TCAP message received in the SS7 protocol format from the public telephone network and forwarding an encapsulated TCAP message in the IP protocol format to the IP network.

A system for selectively interworking the public telephone network and the IP network, comprising:

• a first network node;
• a second network node;
• and
• at least one interworking apparatus, operably connected to at least one of said first network node and said second network node, wherein each interworking apparatus further comprises:
• means for communicating with the public telephone network adapted to exchange TCAP messages over the SS7 protocol format with the public telephone network;
• means for communicating with the IP network adapted to exchange TCAP messages over the IP protocol format with the IP network;
• and
• means for translating, operably connected to at least one of said means for communicating with the public telephone network and said means for communicating with the IP network, wherein said means for translating is adapted to translate a TCAP message received in the SS7 protocol format from the public telephone network and forward an encapsulated TCAP message in the IP protocol format to the IP network, and wherein said means for translating is adapted to translate an encapsulated TCAP message received in the IP protocol format from the IP network and forward a TCAP message in the SS7 protocol format to the public telephone network.

An apparatus for exchanging signaling messages with an internet protocol network, wherein the internet protocol network is adapted to transmit and receive messages in a second format of a second type, and wherein the apparatus comprises:

• a first interface for communicating with the internet protocol network, said first interface adapted to exchange messages in the second format of the second type with the internet protocol network;
• a processor operably connected to said first interface, wherein said processor is adapted for processing a message of the second type encapsulated in the second format received from the internet protocol network through said first interface, and wherein said processor is further adapted to forward a message of the second type in the second format to the internet protocol network, such that signaling and service interworking can thereby be provided by exchanging encapsulated messages with the internet protocol network;
• and
• wherein said processor and said first interface are adapted to operate as one or more pseudo SS7 signaling link selected from the group consisting of an A link and an E link, so as to emulate the respective SS7 signaling link for interfacing with the internet protocol network.

A system for providing signaling and service interworking between a public telephone network and an internet protocol network, comprising:

• a first network node, operably connected to the public telephone network;
• a second network node, operably connected to the internet protocol network;
• and
• at least one interworking apparatus, operably connected to at least one of said first network node and said second network node, wherein each interworking apparatus further comprises:
• a first interface for communicating with the public telephone network, said first interface adapted to exchange ISUP messages and TCAP messages in a first format with the public telephone networks;
• a second interface for communicating with the internet protocol network, said second interface adapted to exchange ISUP messages and TCAP messages in a second format with the internet protocol network;
• and
• a processor, operably connected to said first interface and said second interface, wherein said processor is adapted for extracting at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message received in the first format from the public telephone network and forwarding an encapsulated message containing at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message in the second format to the internet protocol network, and wherein said processor is adapted for translating an encapsulated message containing at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message in the second format received from the internet protocol network and forwarding at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message in the first format to the public telephone network.

An apparatus for providing signaling and service interworking between a public telephone network and all internet protocol network, comprising:

• means for communicating with the public telephone network, wherein said means for communicating with the public telephone network is adapted to exchange at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message over the SS7 protocol format with the public telephone network;
• means for communicating with the internet protocol network, wherein said means for communicating with the internet protocol network is adapted to exchange at least one of an encapsulated ISUP message and an encapsulated TCAP message over the IP protocol format with the internet protocol network;
• and
• means for translating at least one of the ISUP message and the TCAP message in the SS7 protocol format received from the public telephone network and respectively forwarding at least one of the encapsulated ISUP message and the encapsulated TCAP message in the IP protocol format to the internet protocol network.

A system for providing signaling and service interworking between a public telephone network and an internet protocol network, comprising:

• a first network node, operably connected to the public telephone network;
• a second network node, operably connected to the internet protocol network;
• and
• at least one interworking apparatus, operably connected to at least one of the said first network node and said second network node, wherein each interworking apparatus further comprises:
• means for communicating with the public telephone network adapted to exchange ISUP messages and TCAP messages over the SS7 protocol format with the public telephone network;
• means for communicating with the internet protocol network adapted to exchange encapsulated ISUP messages and encapsulated TCAP messages over the IP protocol format with the internet protocol network;
• and
• means for translating, operably connected to at least one of said means for communicating with the public telephone network and said means for communicating with the internet protocol network wherein said means for translating is adapted to translate at least one of an ISUP message and a TCAP message received in the SS7 protocol format from the public telephone network, and adapted to respectively forward at least one of an encapsulated ISUP message and an encapsulated TCAP message in the IP protocol format to the internet protocol network.