Method and apparatus of detection of inter-carrier looping

An apparatus for detecting inter-carrier looping in a communication network, said apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a call with a network counter value, where said network counter value is representative of a number of networks that said call has traversed, wherein said network counter value is carried within a Hop Counter parameter, wherein said network counter value is carried within a plurality of unused bits of said Hop Counter parameter;
• means for determining whether said network counter value is equal to a threshold value;
• and
• means for terminating said call if said network counter value is equal to said threshold value.

A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps comprising of:

• receiving a call with a network counter value, where said network counter value is representative of a number of networks that said call has traversed, wherein said network counter value is carried within a Hop Counter parameter, wherein said network counter value is carried within a plurality of unused bits of said Hop Counter parameter;
• determining whether said network counter value is equal to a threshold value;
• and
• terminating said call if said network counter value is equal to said threshold value.