EP0544637A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Software structure for telecommunication switching systems
Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
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Filing: 1992-11-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-11-19
Abstract
Abstract The disclosed system includes a declarative language construct for use in programming telecommunications switching systems, comprised of certain natural language elements such as subjects, predicates and objects. The disclosed system also includes an efficient method for constructing prototype telecommunications system software that provides the capability to handle the real-time and parallel nature of operations in telecommunications systems (Figs. 1-3). In yet another aspect, the disclosed system provides a layered software architecture (Figs. 8 and 9) for use in connection with telecommunications switching systems that enhances overall system functionality.
Inventors
- 👤 Hakan Larsson
- 👤 Ake Rosberg
- 👤 Marianne Ödling
- 👤 Hakan Karlsson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 12:08
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F8/00; G06F8/30; G06F8/31; G06F8/313; H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/42; H04Q3/54; H04Q3/545; H04Q3/54508; H04Q3/54525; H04Q3/54575; H04Q3/54583; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13057; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944; Y10S707/99945; Y10S707/99951; Y10S707/99952
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
61 words
A declarative programming language construction system for use in generating software systems to operate as part of a process control system, said language construction comprising: a subject represented by a process containing actions; a predicate, represented by predicates of a declarative language defined as discrete program procedures; and an object represented by data and real world entities defined in symbolic form.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
61 words
A declarative programming language construction system for use in generating software systems to operate as part of a process control system, said language construction comprising: a subject represented by a process containing actions; a predicate, represented by predicates of a declarative language defined as discrete program procedures; and an object represented by data and real world entities defined in symbolic form.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
A declarative programming language construction system as set forth in Claim 1 in which: a subject comprises a sequence of predicates and is characterized by the actions it is able to perform.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
A declarative programming language construction system as set forth in claim 1 in which: said predicate is specialized for use in conjunction with only one said subject.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
A declarative programming language construction system as set forth in claim 1 in which: said predicate is common and available for use in conjunction with any active subject.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
A declarative programming language construction system as set forth in claim 1 in which: said object is implemented as an object process containing related actions.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
83 words
A method for constructing a prototype software system for a telecommunications switching system comprising the steps of: defining the overall description of the service aspects of the software system from the user's point of view; identifying the origination and termination of user sequences forming the actual subjects within a user process; identifying the functional entities and information flows within the system; mapping the functional entities and identifications of unique and common predicates; and representing the real world entities as objects within the system.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
83 words
A method for constructing a prototype software system for a telecommunications switching system comprising the steps of: defining the overall description of the service aspects of the software system from the user's point of view; identifying the origination and termination of user sequences forming the actual subjects within a user process; identifying the functional entities and information flows within the system; mapping the functional entities and identifications of unique and common predicates; and representing the real world entities as objects within the system.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
92 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system comprising: an application layer for implementing telecommunications features within said switching system and being constructed with a direct correspondence to the telecommunications application being specified; an application operating system layer for providing support functions to the application layer and hiding and isolating the implementation details of the telecommunications application therefrom; and a basic operating system layer including the primitives and functions needed for implementation of telecommunications functions as well as standard primitives and run-time executives for a time sharing computer system.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
92 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system comprising: an application layer for implementing telecommunications features within said switching system and being constructed with a direct correspondence to the telecommunications application being specified; an application operating system layer for providing support functions to the application layer and hiding and isolating the implementation details of the telecommunications application therefrom; and a basic operating system layer including the primitives and functions needed for implementation of telecommunications functions as well as standard primitives and run-time executives for a time sharing computer system.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
34 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said application layer includes: task modules for defining particular tasks within a telecommunications function being implemented.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
68 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein said task modules include at least one of: a feature module for defining a particular telephony task within a telecommunications function being implemented including the signaling protocols to be employed therein; and a management module for defining a management function associated with the providing of the telecommunications functions being implemented.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
106 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein said task module comprises a feature module which includes: a user module for controlling the setting up and supervision of calls in a line protocol independent manner; an access module for handling the semantic part of each protocol toward each specific type of hardware used in the implementation of said telecommunications functions and for presenting a device independent protocol toward said user module; and a driver module for handling the syntactic part of each protocol by encoding and decoding the signals between the hardware and said access module.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
72 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 10, wherein said user module includes: an initiation part for defining the initial data needed by an associated feature for performing particular telephony tasks; a user procedure part for defining user procedure syntax and meaning and for assigning default values to initially defined data; and a traffic part for defining the operation of the associated feature.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
55 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 10, wherein said access module includes: an initiation part for setting default data for the actual line, activating the hardware and resetting the terminal into an appropriate state; and a traffic part for dispatching and handling of traffic events.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
48 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 11, wherein the traffic part of said user module is divided so that there is one call side for each party to a telecommunications transaction, each having its own set of states.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
65 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 13, wherein said traffic part of said user module also includes: event driven logic comprising event and substate functions which are visible to other user modules in the telecommunications system and interact with said user modules by defining event and substate functions which assume control of said user modules.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
58 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 14, wherein said event driven logic of the traffic part of said user module includes: means for calling the appropriate phase for performing a desired job associated with a particular telecommunications function, returning a result and initiating a next state or substate.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 15, wherein said phase jobs called include analysis of address information, queries to other parties and switch-operations.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
96 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 12, wherein said traffic part of said access module includes: an event handling part including event driven logic comprising event and substate functions which are visible to other access modules in the telecommunications system and interact with said modules by defining event and substate functions which assume control of said modules; and a dispatching part for processing signals coming from the line or the other party, translating said signals into events and feeding said events to said event handling part.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
58 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 17, wherein said event driven logic of the traffic part of said access module includes: means for calling the appropriate phase for performing a desired job associated with a particular telecommunications function, returning a result and initiating a next state or substate.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
42 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 18, wherein said phase jobs called include handling of several call access possibilities, and indication of call progress messages to the user of the telecommunications function.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
66 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 10, which includes one driver module for each type of hardware and for those features which have driver dependent parts and wherein said driver module also includes: means for providing generic driver support functions inherited at startup of the module for event handling in said basic operating system of architecture.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
108 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein said task module comprises a management module which includes: a user module for controlling the setting up and supervision of calls in a line protocol independent manner; an access module for handling the semantic part of each management protocol toward each specific type of hardware used in the implementation of said telecommunications functions and for presenting a device independent protocol toward said user module; and a driver module for handling the syntactic part of each management protocol by encoding and decoding the signals between the hardware and said access module.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
57 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 9, wherein said task module includes at least one feature module and at least one management module and wherein said basic operating system includes a database and said management module interacts with said feature module through said database for configuration commands.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
47 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said application layer includes: an application library containing a plurality of functions which are frequently used in designing features and which are selectable for use in said application layer.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
53 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said application operating system layer includes: a tool kit for providing general purpose functions to said application layer; and means for providing generic support functions for event and substate handling and for entering new states.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
60 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 24, wherein said means for providing generic support functions for event and substate handling within said application operating system layer includes: means for matching the event or substate to either an appropriate user module or an access module in accordance with a feature list.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
45 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said basic operating system layer includes: a data base memory for the storage and retrieval of data associated with telecommunications features to be implemented by said system.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
36 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 26, wherein said data base of said basic operating system layer includes: means for storing extension classes of data; and
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
7 words
means for storing configuration classes of data.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
7 words
means for storing configuration classes of data.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
52 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a telecommunications switching system as set forth in claim 27, wherein means for storing extension classes of data within said data base of said basic operating system layer includes: means for storing class data; means for storing default data; and means for storing independent data.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
162 words
A method for managing data within the architecture of a telecommunications switching system which includes a feature module and a management module within an application layer and a data base within a basic operation system layer, said method comprising: creating feature unique data fields within said data base and assigning formats, limits and default values to said fields by means of an initiation part of said feature module; creating in an initiation part of said management module commands and parameters referring to said data fields within said data base and storing said commands and parameters in said data base; analyzing each command in response to the reception thereof and checking the authority of its use and whether the parameters thereof are within preselected value limits; and accessing the appropriate individual data element by a management feature in response to the acceptance of said command and operating upon the appropriate feature unique data field to modify said field in response to said command.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
162 words
A method for managing data within the architecture of a telecommunications switching system which includes a feature module and a management module within an application layer and a data base within a basic operation system layer, said method comprising: creating feature unique data fields within said data base and assigning formats, limits and default values to said fields by means of an initiation part of said feature module; creating in an initiation part of said management module commands and parameters referring to said data fields within said data base and storing said commands and parameters in said data base; analyzing each command in response to the reception thereof and checking the authority of its use and whether the parameters thereof are within preselected value limits; and accessing the appropriate individual data element by a management feature in response to the acceptance of said command and operating upon the appropriate feature unique data field to modify said field in response to said command.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
67 words
A method for managing data within the architecture of a telecommunications switching system which includes a feature module and a management module within an application layer and a data base within a basic operation system layer as set forth in claim 29, wherein said commands include deciding which data shall be output and evaluating against certain criteria whether or not said received data should be thrown away.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
166 words
A system for managing data within the architecture of a telecommunications switching system which includes a feature module and a management module within an application layer and a data base within a basic operation system layer comprising: means for creating feature unique data fields within said data base and assigning formats, limits and default values to said fields by means of an initiation part of said feature module; means for creating in an initiation part of said management module commands and parameters referring to said data fields within said data base and storing said commands and parameters in said data base; means for analyzing each command in response to the reception thereof and checking the authority of its use and whether the parameters thereof are within preselected value limits; and means for accessing the appropriate individual by a management feature in response to the acceptance of said command and operating upon the appropriate feature unique data field to modify said field in response to said command.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
166 words
A system for managing data within the architecture of a telecommunications switching system which includes a feature module and a management module within an application layer and a data base within a basic operation system layer comprising: means for creating feature unique data fields within said data base and assigning formats, limits and default values to said fields by means of an initiation part of said feature module; means for creating in an initiation part of said management module commands and parameters referring to said data fields within said data base and storing said commands and parameters in said data base; means for analyzing each command in response to the reception thereof and checking the authority of its use and whether the parameters thereof are within preselected value limits; and means for accessing the appropriate individual by a management feature in response to the acceptance of said command and operating upon the appropriate feature unique data field to modify said field in response to said command.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
95 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a process control system comprising: an application layer for implementing process control functions within said system and being constructed with a direct correspondence to the process control application being specified; an application operating system layer for providing support functions to the application layer and hiding and isolating the implementation details of the process control application therefrom; and a basic operating system layer including the primitives and functions needed for implementation of process control functions as well as standard primitives and run-time executives for a time sharing computer system.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
95 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a process control system comprising: an application layer for implementing process control functions within said system and being constructed with a direct correspondence to the process control application being specified; an application operating system layer for providing support functions to the application layer and hiding and isolating the implementation details of the process control application therefrom; and a basic operating system layer including the primitives and functions needed for implementation of process control functions as well as standard primitives and run-time executives for a time sharing computer system.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
35 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a process control system as set forth in claim 32, wherein said application layer includes: task modules for defining particular tasks within a process control function being implemented.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
70 words
A multi-layer software architecture for use within a process control system as set forth in claim 32, wherein said task modules include at least one of: a feature module for defining a particular control task within a process control function being implemented including the signaling protocols to be employed therein; and a management module for defining a management function associated with the providing of the process control functions being implemented.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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