EP0863679A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Distributed network control and fabric application interface
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1998-02-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2018-02-19
Abstract
Abstract A distributed communications switching system and its associated telecommunications network infrastructure(10) includes a plurality of interconnected switching systems (12 1 , 12 2 and 12 3 ), some of which may be controlled by another switching system and its associated telecommunications network infrastructure. The switching systems are controlled via at least one switch processing platform (16) that generates generic commands for receipt by the switching systems in response to signaling messages received by the SPP. A fabric application interface (19) couples the switching systems to the switch processing platform for distributing generic commands to and from the appropriate switching system and for translating the generic commands into native commands (or vice versa) for execution by the switching system. The fabric application interface also translates signals received at the switching system into generic commands for receipt by the switch processing platform. The ability of the fabric application interface to distribute generic commands to and from the switching systems and to communicate signals received at the switching systems allows the switch processing platform to exercise call control for each switching system regardless of the nature of the call processed thereby, allowing greater flexibility and cost-effective use of application software (both service control and basic call control), and other associated telecommunications network infrastructure such as service circuit equipment.
Inventors
- 👤 Frank J. Androski
- 👤 Nancy Binowski
- 👤 James Ehlinger
- 👤 Jerry Allen Robinson
- 👤 Daniel Sheinbein
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 10:38
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/0016; H04Q3/0029; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/40; H04L12/407; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/1305; H04Q2213/13107; H04Q2213/13176; H04Q2213/1329; H04Q2213/13345; H04Q2213/13349; H04Q2213/1338; H04Q2213/13396; H04Q2213/13527; H04Q2213/13535; H04Q2213/13546; H04W; H04W4/00; H04W40/00; H04W40/02; H04W76/00; H04W76/10; H04W8/00; H04W8/26
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
117 words
A telecommunication network that includes a plurality of
switching systems, each including a switching fabric for
performing call connection processes and a control mechanism for
the switching fabric, the improvement comprising: at least one switch processing platform coupled to each of
the switching systems for performing at least one of a call
processing, service processing, signal message processing,
address translation and routing functions, and for controlling
call connection processes performed by the switching fabrics by a) receiving a request for call processing, and b) responsive to the call processing request, distributing
at least one command to at least one switching system through
its control mechanism to command said one switching fabric to
perform said call connection process.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
The network of claim 1 where at least some of the
plurality of switching fabrics are different from each other.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
141 words
A telecommunication network comprising: a plurality of switching systems, each including a
switching fabric for performing call connection processes and a
control mechanism for the switching fabric, wherein at least one
of the switching fabrics effects call connections in a different
manner than at least one other switching fabric, at least one switch processing platform coupled to each of
the switching systems for performing at least one of a call
processing, service processing, signal message processing,
address translation and routing functions, and the switch
processing platform controlling call connection processes
performed by the switching fabrics by generating and
distributing commands that are generic to the switching fabrics;
and a command translator for translating generic commands into
native commands different than the generic commands to cause at
least one switching fabric through its associated control
mechanism to perform a call connection operation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
The network of claim 3 further including a resource and
wherein said processor arrangement is responsive to a request
indicating that one switching fabric requires access to said
resource to complete a call processing operation and wherein
said processor assigns said resource to said requesting
switching fabric.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
The network of claim 4 wherein said resource assigned by
said control processor arrangement is a resource that is not
part of said one switching fabric; or wherein said resource assigned by said control processor
arrangement is associated with said one switching fabric; or wherein said resource comprises a service circuit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
48 words
The network of claim 5 further comprising at least one
path between at least two switching fabrics, and wherein switch
processing platform instructs said one switching fabric that
requires access to said resource to supply information across
said path to said one switching fabric associated with said
resource.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
63 words
The network of one or more of claims 3-6 including a
plurality of switch processing platforms each primarily
responsible for a different subset of said plurality of
switching fabrics, such that each subset of the switching
fabrics is assigned at least one resource by its responsible
switch processing platform to assist said subset of switching
fabrics in the performance of call connection operations.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
118 words
The network according to one or more of claims 3-6
wherein: the switching fabrics generate native commands; the switch processing platform is responsive to generic
commands derived from native commands from the switching
fabrics; wherein the switch processing platform has associated
therewith a request manager for producing generic commands
derived from native commands received from said switching
fabrics and for distributing generic commands from the switch
processing platform to the switching fabrics; and wherein the command translator means translates native
commands generated by each switching fabric into generic
commands for receipt by the request manager and for translating
each command from request manager into a native commands for
receipt by the switching fabrics through their associated
control mechanisms.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
43 words
The network according to claims 2 or 3 wherein at least
one switching fabric is a packet switching fabric; or wherein at least one switching fabric is a circuit
switching fabric; or wherein at least one switching fabric comprises a wireless
switching fabric.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
The network according to claim 9 wherein a second
switching fabric is a circuit switching fabric.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
131 words
A method for processing calls in a distributed
communications network comprising the steps of: providing a switch processing platform that performs at
least one of call processing, service processing, signal message
processing, address translation and routing functions, the
switch processor platform coupled to a plurality of switching
systems, each including a switching fabric for performing call
connection processes and a control mechanism for the switching
fabric; receiving at the switch processing platform a request for
call processing and generating at least one command to instruct
at least one switching fabric of at least one switching system
through its control mechanism to perform at least one call
connection process; directing to said one switching system said command; and executing, at said switching system, said command to
perform said one call connection operation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method according to claim 11 further including the
step of producing at one switching fabric request for receipt by
the switch processing platform to invoke a call connection
operation by another switching fabric.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 12 wherein the invoked
call connection operation includes digit collection; or wherein the invoked call connection operation includes
voice recognition; or wherein the invoked call connection operation includes
providing an announcement; or wherein the invoked call connection operation includes
launching a call in another switching fabric.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
153 words
A distributed communications network, comprising: at least a first and second networks, each comprising: a plurality of switching systems, each including a
switching fabric for performing call connection processes
by finding, reserving, and connecting communications
paths and a control mechanism for the switching fabric; at least one switch processing platform for performing at
least one of a call processing, service processing,
signal message processing, address translation
and routing functions and for accepting a request for
call processing, and, in response to said request,
distributing at least one command to at least one
switching system in said one network to command at least
one switching fabric to perform said call connection
process; wherein each switch processing platform in each network is
connected to at least one switching system in another other
network so that each switch processing platform can pass
commands to its own network, as well as to at least one other
network.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
115 words
A distributed communications network, comprising: at least a first and second networks, each comprising: at least one switching system that includes a switching
fabric for performing call connection processes by
finding, reserving, and connecting communications paths,
and a control mechanism for the switching fabric; wherein the improvement comprises: at least one switch processing platform for performing at
least one of a call processing, service processing, signal
message processing, address translation and routing functions
and for accepting a request for call processing, and, in
response to said request, distributing at least one command to
at least one switching system in said one network to command at
least one switching fabric to perform said call connection
process.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
The network according to claim 15 wherein at least one
of said networks comprises a plurality of interconnected
switching systems; or wherein the switch processing platform associated with one
of the networks.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
168 words
A method for processing calls in a distributed
communications network that includes a switch processing
platform that performs at least one of a call processing,
service processing, signal message processing, address
translation and routing functions, the switch processor platform
coupled to a plurality of switching systems, each switching
system including a switching fabric for performing call
connection processes and a control mechanism for the switching
fabric, and an associated telecommunications network
infrastructure separate from the switch processing platform, the
method comprising the steps of: initiating a request within one of the switch processing
platform and the switching systems to obtain information from
the telecommunications network infrastructure associated a
different switching systems than said one switching system; distributing the request from the switch processing system
to said different switching system; obtaining from said telecommunications network infrastructure
through the different switching system the information
sought by the switch processing platform; and communicating from said different switching system to the
switch processing platform the information from said associated
telecommunications network infrastructure.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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