Path hunting in a distributed control switching system

Claim 2

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in a plurality of channels associated with that module and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module transmitting to said second module a message defining available ones of said channels associated with said first module, said second module selecting an available one of said channels associated with said second module that corresponds to one of said channels defined by said message and said inter-module connection means connecting said selected channel associated with said second module and the corresponding channel associated with said first module.

Claim 3

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in a plurality of channels associated with that module and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module transmitting to said second module a first message defining available ones of said channels associated with said first module, said second module selecting a candidate set of available channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said first message, said second module transmitting to said first module a second message defining said candidate set, said first module selecting an available one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said second message and said inter-module connection means connecting said selected one of said channels associated with said first module and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 4

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in a plurality of channels associated with that module and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module transmitting to said second module a first message defining available ones of said channels associated with said first module, said second module selecting a candidate set of available channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said first message, said second module transmitting to said first module a second message defining said candidate set, said first module selecting an available one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said second message and said inter-module connection means connecting said selected one of said channels associated with said first module and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 5

A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein said first message transmitted by said first module defines ones of said channels associated with said first module that are available at a time T1, said candidate set selected by said second module comprises channels associated with said second module that are available at a time T2 subsequent to said time T1 and said selected one of said channels associated with said first module is a channel that is available at a time T3 subsequent to said time T2.

Claim 6

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said switching modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said path hunt request and that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module, said second module transmitting a candidate set message to said first module defining said selected candidate set, said first module, in response to said candidate set message, again accessing its availability data, and selecting one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said candidate set message and that is defined as available by said again accessed availability data of said first module and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said first module, and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 7

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said switching modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said path hunt request and that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module, said second module transmitting a candidate set message to said first module defining said selected candidate set, said first module, in response to said candidate set message, again accessing its availability data, and selecting one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said candidate set message and that is defined as available by said again accessed availability data of said first module and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said first module, and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 8

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said switching modules storing status data defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said each module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its status data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said accessed status data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its status data and selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said accessed status data of said second module, said second module transmitting a candidate set message to said first module defining said candidate set, said first module, in response to said candidate set message, again accessing its status data, and selecting one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said candidate set message and that is defined as idle by said again accessed status data of said first module and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said first module and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 9

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said switching modules storing status data defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said each module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its status data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said accessed status data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its status data and selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said second module that correspond to ones of said channels defined by said path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said accessed status data of said second module, said second module transmitting a candidate set message to said first module defining said candidate set, said first module, in response to said candidate set message, again accessing its status data, and selecting one of said channels associated with said first module that corresponds to one channel of said candidate set defined by said candidate set message and that is defined as idle by said again accessed status data of said first module and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said first module and the corresponding channel associated with said second module.

Claim 10

A method in accordance with claim 5 further comprising said second module, after said selection of said candidate set, updating its status data to define said candidate set of channels as reserved.

Claim 11

A method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising said first module updating its status data in response to said candidate set message to define as reserved the ones of said channels associated with said first module that correspond to said candidate set of channels and said first module updating its status data to define said channel selected by said first module as busy and to define as nonreserved the other channels associated with said first module that correspond to said candidate set.

Claim 12

A method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising said first module transmitting to said second module a completion message defining said channel selected by said first module.

Claim 13

A method in accordance with claim 8 further comprising said second module updating its status data in response to said completion message to define as busy the channel of said candidate set that corresponds to said channel defined by said completion message and to define as nonreserved the other channels of said candidate set.

Claim 14

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting one of said channels associated with said second module that is defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module and that corresponds to one of said channels defined by said path hunt request and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said second module and the corresponding channel associated with said first module.

Claim 15

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting one of said channels associated with said second module that is defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module and that corresponds to one of said channels defined by said path hunt request and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said second module and the corresponding channel associated with said first module.

Claim 16

A method in accordance with claim 10 further comprising said second module updating its availability data to define said channel selected by said second module as unavailable.

Claim 17

A method in accordance with claim 11 further comprising said second module deferring, until said channel is selected in response to said path hunt request, the selection of channels in response to other path hunt requests.

Claim 18

A method in accordance with claim 10 further comprising said second module transmitting a completion message to said first module defining said channel selected by said second module.

Claim 19

A method in accordance with claim 13 further comprising said first module updating its availability data to define as unavailable the channel associated with said first module that corresponds to said channel defined by said completion message.

Claim 20

A method in accordance with claim 13 further comprising said first module deferring, after transmitting said path hunt request, the transmission of other path hunt requests until said completion message is received from said second module.

Claim 21

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels including a plurality of disjoint groups of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module selecting one of its disjoint groups of channels, said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module and that are from said selected group, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting one of said channels associated with said second module that is defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module and that corresponds to one of said channels defined by said path hunt request and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said second module and the corresponding channel associated with said first module.

Claim 22

In a switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels including a plurality of disjoint groups of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, each of said modules storing availability data defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said each module, a method of establishing a communication path between any first one and any second one of said modules comprising said first module selecting one of its disjoint groups of channels, said first module accessing its availability data and transmitting a path hunt request to said second module, said path hunt request defining ones of said channels associated with said first module that are defined as available by said accessed availability data of said first module and that are from said selected group, said second module, in response to said path hunt request, accessing its availability data and selecting one of said channels associated with said second module that is defined as available by said accessed availability data of said second module and that corresponds to one of said channels defined by said path hunt request and said inter-module connection means connecting said channel selected by said second module and the corresponding channel associated with said first module.

Claim 23

A method in accordance with claim 16 further comprising said second module updating its availability data to define said channel selected by said second module as unavailable.

Claim 24

A method in accordance with claim 17 further comprising said second module deferring, until a channel is selected in response to said path hunt request, the selection of channels in response to other path hunt requests, from the one of its disjoint groups of channels that corresponds to said selected disjoint group of said first module.

Claim 25

A method in accordance with claim 16 further comprising said second module transmitting a completion message to said first module defining said channel selected by said second module.

Claim 26

A method in accordance with claim 19 further comprising said first module updating its availability data to define as unavailable the channel associated with said first module that corresponds to said channel defined by said completion message.

Claim 27

A method in accordance with claim 19 further comprising said first module deferring, after transmitting said path hunt request, the transmission of other path hunt requests defining channels from said selected disjoint group, until said completion message is received from said second module.

Claim 28

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as available by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candiadate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to one channel of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said second selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 29

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as available by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candiadate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to one channel of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said second selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 30

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules for communicating in a plurality of time slots, inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that during each of said time slots, any given one of said modules can be connected with any other one of said modules and means for changing connections provided among said modules by said inter-module connection means before each of said time slots, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of said given module to communicate in each of said plurality of time slots, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said time slots in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of times slots from the ones of said time slots defined by said each path hunt request and in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one time slot of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means and means for controlling said changing means to change connections provided among said modules by said inter-module connection means to connect, during the time slot selected by said second selection means, said given module and the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 31

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules for communicating in a plurality of time slots, inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that during each of said time slots, any given one of said modules can be connected with any other one of said modules and means for changing connections provided among said modules by said inter-module connection means before each of said time slots, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of said given module to communicate in each of said plurality of time slots, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said time slots in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of times slots from the ones of said time slots defined by said each path hunt request and in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one time slot of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and in which said given module is defined as available to communicate by said storage means and means for controlling said changing means to change connections provided among said modules by said inter-module connection means to connect, during the time slot selected by said second selection means, said given module and the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 32

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said given module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as idle by said storage means and that corresponds to one channel of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said second selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 33

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said given module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as idle by said storage means and that corresponds to one channel of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said second selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received.

Claim 34

A switching system in accordance with claim 24 wherein said any given module further comprises means for updating said storage means to define as reserved the candidate set of channels selected by said first selection means.

Claim 35

A switching system in accordance with claim 25 wherein said any given module further comprises means for updating said storage means to define the channel selected by said second selection means as busy and to define as nonreserved the other channels associated with said given switching module that correspond to the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message.

Claim 36

A switching system in accordance with claim 24 wherein said any given module further comprises means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received, a completion message defining the channel selected by said second selection means and defining the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message.

Claim 37

A switching system in accordance with claim 27 wherein said any given module further comprises means responsive to each completion message received from the other ones of said modules, for updating said storage means to define as busy the channel associated with said given module that corresponds to said selected channel defined by said each completion message and to define as nonreserved the other channels of the candidate set defined by said each completion message.

Claim 38

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with said any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said given module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, and selecting a first choice channel of that candidate set, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set and the first choice channel selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, when the channel associated with said given module that corresponds to the first choice channel defined by said each candidate set message is defined as busy by said storage means, for selecting a new first choice channel from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined by said storage means as idle and that correspond to channels of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received, a candidate set reduction message defining the new first choice channel selected by said second selection means and defining the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message, third selection means responsive to each candidate set reduction message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as idle by said storage means and that corresponds to the new first choice channel defined by said each candidate set reduction message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said third selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set reduction message was received.

Claim 39

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with said any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the status of each of the plurality of channels associated with said given module as busy or idle and further defining idle channels as reserved or nonreserved, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, first selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting a candidate set of channels from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that correspond to ones of the channels defined by said each path hunt request and that are defined as idle and nonreserved by said storage means, and selecting a first choice channel of that candidate set, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a candidate set message defining the candidate set and the first choice channel selected by said first selection means, second selection means responsive to each candidate set message received from the other ones of said modules, when the channel associated with said given module that corresponds to the first choice channel defined by said each candidate set message is defined as busy by said storage means, for selecting a new first choice channel from the ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined by said storage means as idle and that correspond to channels of the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message, means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each candidate set message was received, a candidate set reduction message defining the new first choice channel selected by said second selection means and defining the candidate set defined by said each candidate set message, third selection means responsive to each candidate set reduction message received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as idle by said storage means and that corresponds to the new first choice channel defined by said each candidate set reduction message and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said third selection means, and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each candidate set reduction message was received.

Claim 40

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means, selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to a channel defined as available by said each path hunt request and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said selection means and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received.

Claim 41

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means, selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to a channel defined as available by said each path hunt request and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said selection means and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received.

Claim 42

A switching system in accordance with claim 30 wherein said any given module further comprises means for updating said storage means to define the channel selected by said selection means as unavailable.

Claim 43

A switching system in accordance with claim 31 wherein said selection means is responsive to a given path hunt request for deferring the selection of channels in response to other path hunt requests until a channel is selected in response to said given path hunt request.

Claim 44

A switching system in accordance with claim 30 wherein said any given module further comprises means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a completion message defining the channel selected by said selection means in response to said each path hunt request.

Claim 45

A switching system in accordance with claim 33 wherein said any given module further comprises means responsive to each completion message received from the other ones of said modules, for updating said storage means to define as unavailable the channel associated with said given module that corresponds to the channel defined by said each completion message.

Claim 46

A switching system in accordance with claim 33 wherein said means for transmitting path hunt requests defers, after transmitting a given path hunt request, the transmission of other path hunt requests until a completion message is received from the one of said modules that said given path hunt request was transmitted to.

Claim 47

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module further comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, group selection means responsive to calls for selecting one of a plurality of disjoint groups of said channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining the group selected by said group selection means and defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means and that are from said group selected by said group selection means, channel selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to a channel defined as available by said each path hunt request and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said selection means and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received.

Claim 48

A switching system comprising a plurality of switching modules each for communicating in an associated plurality of channels and inter-module connection means for providing switched connections among said modules such that each of said channels associated with any given one of said modules can be connected with a corresponding one of said channels associated with any other one of said modules, wherein said any given module further comprises storage means for storing information defining the availability of the plurality of channels associated with said given module, group selection means responsive to calls for selecting one of a plurality of disjoint groups of said channels associated with said given module, means for transmitting path hunt requests to other ones of said modules, said path hunt requests defining the group selected by said group selection means and defining ones of said channels associated with said given module that are defined as available by said storage means and that are from said group selected by said group selection means, channel selection means responsive to each path hunt request received from the other ones of said modules, for selecting one of said channels associated with said given module that is defined as available by said storage means and that corresponds to a channel defined as available by said each path hunt request and means for controlling the connection by said inter-module connection means of the channel selected by said selection means and the corresponding channel associated with the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received.

Claim 49

A switching system in accordance with claim 36 wherein said any given module further comprises means for updating said storage means to define the channel selected by said channel selection means as unavailable.

Claim 50

A switching system in accordance with claim 37 wherein said channel selection means is responsive to a given path hunt request for deferring the selection of channels from a group of channels associated with said given module that correspond to the group of channels defined by said given path hunt request, until a channel is selected in response to said given path hunt request.

Claim 51

A switching system in accordance with claim 36 wherein said any given module further comprises means for transmitting to the one of said modules from which said each path hunt request was received, a completion message defining the channel selected by said channel selection means in response to said each path hunt request.

Claim 52

A switching system in accordance with claim 39 wherein said any given module further comprises means responsive to each completion message received from the other ones of said modules, for updating said storage means to define as unavailable the channel associated with said given module that corresponds to the channel defined by said each completion message.

Claim 53

A switching system in accordance with claim 39 wherein said means for transmitting path hunt requests defers, after transmitting a given path hunt request defining a given one of said groups, the transmission of other path hunt requests defining said given group until a completion message is received from the one of said modules that said given path hunt request was transmitted to.