US5606600A — Generalized statistics engine for telephone netwo…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 348 words

A system for selectively obtaining telephone network call statistics, comprising: service control management means (SCM) for conveying routing information, regarding virtual phone numbers, to a data access point (DAP); a adjunct processor (AP) for storing call records generated by an originating switch; a network information concentrator for creating buffers for call detail records (CDRs) from an originating switch of the telephone network, the network information concentrator further including-- (a) a receiver section for receiving AP call records; (b) a distributor section for identifying the type of record being processed; (c) a match/merge section for merging the call records generated by various network elements handling a particular call, and forwarding the result as a matched record CDR buffer; and (d) a send section to output the CDR buffer downstream of the network information concentrator; a distributed processor serving as a generalized statistics engine and including-- (e) a receive node, receiving CDR buffers, for executing a first process that unbundles individual CDRs from received buffers, and a second process that checks each unbundled CDR against a look up table stored in a database for selecting the calls to be tracked by the system, the second process further obtaining from a database, preselected statistics for which tracked call counts are to be updated; (f) a branch node for receiving decisional rules from the database and determining the existence of preselected statistical network events for each tracked call unbundled CDR, a count for the statistical network event being incremented upon determination of its occurrence; (g) a shipping node for formatting statistical count information into a preselected message format; (h) a corporate node having a first process for signaling the end of a statistic acquisition cycle for the receive node, the SCM further providing predetermined enhanced data, absent from an unbundled CDR, to the corporate node during a second process; means for transferring updated enhanced data to the database from where it is further distributed to the receive node; and server means for receiving the statistical count information in the preselected message format and making the statistical count information available to downstream users.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 348 words

A system for selectively obtaining telephone network call statistics, comprising: service control management means (SCM) for conveying routing information, regarding virtual phone numbers, to a data access point (DAP); a adjunct processor (AP) for storing call records generated by an originating switch; a network information concentrator for creating buffers for call detail records (CDRs) from an originating switch of the telephone network, the network information concentrator further including-- (a) a receiver section for receiving AP call records; (b) a distributor section for identifying the type of record being processed; (c) a match/merge section for merging the call records generated by various network elements handling a particular call, and forwarding the result as a matched record CDR buffer; and (d) a send section to output the CDR buffer downstream of the network information concentrator; a distributed processor serving as a generalized statistics engine and including-- (e) a receive node, receiving CDR buffers, for executing a first process that unbundles individual CDRs from received buffers, and a second process that checks each unbundled CDR against a look up table stored in a database for selecting the calls to be tracked by the system, the second process further obtaining from a database, preselected statistics for which tracked call counts are to be updated; (f) a branch node for receiving decisional rules from the database and determining the existence of preselected statistical network events for each tracked call unbundled CDR, a count for the statistical network event being incremented upon determination of its occurrence; (g) a shipping node for formatting statistical count information into a preselected message format; (h) a corporate node having a first process for signaling the end of a statistic acquisition cycle for the receive node, the SCM further providing predetermined enhanced data, absent from an unbundled CDR, to the corporate node during a second process; means for transferring updated enhanced data to the database from where it is further distributed to the receive node; and server means for receiving the statistical count information in the preselected message format and making the statistical count information available to downstream users.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 39 words

A system for selectively obtaining telephone network call statistics as set forth in claim 1 wherein the adjunct processor is connected between the originating switch and the network information concentrator for storing the CDRs generated by the originating switch.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 305 words

In a distributed processor system, serving as an engine for obtaining statistical counts of telephone network events, from call detail records (CDRs), generated by an originating network element, a method comprising the steps: conveying routing information, regarding virtual phone numbers, through service control management to a data access point (DAP); storing CDRs, generated by originating switches, in corresponding adjunct processors; concentrating CDRs at a single point for creating buffers for CDRs from an originating switch of the telephone network, the concentrating further including-- (a) receiving adjunct processor (AP) call records; (b) identifying the type of record being processed; (c) merging the call records generated by various network elements handling a particular call, and forwarding the result as a matched record CDR buffer; and (d) sending the CDR buffer downstream; establishing a receive node, receiving CDR data generated by an originating network element, for executing a first process that unbundles individual CDRs from received buffers and a second process that checks each unbundled CDR against a look up table stored in a database for selecting the calls to be tracked by the distributed processor system, the second process further obtaining from a database, preselected statistics for which tracked call counts are to be updated; establishing a branch node for receiving decisional rules from the database and applying the rules to the CDRs for determining the existence of preselected statistical network events for each tracked call, a count for the statistical network event being incremented upon determination of its occurrence; establishing a shipping node for formatting statistical count information into a preselected message format; establishing a corporate node for signaling the end of a statistic acquisition cycle for the receive node; and receiving the statistical count information in the preselected message format and making the statistical count information available at a server for distribution to downstream users.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 305 words

In a distributed processor system, serving as an engine for obtaining statistical counts of telephone network events, from call detail records (CDRs), generated by an originating network element, a method comprising the steps: conveying routing information, regarding virtual phone numbers, through service control management to a data access point (DAP); storing CDRs, generated by originating switches, in corresponding adjunct processors; concentrating CDRs at a single point for creating buffers for CDRs from an originating switch of the telephone network, the concentrating further including-- (a) receiving adjunct processor (AP) call records; (b) identifying the type of record being processed; (c) merging the call records generated by various network elements handling a particular call, and forwarding the result as a matched record CDR buffer; and (d) sending the CDR buffer downstream; establishing a receive node, receiving CDR data generated by an originating network element, for executing a first process that unbundles individual CDRs from received buffers and a second process that checks each unbundled CDR against a look up table stored in a database for selecting the calls to be tracked by the distributed processor system, the second process further obtaining from a database, preselected statistics for which tracked call counts are to be updated; establishing a branch node for receiving decisional rules from the database and applying the rules to the CDRs for determining the existence of preselected statistical network events for each tracked call, a count for the statistical network event being incremented upon determination of its occurrence; establishing a shipping node for formatting statistical count information into a preselected message format; establishing a corporate node for signaling the end of a statistic acquisition cycle for the receive node; and receiving the statistical count information in the preselected message format and making the statistical count information available at a server for distribution to downstream users.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method set forth in claim 3 further comprising the step of creating buffers for call detail records (CDRs) from an originating switch of the telephone network.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method set forth in claim 3 further comprising the step of providing a data access point (DAP) to furnish the originating switch with network routing information for each call handled by the telephone network.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 65 words

The method set forth in claim 3 further comprising the step of grouping statistic information as a hierarchy including-- (a) individual network events pertaining to a particular number called; (b) a service including a preselected group of events for the number called; (c) a service vector including a preselected arrangement of services; wherein the decisional rules, applied at the branch node, correspond to respective services.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 40 words

The method set forth in claim 3 further comprising the step of: (a) establishing count groups of individual events and their respective counts, for each service; and (b) storing count groups for a service vector in a corresponding count registry.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2000-02-25	2000-08-26	2001-02-25	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2004-02-25	2004-08-26	2005-02-25	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2008-02-25	2008-08-26	2009-02-25	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Generalized statistics engine for telephone network employing a network information concentrator

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