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US6091734A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Telecommunication network based on distributed control

Assignee: NTT Inc
•
Filing: 1997-09-19
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Granted: 2000-07-18
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Expires: 2017-09-19
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Abstract

Abstract A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through the subscriber lines and the trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for controlling the switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with the switch nodes; a control network for performing mutual message communications between the switch nodes and the control nodes; and an user information network for transferring the user information; wherein the control network connects the switch nodes and the control nodes by connection-type or connectionless communications, the control nodes and the switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through the control network, and each of the control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes based on the control network routing messages to specified destination nodes in accordance with routing information in the messages.

Inventors

  • 👤 Shigehiko Suzuki
  • 👤 Shigeki Yamada
  • 👤 Minoru Kubota

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 22:59
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L49/00; H04L49/25; H04L49/253; H04L49/255; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0478; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/0016; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L2012/5619; H04L2012/5629; H04L2012/563; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/1302; H04Q2213/1304; H04Q2213/13103; H04Q2213/13107; H04Q2213/13141; H04Q2213/13178; H04Q2213/13216; H04Q2213/1329; H04Q2213/1334; H04Q2213/1338; H04Q2213/13389; H04Q2213/13396

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim 179 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; and wherein said control network and said user information network are integrated into a single network.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 179 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; and wherein said control network and said user information network are integrated into a single network.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 91 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with either of claim 1, wherein reserve control nodes are provided to substitute for all or a part of the functions of said control nodes; wherein each of said control nodes controls one or a plurality of switch nodes in a normal state; and when said control nodes are disabled, connections are established between said reserve control nodes and said switch nodes through said control network so as to enable said reserve control nodes to control said switch nodes as a substitute.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 62 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with claim 2, wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; and said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 99 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with claim 2, wherein said control nodes and said reserve control nodes each have a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; the distributed shared memories of said control nodes and the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes share the same memory space; and information is handed over from said control nodes to said reserve control nodes by copying messages written in the distributed shared memories of said control nodes into the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes by said copying means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 62 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with claim 1, wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; and said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 264 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein software for controlling said switch nodes by said control nodes is object-oriented and composed of a plurality of objects, and is executed by sending and receiving messages between said objects; and wherein each of said control nodes and said switch nodes is provided with means for transferring messages in the uniform way between objects through said control network to the destination node if said destination mode is different from the message-sender node or directory to its own node if said destination node matches the message sender-node through said control network to destination nodes, based on identifiers contained in said messages.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 264 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein software for controlling said switch nodes by said control nodes is object-oriented and composed of a plurality of objects, and is executed by sending and receiving messages between said objects; and wherein each of said control nodes and said switch nodes is provided with means for transferring messages in the uniform way between objects through said control network to the destination node if said destination mode is different from the message-sender node or directory to its own node if said destination node matches the message sender-node through said control network to destination nodes, based on identifiers contained in said messages.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 53 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with claim 6, wherein said control nodes have a service switching function of controlling connections in real-time; a service control function of cooperating with said service switching function to achieve intelligent network service; and an operation system function of managing the network in non-real-time.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 277 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein each of said control nodes and said switch nodes has a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; wherein the distributed shared memories located in said control nodes and the distributed shared memories located in said switch nodes share the same memory space; wherein messages are exchanged between said control nodes and said switch nodes by copying a message written in a distributed shared memory of a control node or a distributed shared memory of a switch node into another distributed shared memory through said control network by said means for copying; and wherein reading said message from the distributed shared memory of a destination node of said message.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 277 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein each of said control nodes and said switch nodes has a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; wherein the distributed shared memories located in said control nodes and the distributed shared memories located in said switch nodes share the same memory space; wherein messages are exchanged between said control nodes and said switch nodes by copying a message written in a distributed shared memory of a control node or a distributed shared memory of a switch node into another distributed shared memory through said control network by said means for copying; and wherein reading said message from the distributed shared memory of a destination node of said message.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 214 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communication between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; and wherein said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 214 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communication between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routing information in said messages; wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; and wherein said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 95 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control in accordance with claim 9, wherein said reserve switch nodes each have a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; the distributed shared memories of said control nodes and the distributed shared memories of said reserve switch nodes share the same memory space; and information is handed over from said control nodes to said reserve switch nodes by copying messages written in the distributed shared memories of said control nodes into the distributed shared memories of said reserve switch nodes by said copying means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 397 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routine information in said messages; wherein reserve control nodes are provided to substitute for all or a part of the functions of said control nodes; wherein each of said control nodes controls one or a plurality of switch nodes in a normal state; when said control nodes are disabled, connections are established between said reserve control nodes and said switch nodes through said control network so as to enable said reserve control nodes to control said switch nodes as a substitute; wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; wherein said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes; wherein said control nodes, said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes each have a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; wherein the distributed shared memories of said control nodes and the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes share the same memory space; and wherein information is handed over from said control nodes to said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes by copying messages written in the distributed shared memories of said control nodes into the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes by said copying means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 397 words
A telecommunication network based on distributed control, comprising: a plurality of switch nodes having switch fabric devices containing connection-oriented switches for exchanging user information between subscriber lines and trunk lines by connection control operations, and signal devices for sending and receiving control signals through said subscriber lines and said trunk lines; a plurality of control nodes for executing connection control operations for said switch nodes by sending and receiving control messages with said switch nodes; a control network for performing message communications between said switch nodes and said control nodes; and a user information network for transferring said user information; wherein said control network connects said switch nodes and said control nodes by connection-oriented or connectionless communications, said control nodes and said switch nodes send and receive messages for communicating with other nodes through said control network, and each of said control nodes controls a plurality of switch nodes by delivering messages to the destination nodes, specified by routine information in said messages; wherein reserve control nodes are provided to substitute for all or a part of the functions of said control nodes; wherein each of said control nodes controls one or a plurality of switch nodes in a normal state; when said control nodes are disabled, connections are established between said reserve control nodes and said switch nodes through said control network so as to enable said reserve control nodes to control said switch nodes as a substitute; wherein reserve switch nodes having the functions of switch nodes and having functions for substituting for all or a part of the functions of the control nodes are provided; wherein said reserve switch nodes are capable of substituting for all or a part of the functions of disabled control nodes; wherein said control nodes, said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes each have a distributed shared memory and means for copying between distributed shared memories; wherein the distributed shared memories of said control nodes and the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes share the same memory space; and wherein information is handed over from said control nodes to said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes by copying messages written in the distributed shared memories of said control nodes into the distributed shared memories of said reserve control nodes and said reserve switch nodes by said copying means.

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-07-18 2004-01-17 2004-07-18 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-07-18 2008-01-17 2008-07-18 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-07-18 2012-01-17 2012-07-18 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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