US6944129B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Message format and flow control for replacement of the packet control driver/packet interface dual port RAM communication
Assignee: Avaya Inc
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Filing: 2000-06-19
•
Granted: 2005-09-13
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Expires: 2020-06-19
Abstract
Abstract The architecture of the present invention provides a new message set and/or flow control mechanism and a networked architecture for managing telecommunication devices such as telephones, fax, voicemail, e-mail, and other communication endpoints. The new message set and flow control mechanism maps to existing (conventional) dual port RAM queues, tables, interrupts, and other memory locations, thus removing hardware dependency on the packet control driver/packet interface communications and allowing control of LAPD links to be remoted.
Inventors
- 👤 Charles R. Duncan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 13:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L47/00; H04L47/10; H04L47/30; H04L47/26; H04L47/41; Y; Y02; Y02D; Y02D30/00; Y02D30/50
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 61
Claim 1
Independent Claim
46 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising: receiving a message from a telecommunication component; determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a grouping of links is sufficient to contain the message; and transmitting the message when the memory capacity is sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
46 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising: receiving a message from a telecommunication component; determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a grouping of links is sufficient to contain the message; and transmitting the message when the memory capacity is sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a link is sufficient to contain a message; transmitting the message when both the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are each sufficient to contain the message; and applying back pressure to the telecommunication component when at least one of the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are insufficient to contain the message.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 2 , further comprising incrementing a link counter related to the link and a group counter related to the grouping of links when both the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are each sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: receiving means for receiving a message from a telecommunication component; determining means for determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a grouping of links is sufficient to contain the message; transmitting means for transmitting the message when the memory capacity is sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: receiving means for receiving a message from a telecommunication component; determining means for determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a grouping of links is sufficient to contain the message; transmitting means for transmitting the message when the memory capacity is sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
97 words
The system of claim 4 , further comprising: determining means for determining whether a memory capacity assigned to a link is sufficient to contain a message; transmitting means for transmitting the message when both the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are each sufficient to contain the message; and applying means for applying back pressure to the telecommunication component when at least one of the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are insufficient to contain the message.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
55 words
The system of claim 4 , further comprising incrementing means for incrementing a link counter related to the link and a group counter related to the grouping of links when both the memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the memory capacity assigned to the link are each sufficient to contain the message.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
82 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising: determining whether a counter is the same as or exceeds a predetermined level, the counter being related to a memory capacity of a computational component; when the counter is the same as or exceeds the predetermined level, transmitting an update message to a second computational component; and when the counter is not the same as or in excess of the predetermined level, delaying the transmission of the update message to the second computational component.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
82 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising: determining whether a counter is the same as or exceeds a predetermined level, the counter being related to a memory capacity of a computational component; when the counter is the same as or exceeds the predetermined level, transmitting an update message to a second computational component; and when the counter is not the same as or in excess of the predetermined level, delaying the transmission of the update message to the second computational component.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 7 , further comprising before the determining step receiving an acknowledge message from a telecommunications device.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link and further comprising incrementing or decrementing the counter to indicate an unused portion of the memory capacity.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
87 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: determining means for determining whether a counter is the same as or exceeds a predetermined level, the counter being related to a memory capacity of a computational component; transmitting means for transmitting an update message to a second computational component, when the counter is the same as or exceeds the predetermined level; and delaying means for delaying the transmission of the update message to the second computational component when the counter is not the same as or in excess of the predetermined level.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
87 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: determining means for determining whether a counter is the same as or exceeds a predetermined level, the counter being related to a memory capacity of a computational component; transmitting means for transmitting an update message to a second computational component, when the counter is the same as or exceeds the predetermined level; and delaying means for delaying the transmission of the update message to the second computational component when the counter is not the same as or in excess of the predetermined level.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 11 , further comprising receiving means for receiving an acknowledge message from a telecommunications device.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
58 words
The system of claim 11 , wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 13 , further comprising means for incrementing or decrementing the counter to indicate an unused portion of the memory capacity.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
93 words
A communications system, comprising: a controller for controlling a plurality of telecommunications subsystems, each telecommunications subsystem including: a plurality of telecommunications devices and one or more communication interfaces for interfacing between the plurality of telecommunication devices and the controller; a communication line connecting the controller with each of the telecommunications subsystems to form a network; a first memory accessible by the controller, the memory including one or more flow control counters; and a second memory accessible by a processor in the communication interface, the second memory including one or more buffer status counters.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
93 words
A communications system, comprising: a controller for controlling a plurality of telecommunications subsystems, each telecommunications subsystem including: a plurality of telecommunications devices and one or more communication interfaces for interfacing between the plurality of telecommunication devices and the controller; a communication line connecting the controller with each of the telecommunications subsystems to form a network; a first memory accessible by the controller, the memory including one or more flow control counters; and a second memory accessible by a processor in the communication interface, the second memory including one or more buffer status counters.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
52 words
The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more flow control counters indicate one of a memory capacity in use and a free memory capacity and the one or more buffer status counters indicate the other of the one of a memory capacity in use and a free memory capacity.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
93 words
A method for managing a telecommunications system, comprising: receiving a message; and at least one of incrementing or decrementing a counter in response to the message, the counter being related to the capacity of a memory accessed by a telecommunications component, wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link, and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
93 words
A method for managing a telecommunications system, comprising: receiving a message; and at least one of incrementing or decrementing a counter in response to the message, the counter being related to the capacity of a memory accessed by a telecommunications component, wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link, and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
14 words
A computer readable medium comprising instructions to perform the steps of claim 17 .
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
95 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: receiving means for receiving a message; and processing means for at least one of incrementing or decrementing a counter in response to the message, the counter being related to the capacity of a memory accessed by a telecommunications component, wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
95 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: receiving means for receiving a message; and processing means for at least one of incrementing or decrementing a counter in response to the message, the counter being related to the capacity of a memory accessed by a telecommunications component, wherein the counter includes at least one of a group counter related to a grouping of links and a link counter related to a specific link and the group counter tracks a memory capacity assigned to the grouping of links and the link counter a memory capacity assigned to the specific link.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
112 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, the system comprising a controller, one or more telecommunication devices, and a communication interface positioned between and in communication with the controller and the one or more telecommunication devices, comprising: (a) the controller determining whether at least one selected buffer maintained by the communication interface has sufficient available capacity to buffer a message; (b) when the at least one selected buffer has sufficient available capacity, performing the substeps of: (B1) the controller transmitting the message to the communication interface; and (c) when the at least one selected buffer does not have sufficient available capacity, the controller not currently transmitting the message to the communication interface.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
112 words
A method for operating a telecommunications system, the system comprising a controller, one or more telecommunication devices, and a communication interface positioned between and in communication with the controller and the one or more telecommunication devices, comprising: (a) the controller determining whether at least one selected buffer maintained by the communication interface has sufficient available capacity to buffer a message; (b) when the at least one selected buffer has sufficient available capacity, performing the substeps of: (B1) the controller transmitting the message to the communication interface; and (c) when the at least one selected buffer does not have sufficient available capacity, the controller not currently transmitting the message to the communication interface.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the message comprises a message identifier identifying the at least one selected buffer in the communication interface, the message identifier identifies at least one of a type and index corresponding to the message, and wherein step (b) comprises the further substep of: (B2) the communication interface writing the message to the at least one selected buffer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 21 , wherein the message identifier identifies one of a flow control message, a fault code message, a counter value message, an initialization message, a link update message, a command message, a response message, and a control message.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method of claim 22 , wherein the message identifier identifies a flow control message and the flow control message comprises a plurality of: a record field set to a number of update records held by the message, a link and/or link grouping identifier identifying a set of links between the one or more telecommunication devices and the interface, and an acknowledge field including a number of packets that have been acknowledged for the link identifier since a last flow control message was transmitted and/or received.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 22 , wherein the message identifier identifies a counter value message requesting a counter value and wherein the counter value is related to at least one of the memory capacity of the communication interface and a set of links between the one or more telecommunication devices and the interface.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the controller is a packet control driver in a telecommunications switch and the communication interface is a packet interface and the determining step comprises: tracking a number of unacknowledged messages transmitted by the controller to the communication interface.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
95 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the one or more telecommunication devices is a plurality of telecommunication devices, a plurality of links of different types connect the telecommunication devices to the communication interface, the links being grouped into a number of link sets, each link set comprising at least one member, space in the buffer is divided among the plurality of link sets, and the determining step comprises the substep of: (A1) examining a flow control counter, each flow control counter corresponding to the portion of buffer space allocated to a corresponding link set.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the flow control counter is related to an unused buffer space portion.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the flow control counter is related to a used buffer space portion.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 27 , wherein the examining step comprises: the controller comparing the memory required for the message with the flow control counter.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein step (b) is performed and comprises the substep of: (B3) the controller one of incrementing and decrementing a flow control counter to reflect the buffer space occupied by the transmitted message.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 30 , wherein step (b) is performed and an acknowledge is received by the controller and further comprising: (d) the controller the other one of incrementing and decrementing a flow control counter to reflect that the buffer space formerly occupied by the message is available.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the flow control counter comprises a link flow control counter corresponding to a first buffer space allocated to a first link set comprising a selected link and a link grouping flow control counter corresponding to a second buffer space allocated to a second link set comprising plurality of links of the same type.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 30 , wherein an amount by which the flow control counter is incremented or decremented is directly related to a buffer memory capacity to be used by the message.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
80 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the controller maintains a first flow control counter set and the interface maintains a second flow control counter set, wherein each of the flow control counters in the first flow control counter set signifies an amount of buffer space in use by a corresponding link set, and wherein each of the flow control counters in the second flow control counter set signifies an amount of buffer space allocated to a corresponding link set.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 34 , wherein each of the flow control counters in the first flow control counter set are related to a number of unacknowledged messages sent to the buffer of the interface and each of the flow control counters in the second flow control counter set are related to a number of acknowledged messages sent to the interface's buffer.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
14 words
A computer readable medium comprising instructions to perform the steps of claim 20 .
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
119 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: a controller for controlling a plurality of telecommunications subsystems, each telecommunications subsystem including: at least one telecommunication device and at least one communication interface for interfacing between the at least one telecommunication device and the controller; and a communication line connecting the controller with each of the telecommunications subsystems to form a network, wherein the controller is operable to perform the following operations: (i) determine whether a memory of the communication interface has sufficient available capacity to store the message; (ii) when the memory has sufficient available capacity, transmit a message to the communication interface; and (iii) when the memory does not have sufficient available capacity, not currently transmit the message to the communication interface.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
119 words
A telecommunications system, comprising: a controller for controlling a plurality of telecommunications subsystems, each telecommunications subsystem including: at least one telecommunication device and at least one communication interface for interfacing between the at least one telecommunication device and the controller; and a communication line connecting the controller with each of the telecommunications subsystems to form a network, wherein the controller is operable to perform the following operations: (i) determine whether a memory of the communication interface has sufficient available capacity to store the message; (ii) when the memory has sufficient available capacity, transmit a message to the communication interface; and (iii) when the memory does not have sufficient available capacity, not currently transmit the message to the communication interface.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system of claim 37 , wherein the memory is at least one selected buffer, the message comprises a message identifier identifying the selected buffer in the communication interface, and the message identifier identifies at least one of a type and index corresponding to the message.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
42 words
The system of claim 38 , wherein the message identifier identifies one of a flow control message, a fault code message, a counter value message, an initialization message, a link update message, a command message, a response message, and a control message.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
86 words
The system of claim 39 , wherein the message identifier identifies a flow control message and the flow control message comprises a plurality of: a record field set to a number of update records held by the message, a link and/or link grouping identifier identifying a set of links between the one or more telecommunication devices and the interface, and an acknowledge field including a number of packets that have been acknowledged for the link identifier since a last flow control message was transmitted and/or received.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system of claim 39 , wherein the message identifier identifies a counter value message requesting a counter value and wherein the counter value is related to at least one of the memory capacity of the communication interface and a set of links between the one or more telecommunication devices and the interface.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system of claim 39 , wherein the controller is a packet control drive in a telecommunications switch and the interface is a packet interface and wherein the determining operation comprises the suboperation of: tracking a number of unacknowledged messages transmitted by the controller to the communication interface.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
94 words
The system of claim 38 , wherein the at least one telecommunication device is a plurality of telecommunication devices, a plurality of links of different types connect the telecommunication devices to the communication interface, the links being grouped into a plurality of link sets, each link set comprising at least one member, space in the buffer is divided among the plurality of link sets and the determining operation comprises the suboperation of: examining a flow control counter, each flow control counter corresponding to the portion of buffer space allocated to a corresponding link set.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 43 , wherein the flow control counter is related to an unused buffer space portion.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 43 , wherein the flow control counter is related to a used buffer space portion.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 44 , wherein the examining operation comprises the suboperation of: comparing the memory required for the message with the control counter.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 46 , wherein operation (ii) is performed and comprises the suboperation of: one of decrementing and incrementing a flow control counter to reflect the buffer space occupied by the transmitted message.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system of claim 47 , wherein an acknowledge is received by the controller and the controller being further operable to the other one of decrement and increment a link flow control counter to reflect that the buffer space formerly occupied by the message is available.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
60 words
The system of claim 43 , wherein the flow control counter comprises a link flow control counter corresponding to a first buffer space allocated to a first link set comprising a selected link and a link grouping flow control counter corresponding to a second buffer space allocated to a second link set comprising plurality of links of the same type.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 47 , wherein an amount by which the flow control counter is incremented or decremented is directly related to a buffer memory capacity to be used by the message.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
80 words
The system of claim 43 , wherein the controller maintains a first flow control counter set and the interface maintains a second flow control counter set, wherein each of the flow control counters in the first flow control counter set signifies an amount of buffer space in use by a corresponding link set, and wherein each of the flow control counters in the second flow control counter set signifies an amount of buffer space allocated to a corresponding link set.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 51 , wherein each of the flow control counters in the first flow control counter set are related to a number of unacknowledged messages sent to the buffer of the interface and each of the flow control counters in the second flow control counter set are related to a number of acknowledged messages sent to the interface's buffer.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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Cited
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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) | 2008-09-12 | 2009-03-14 | 2009-09-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2012-09-12 | 2013-03-14 | 2013-09-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2016-09-12 | 2017-03-14 | 2017-09-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |