Telephonic communications – Plural exchange network or interconnection
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-09
2001-05-08
Matar, Ahmad (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Plural exchange network or interconnection
C379S035000, C379S207030, C379S221050
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229887
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and system for providing lawfully authorized electronic surveillance service in a Public Switched Telephone System (PSTN) and more particularly to configuring existing telephone networks using various types of switches to effectively and economically provide such service.
ACRONYMS
The written description uses a large number of acronyms to refer to various services, messages and system components. Although generally known, use of several of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of this discussion, acronyms therefore will be defined as follows:
Address Complete Message (ACM)
Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Answer Message (ANM)
Automated Message Accounting (AMA)
Automatic Number Identification (ANI)
Call Processing Record (CPR)
Central Office (CO)
Common Channel Signaling (CCS)
Communications for Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA)
Custom Local Area Signaling Services (CLASS)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Generic Address Parameter (GAP)
Generic Data Interface (GDI)
Initial Address Message (IAM)
Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP)
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
ISDN User Part (ISUP)
Intelligent Peripheral (IP)
Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)
Local Number Portability (LNP)
Location Routing Number (LRN)
Multi-Services Application Platform (MSAP)
Numbering Plan Area (NPA)
Office Equipment (OE)
Origination Point Code (OPC)
Personal Communications Service (PCS)
Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
Point in Call (PIC)
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Primary Rate Interface (PRI)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Records Accounting Office (RAO)
Record Change Memory Administration Center (RCMAC)
Remote Memory Administration System (RMAS)
Service Control Point (SCP)
Service Creation Environment (SCE)
Service Management System (SMS)
Service Switching Point (SSP)
Signaling System
7
(SS7)
Signaling Point (SP)
Signaling Transfer Point (STP)
Simplified Message Desk Interface (SMDI)
Speaker Identification/Verification (SIV)
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
Terminating Attempt Trigger (TAT)
Time Slot Interchange (TSI)
Traffic Service Position System (TSPS)
Transaction Capabilities Applications Part (TCAP)
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
BACKGROUND
Historically in the United States authorities such as city, state, or federal police authorities, may engage in electronic surveillance (frequently referred to in the vernacular as wire-tapping), when duly authorized to perform such an activity by a cognizant judicial authority. In earlier times, when public telephone service was virtually all analog the procedure was relatively simple. Assuming surveillance of a residence connected to the telephone network by a local loop consisting of a pair of copper wires, the usual practice was to locate a convenient cross connect and bridge on to the two wire analog circuit. The entity conducting the surveillance then engaged the serving telephone network operator or company to provide a circuit from that location to the law enforcement location. The law enforcement organization could then monitor the conversations, generally referred to as content, as well as the call set up and related signaling. Statistically approximately 90 percent of the authorized surveillance in the United States does not cover content but signaling data. Such events are referred to as Pen register taps.
With the widespread use of digital communication and control signaling, the simplicity and ease of the prior surveillance procedures has largely disappeared. As a result, law enforcement agencies, and cooperating Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs), are forced to cope with a considerably more complex and costly substitute set of procedures. Partially in response to this situation Congress passed Public Law 103-414, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), was selected by the telecommunications industry to promulgate the industry's CALEA standard. TIA promptly initiated a standards program. Initial disagreements within industry were resolved, and TR45 Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance SP-3580, Baseline Revision 10 was produced. These have become known as the “safe harbor” standards pending resolution of still outstanding differences with respect to certain preferences of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The CALEA specifications include the requisite that the target for surveillance continue to be provided with all subscribed enhanced, CLASS, and other services, and that the surveillance be completely transparent. The central office switches currently in use in the public switched telephone networks were not designed with CALEA functionalities in mind. As a result it is not surprising that not all types of existing switches are readily adapted to operate in a network that meets major CALEA requirements.
The basic surveillance problem has undergone continued evolution as telecommunications technology has advanced and provided the public with an ever-increasing variety of services. Illustrative of such services, which create added complexity for effective telephone surveillance, is call forwarding and particularly remotely activated call forwarding. Another example is central office based speed dialing.
Since the proposed CALEA requirements are worded in terms of service, i.e., monitoring the telephone service (signaling and speech) of the subject, and anything that can be accomplished with the service, significant problems are presented. This becomes particularly acute when coupled with a desire that the surveillance preferably be near universally applicable to all telephone central offices, including end offices that rely on legacy switches. One example of a specific problem is encountered with end offices using Lucent (formerly AT&T) 1AESS switches. These switches are among the earlier variety of stored program controlled switches and are rapidly being retired. As a consequence, it would not be wise to expend large sums to develop CALEA feature software for these switches. On the other hand the later Lucent 5ESS switches will be in service for many years to come and it may make sense to develop the requested surveillance capabilities in a number of network configurations. Cost considerations weigh heavily in selecting and providing an acceptable solution.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a relatively straightforward and cost effective solution to the foregoing problem.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
For some years, the telephone industry has been developing an enhanced telephone network, sometimes referred to as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN), for providing a wide array of new voice grade telephone service features. In an AIN type system, local and/or toll offices of the public telephone network detect one of a number of call processing events identified as AIN “triggers”. An office which detects a trigger will suspend call processing, compile a call data message and forward that message via a common channel signaling (CCS) link to a database system, such as an Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) which includes a Multi-Services Application Platform (MSAP) database. If needed, the ISCP can instruct the central office to obtain and forward additional information. Once sufficient information about the call has reached the ISCP, the ISCP accesses its stored data tables in the MSAP database to translate the received message data into a call control message and returns the call control message to the office of the network via CCS link. The network offices then use the call control message to complete the particular call. An AIN type network for providing an Area Wide Centrex service, for example, was disclosed and described in detail in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,571 to Kay et al., the disclosure of which is en
Albers Raymond F.
Eppert, III Charles H.
Farris Robert D.
Huff Christine W.
Michaelis Daniel C.
Bell Atlantic Network Services Inc.
Matar Ahmad
McDermott & Will & Emery
Tieu Benny Q.
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