Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-04
2001-11-13
Hunter, Daniel (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S422100, C455S428000, C455S445000, C455S466000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06317601
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to arrangements for communicating between switching systems and switching control points, (SCPs).
PROBLEM
The Advanced Intelligent Network, (AIN), is an arrangement of switching systems that communicate via common channel signaling arrangements, and databases known as switching control points, (SCPs), that respond to queries from the switching systems, (switches). For example, in support of local number portability for land based telephones, a query to a SCP can be used to identify the switch to which a line with a particular directory number is connected.
Extensive standards have been established for AIN networks, including standards for code gapping of messages to throttle message traffic when an SCP is overloaded. The code gapping arrangement, which is well known in the prior art, permits a SCP to signal to a switch served by that SCP to throttle its message traffic. The particular throttling signal is a suffix to one of the standard AIN messages, and specifies the type of message to be throttled, the code gapping interval, and the time over which code gapping for this type of message is to be invoked. Code gapping operates by suppressing the transmission of all messages of the particular type for an interval known as the code gapping interval, following the transmission of any such message. Any messages which were to be transmitted during the code gapping interval, are either transmitted to another SCP if that other SCP is capable of answering the particular query of the type of message, or simply abandoned, thereby abandoning the attempt to establish the call. A problem of the prior art is that the scheme for sending code gapping messages in AIN cannot be efficiently used in wireless systems. Solution:
Applicants have studied the AIN arrangement, and have identified a number of disadvantages. Every message is part of a two-way message set. The suffix previously mentioned is part of one of the messages of a two-way message set, but does not require a corresponding suffix in the other direction. However, the requirement for bi-directional call control messages effectively requires that code gapping commands be sent as suffixes of other messages.
The standards for wireless systems do not have a code gapping requirement. Unfortunately, the ANSI 41 standard, which among other things, specifies messages between mobile switching centers, (MSCs), and SCPs, does not support multi-component messages (i.e., messages with suffixes as the term is used above). Further, the AIN arrangement requires that each switch must be notified for each type of call message.
Applicants have solved these problems, and made a contribution over the prior art in accordance with this invention wherein unidirectional messages for code gapping are proposed for the ANSI 41 standard for communicating between mobile switching centers and SCPs. Advantageously, this adds the provision for code gapping, an arrangement which has been found useful in other systems to handle overload message traffic to SCPs.
In Applicants' preferred embodiment, code gapping messages are sent as uni-directional single component messages from an SCP to the MSCs supported by that SCP. Advantageously, such messages can immediately be routed to the processes for controlling code gapping; advantageously, the single component character of the messages is retained, thus simplifying the introduction of software for handling code gapping messages into present systems.
In accordance with Applicants' preferred embodiment, a code gapping message specifies one or more types of messages for which code gapping should be invoked. In one specific case, useful if the SCP is heavily overloaded, code gapping is invoked for all messages. Advantageously, this reduces the number of messages required to invoke code gapping, and reduces the interval before which code gapping is invoked.
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Bellcore Document GR-1298-Core & GR-1299-Core, Sections 14 and 5.3.1, respectively; Issues 3, Revisionl, Nov. 1996.
Agarwal Anjana
Buttitta Anthony
Sudarsan Viraraghavan
Wunsch Janice Marie
Hunter Daniel
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Ulrich Werner
Woldetatios Yemane
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