Communication interface system

Details Communication interface system Communication interface system

1999-11-18

2003-09-16

Matar, Ahmad F. (Department: 2642)

Multiplex communications

Pathfinding or routing

Through a circuit switch

C370S410000, C379S230000, C379S229000, C379S207020

Reexamination Certificate

active

06621815

ABSTRACT:

RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication systems, and in particular, to a communication systems that process calls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1-2
illustrate a conventional communication interface system that is known in the prior art.
FIG. 1
depicts call system
100
, communication interface system
111
, packet system
114
, and signaling system
115
. The call system
100
and the signaling system
115
exchange signaling over link
125
. The signaling system
115
and the interface system
111
exchange signaling over link
128
. The call system
100
and the interface system
111
exchange user communications over communication path
120
. The interface system
111
and the packet system
114
exchange the user communications over communication path
132
. In some cases, the call system
100
and the interface system
111
exchange signaling over the communication path
120
. Some examples of signaling are Signaling System #7 (SS
7
) and C
7
. Some examples are of communication paths are Time Division Multiplex (TDM), Internet Protocol (IP), and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Some examples of user communications are voice and data.
The communication interface system
111
comprises originating circuit process
112
, terminating circuit process
113
, call process
114
, and bearer system
115
. The originating circuit process
112
is associated with the communications path
120
. The originating circuit process
112
exchanges signaling with the call system
100
through the signaling system
115
. The originating circuit process
112
handles maintenance signaling and forwards call-related signaling to the call process
114
. The terminating circuit process
113
is associated with the communications path
132
. The terminating circuit process
113
exchanges signaling with the terminating end of the call (not shown) through the signaling system
115
. The terminating circuit process
112
handles maintenance signaling and forwards call-related signaling to the call process
114
. The call process
114
exchanges the call-related signaling with both of the circuit processes
112
-
113
. The call process
114
validates, routes, and bills the call. The call process
114
provides control signals to the bearer system
115
. The bearer system
115
receives and routes the user communications between the call system
100
and the packet system
115
in response to the control signals.
FIG. 2
is a message sequence chart that depicts the operation of the systems
100
,
111
,
114
, and
115
. To set-up a call, the call system
100
transfers an Initial Address Message (IAM) to the signaling system
115
. The signaling system
115
transfers the IAM to the interface system
111
. The interface system
111
processes the IAM to route the call. The interface system
111
transfers an IAM to the signaling system
115
for delivery to systems at the terminating end of the call. The signaling system
115
transfers an Address Complete Message (ACM) to the interface system
111
. The ACM indicates that the called party is being alerted (assuming they are not busy). The interface system
111
processes the ACM and transfers an ACM to the signaling system
115
. The signaling system
115
transfers the ACM to the call system
100
. The signaling system
115
transfers an Answer Message (ANM) to the interface system
111
. The ANM indicates that the called party has answered the call. The interface system
111
processes the ANM and transfers an ANM to the signaling system
115
. The signaling system
115
transfers the ANM to the call system
100
. The call system
100
exchanges the user communications with the interface system
111
. The interface system
111
exchanges the user communications with the packet system
114
for delivery to systems at the terminating end of the call. To end the call, the call system
100
transfers a Release Message (REL) to the signaling system
115
. The signaling system
115
transfers the REL to the interface system
111
, and the interface system
111
transfers a Release Complete Message (RLC) to the signaling system
115
. The signaling system
115
transfers the RLC to the call system
100
. The interface system
111
transfers an REL to the signaling system
115
for delivery to systems at the terminating end of the call. The above-described message processing is well known.
Unfortunately, the call process
114
must handle all of the call-related messaging, including the RLC. Thus, instead of using its capacity for additional calls, the call process
114
uses capacity to wait for the RLC at the end of the call. Techniques and systems are needed to increase processing capacity for additional calls.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention solves the above problems with a communications interface system that moves RLC processing from the call process to the circuit process. Advantageously, race conditions are avoided because the circuit process stamps the messages for a call with a serial number that is checked by the call process.
The communications interface system receives an initial address message for a call into a circuit process and transfers the initial address message to a call process. The call process processes the initial address message to generate and transfer set-up information to a bearer system. The bearer system receives user communications for the call and routes the user communications in response to the set-up information. The circuit process receives a release message for a call and transfers the release message to the call process. The call process processes the release message to generate and transfer tear-down information and a disconnect message. The circuit process generates and transfers a release complete message in response to the disconnect message. The bearer system terminates the routing of the user communications in the in response to the tear-down information.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5825780 (1998-10-01), Christie
patent: 5991301 (1999-11-01), Christie
patent: 6031840 (2000-02-01), Christie
patent: 6181703 (2001-01-01), Christie et al.
patent: 6226289 (2001-05-01), Williams et al.

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