Multiplex communications – Communication techniques for information carried in plural... – Combining or distributing information via time channels
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-29
2001-11-20
Chin, Wellington (Department: 2664)
Multiplex communications
Communication techniques for information carried in plural...
Combining or distributing information via time channels
C370S412000, C709S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06320882
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a technique for managing Signaling Transfer Points (STPs) in a Common Channel Signaling (CCS) network, and specifically to a method and system of handling processing events with real-time service requirements in such a system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Common Channel Signaling (CCS) provides a dedicated supervisory network for segregating voice information, data information, and signaling information (i.e., information used to control the network) in a telecommunications network. CCS was developed to meet the increased demands placed on the public telecommunications network by the growing market for voice, data, and information services.
FIG. 1
illustrates a typical CCS network configuration with three key signaling points: Service Switching Points (SSPs)
12
; Service Control Points (SCPs)
14
; and Signaling Transfer Points (STPs)
16
. SSPs
12
are located at a central office to provide CCS trunk signaling and the capability to query a database to determine call routing. SCPs
14
house databases with call routing information that SSPs
12
and other network elements use to provide advanced services in the telecommunications network. STPs
16
route CCS messages between the signaling points and control access to the CCS network.
Unlike other nodes in a CCS network
10
, STPs
16
do not generally act as a source or ultimate destination of CCS application messages. Instead they function as both a static and dynamic routing database that control access to, and direct call signaling between, a variety of CCS nodes and networks.
The routing function of the STPs
16
, under certain circumstances, requires processing of many real-time events that must be acted upon within, or at the expiration of, a set time period. For example, typical events received by STP
16
must be acted about
30
seconds after they have been received by the STP. To handle these real-time events, conventional STPs
16
implement, in software, an array of counters each having an initial value corresponding to the time period of its real-time event. The counters are periodically decremented based on a real-time clock signal until they expire, which indicates to the STP that the event requires service.
This method of handling real time events, however, requires every active counter to be decremented and checked each clock period. An STP handling a large number of such counters may spend a significant amount of its processing resources checking the counters, thus reducing the message handling capacity of the STP and leading to an overall degradation in the operation of the CCS network.
There is, therefore, a need to improve the ability of an STP to process a large number of real-time events.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The methods and apparatus consistent with the present invention efficiently handle a large number of processing events requiring real-time service by a computer system. For example, a queue is created for all real-time events that have identical timing periods. The queues are filled with integer-valued elements equal to the value of a global counter plus the period of the corresponding event. The queues are inherently sorted in ascending order, and a processor can quickly determine whether any of the real-time events have expired simply by periodically comparing the first element in every queue with the value of the global counter.
A method consistent with this invention of managing a plurality of real-time events, each event requiring action to be taken after a predetermined time period, includes the steps of: generating values corresponding to each said event from a value of a global counter and the predetermined time period of the corresponding event; (2) placing the generated values in corresponding fields; (3) storing the fields in a queue at a position in the queue in ascending order according to their values; and (4) sequentially comparing the fields in the queue to the global counter starting at a first field in the queue and ending when the value of the global counter is below the value of the most recently compared field; whereby each field for which the global counter is greater than or equal to the value corresponds to an expired event.
An alternate aspect consistent with the present invention is a computer readable medium containing instructions for executing the above described method.
A computer system and a telecommunications network consistent with the present invention comprise a memory including a global counter and at least one queue; means for generating values corresponding to real-time events received by the computer system from a value of the global counter and a predetermined time period associated with the corresponding event; means for placing the generated values in corresponding fields; means for storing the fields in a queue at a position such that the fields are stored farther back in the queue relative to fields stored previously in the queue; and means for sequentially comparing the fields in the queue to the global counter starting at the beginning field in the queue and ending when the value of the global counter is below the value of the most recently compared field. A processor is configured to execute programs in the memory.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and do not restrict the invention, as claimed.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5703940 (1997-12-01), Sattar
patent: 5712908 (1998-01-01), Brinkman
patent: 5717745 (1998-02-01), Vijay
patent: 5771374 (1998-06-01), Burshtein
patent: 5781769 (1998-07-01), Weber
Schildt, Turbo C++, McGraw-Hill, p. 151-152, 1990.
Buckler Craig L.
Longfield Michael T.
Patterson Judson J.
Chin Wellington
Nguyen Steven
Nortel Networks Limited
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