Telephonic communications – Centralized switching system
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-22
2003-04-01
Smith, Creighton (Department: 2742)
Telephonic communications
Centralized switching system
C379S229000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06542600
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to a method for processing telephone calls by a telecommunication application platform having multiple processing nodes and more particularly, to improving platform resource utilization and platform call completion rates.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many telecommunication application platforms employ a modular architecture having multiple processing nodes to support capacity scalability and high service availability. This permits the application platforms to expand and have the capacity to support additional communication traffic. An example of such a platform is an Enhanced Service Provider's platform with multiple PC-based telephony servers. The telephony servers generally interface with a public telecommunication network via a network-platform interface such as, for example, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Primary Rate Interface (PRI). An example of such a prior art telecommunication application platform in connection with a public telecommunication network can be seen in FIG.
5
. Telecommunication as used herein and in the claims means communication by transmission, emission, or reception of signals by, for example, electrical, radio and/or optical means.
FIG. 5
illustrates a plurality of call processing nodes
510
connected to a telecommunication network
502
via a plurality of PRIs 506-1, 506-2 to 506-N (ISDN equivalent of a T-1 line). A single T-1 line is a high capacity communication channel supporting data rates of up to 1.544 megabits per second (Mbps). A PRI actually consists of 24 individual channels, each of which supports data rates of 64 kilobits per second (Kbps). Each 64 Kbps channel can carry voice or data traffic. ISDN PRI may be configured to provide communication channels (i.e., ISDN PRI B-channels or bearer channels) and signaling channels (i.e., ISDN PRI D-channels) to support communications between a telecommunication application platform
501
and telecommunication network
502
. The D-channel provides signaling and control in support of the communications channels.
The plurality of ISDN PRIs 506-1, 506-2 to 506-N may be configured with Non-Facility Associated Signaling (NFAS) capabilities. Thus, the plurality of PRIs, for example, PRIs 506-1, 506-2 to 506-N may be included in the ISDN PRI NFAS group
506
. While only three PRIs are illustrated, it is to be understood that the NFAS group
506
may include additional PRIs connecting the telecommunication network
502
with application platform
501
. Normally, the PRI D-channel, for example,
506
-
1
a
can carry signaling information related to the B-channels in the corresponding PRI
506
-
1
. Using NFAS standards, a plurality of PRIs may be supported with a single D-channel. As a result, D-channel
506
-
1
a,
for example, can support the signaling for the entire NFAS group
506
.
The telecommunication application platform
501
may include the plurality of call processing nodes, for example, 510-1, 510-2 to 510-N. These nodes may be PC based telephony servers connected to the telecommunication network
502
via a plurality of PRIs 506-1, 506-2 to 506-N, respectively. Each node 510-1, 510-2 to 510-N may contain service logic, a node resource manager, and a pool of system resources (not shown). The service logic can reside on a separate server (not shown) located in platform
501
. The service logic may be spread out among a plurality of servers (not shown) and/or nodes
510
in the platform
501
.
The platform
501
may include one or more nodes apart from the resource nodes that may include one or more other nodes
504
for, for example, Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAM&P), service logic and/or D-channel signaling linked to resource nodes
510
by bus/link
505
. The platform
501
may not contain a so-called front-end switch to enable the platform itself to distribute calls among the plurality of resource nodes
510
.
Using prior art methods, when user
503
tries to access, for example, an 800 service (toll free service in the United States), an ingress communication switch
507
located in the telecommunication network
502
receives the call. The telecommunication network
502
may include a combination of a local, national, international telecommunication networks and/or any other suitable telecommunication networks. The telecommunication network
502
will generally include a variety of communications equipment to handle incoming and out going communication traffic. For example, the network may include a plurality of communication switches (not shown) such as switches manufactured by Lucent Technologies, Inc., Siemens, or Northern Telecom Ltd. or, depending on the 800 services's choice of the inter-exchange carrier, any other such suitable switches. The telecommunication network may further include, for example, service processors (not shown) to process the communication traffic. The user's call may traverse a plurality of switches and/or equipment located in the telecommunication network
502
before ending up at, for example, a host switch
513
. Host switch
513
can be connected to one or more of the PRIs in the NFAS group
506
servicing the telecommunication application platform
501
of, for example, the desired 800 service. Host switch
513
, upon receiving the call, routes the call to the platform
501
. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the 800 service that is desired by the user
503
resides in the platform
501
that is connected to the telecommunication network
502
via a plurality of PRIs 506-1, 506-2 up to 506-N. Thus, the telecommunication application platform
501
serving the 800 service includes a plurality of nodes, for example, nodes 510-1, 510-2 to 510-N. To complete the user's call, host switch
513
will search for an idle B-channel among the plurality of PRI's connecting the telecommunication network
502
with the telecommunication application platform
501
. If no idle B-channel is currently available to complete the call, the network provides some kind of call treatment on its own, such as dropping the call, routing the call without providing service features, or sending the call to another application platform elsewhere.
If, however, an idle B-channel is found, the host switch
513
may send an ISDN call set-up message to the platform, over a D-channel
506
-
1
a
associated with the idle B-channel in PRI
506
-
1
associated with the NFAS group
506
. Upon receiving the ISDN call set-up message from host switch
513
, node
510
-
1
, connected to PRI
506
-
1
, determines whether it has sufficient resources to handle the user's call. A local resource manager (not shown) within the resource node
510
-
1
receives the call set-up message and makes this determination. The local resource manager of node
510
-
1
cannot determine the status and/or resource availability of any other resource node in the telecommunication application platform
501
. If sufficient system resources are available at node
510
-
1
, that resource node
510
-
1
will complete the call set-up handshaking with the telecommunication network
502
to accept the call and proceed to process the call. If the local resource manager of node
510
-
1
determines that sufficient system resources are not available resource
510
-
1
will reject the call by sending an ISDN release message to the host switch
513
. Under current methods, a call will be rejected when the node that is connected to the idle B-channel selected by the network runs out of resources, even if other nodes in the platform may still have available system resources to process the user's call. Thus, current methods are disadvantageous because they are unable to efficiently allocate resources in order to process calls and serve customers in a more effective manner.
Accordingly, what is required is a method for improving resource utilization and allocation in a telecommunication application platform. Specifically, what is required is a dynamic resource management method for locating sufficient resources among a plu
Munson Gary A
Ng Peter L.
AT&T Corp.
Smith Creighton
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