Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-08
2001-03-27
Eisenzopf, Reinhard (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S433000, C455S445000, C370S221000, C379S279000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06208856
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the telecommunications field and, in particular, to a method for maintaining the reliable operation of a distributed network of service nodes overlaying a telecommunications network.
2. Description of Related Art
A basic customer requirement that operators of telecommunications networks must meet is that the networks operate reliably. In particular, the network requirements imposed on basic switching functions and basic subscriber services are extremely high. When more advanced services are introduced into the conventional networks, they usually adhere to the same high operational requirements even if the new advanced services are not as important or critical as the basic services already being provided.
Increased deregulation and competition have caused a recent trend in the telecommunications field, wherein new service providers are basing their advanced services on the existing infrastructures of basic switching functions and subscriber services being provided by the conventional network operators. Consequently, overlayed networks of service nodes are being created, which are characterized as generic equipment provided by a plurality of suppliers. Recently, a great deal of resources have been expended to investigate the functionality of such overlay networks. However, much less attention has been paid to their reliability.
A common practice in conventional telecommunications systems using stored program control is to utilize redundant resources as the basis for a maintenance subsystem. In particular, central processors are duplicated and operated in synchronism so that fault detection can be accomplished by comparison methods. One such method uses software analysis programs to determine if a processor is faulty, so the faultless processor can be used to take over the load. A characteristic of this method is that the process of switching control over to one of the two processors affects all of the data needed for a communication path. In other words, the control system (or switching control system or processor control system) is potentially capable of handling any new call setup request while the faulty processor is being repaired. By multiplying the switching resources in a telecommunications network, the maintenance subsystem can block the use of a faulty resource, but a plurality of identical resources will still remain available so that the effect of the faulty resource on the communications traffic will be negligible. Consequently, using redundancy methods, an extremely high degree of security can be achieved in conventional telecommunications systems that provide basic switching functions and subscriber services.
However, the recent introduction of advanced telecommunications services provided by distributed computers has raised a number of questions related to operational reliability. One distributed network architecture that is being used to introduce these advanced services is known as Intelligent Networks (IN). An IN architecture is typically characterized by its relationship with an existing underlying network, whereby the IN hardware and software are closely integrated with the existing underlying network, and one operator controls the operation and maintenance of the complete network including the IN extensions. Consequently, it is a common practice to use the same methods for maintaining a reliable operation throughout the extended network including the IN nodes.
A problem with the solutions used by operators of the conventional telecommunications networks in attempting to achieve very high system availability is that these solutions are complex and costly. Furthermore, an independent service provider may not have access to all of the capabilities required from a telecommunications network. Even though it is sometimes argued that a lower degree of reliability may be acceptable regarding the new services provided through overlayed networks, it is clear that system reliability will still be an important and competitive factor. As described below, a problem that the present invention resolves is how to design a method that is easy to implement in emerging service networks overlayed on conventional networks, which provides a high degree of security at a low cost. The present invention achieves this goal partly by relying on the very high degree of security of the basic services provided by the underlying network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to increase the reliability and security of an overlayed service network.
It is another object of the present invention to increase the reliability of an overlayed network of service nodes without the need for a complex and costly system.
It is yet another object of the present invention to increase the reliability and security of an overlayed network of service nodes by utilizing the basic service(s) offered by the underlying public network.
It is a further object of the present invention to reduce any additional workload imposed on a standby service node by distributing the workload over a plurality of service nodes.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a method for achieving operational reliability in an overlayed network of service nodes, which is connected to a public telecommunications network. In response to a party using a subscriber number to make a call, the public telecommunications network routes the call to a preferred service node in the overlayed network. The preferred service node is capable of providing a plurality of services in response to such a call. If the preferred service node experiences a failure or is otherwise not operational, and does not respond to such a call, the public telecommunications network reroutes the call to a standby service node, which provides the same services as the preferred service node.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4811388 (1989-03-01), Westerhof et al.
patent: 5297193 (1994-03-01), Bouix et al.
patent: 5623532 (1997-04-01), Houde et al.
patent: 5625866 (1997-04-01), Lidbrink et al.
patent: 100410 (1998-06-01), None
patent: WO 94/30027 (1994-12-01), None
patent: WO 95/15635 (1995-06-01), None
Service Assurance in Modern Telecommunications Networksby Warren E. Falconer, XP 000175001; IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 28, No. 6, Jun. 1, 1990, pp. 32-39.
Contingency Process for SS7 Network Failuresby Jerzy W. Miernik, Doug MacDonald and John Yuristy, XP 000337636; Proceedings of the International Switching Symposium, Yokohama, Oct. 25-30, 1992 Institute of Electronics; Information and Communication Engineers, vol. 1, No. SYMP. 14, Oct. 25, 1992, pp. 164-168.
Network Management Systems for Availability and Survivabilityby Balaji C.V. Ramarao, Network Management Systems Planning and Development, Sprint Long Distance Division, Annual Review of Communications, XP 000455355; vol. 47, Jan. 1, 1993, pp. 402-410.
Customer Control of Centrex Serviceby E.J. Pasternak and S.A. Schulman, International Switching Symposium 1987, XP 002065749; vol. 1, Mar. 15-20, 1987, pp. 154-159.
An End User's Expectations of the Advanced Intelligent Networkby Ed Bonkowski, Annual Review of Communications, XP 000321961; vol. 46, Jan. 1, 1992, pp. 491-495.
Customer Network Reconfiguration Applications Utilizing Digital Cross-Connect Systemsby Pamela J. Zanella, XP 000042158; Communications for the Information Age, Hollywood, Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1988 vol. 3, No. 28, Nov. 1988, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, pp. 1538-1543.
A Distributed Architecture for Customer Network Controlby S.E. Aidarious, T. Ball, R. Tam and D. Biggs, XP 000014498; Digital Technology—Spanning the Universe, Philadelphia, Jun. 12-15, 1988 vol. 2, Jun. 12, 1988, Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineers, pp. 1148-1153.
Design and Deployment of an Integrated Network Management System for a Large Telco Networkby Willis Stinson, Shaygan Kheradpir and Fariborz Ebrahimi, XP000452397; Proceedings of the Network Operation
Eisenzopf Reinhard
Jenkens & Gilchrist
Kincaid Lester G
Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson
LandOfFree
Method for maintaining service nodes in a telecommunications... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for maintaining service nodes in a telecommunications..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for maintaining service nodes in a telecommunications... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2506326