Telephonic communications – Plural exchange network or interconnection
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-31
2003-03-11
Maung, Zarni (Department: 2154)
Telephonic communications
Plural exchange network or interconnection
C379S229000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06532287
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention lies in the field of telecommunications. The invention relates to a network element of a telecommunications network, for example, a local exchange or an access network. Connections can be set up through the network element from and/or to subscriber connections of the network and the network elements is connected to a further network element through an intermediate interface. In the intermediate interface:
a number of intermediate paths are provided, with each intermediate path having a number of transmission channels for interchanging user information for the subscriber connections and for interchanging communication information for controlling the subscriber connections and for controlling the administration of the intermediate paths and the intermediate interface or interfaces;
at least one transmission channel is intended for use as a protected channel for the communication information for administration of the intermediate interface;
a protection protocol is transmitted and contains information relating to the protection of protected channels; and
at least two transmission channels are assigned to the transmission of the protection protocol.
The invention also relates to a method for controlling and/or configuring an intermediate interface through which two network elements, for example, a local exchange or an access network, are connected for setting up and maintaining subscriber connections in the network.
In telecommunications networks, network elements are provided as nodes for telecommunication connections. A network element may be set up as an access network for linking subscriber terminals to the network, and/or as a local exchange for linking subscriber connections to one another or to other network nodes or telecommunications networks. To this end, the network elements are networked with one another through intermediate paths that have the transmission capacities required to set up and maintain the telecommunications connections. In order to control and administer the intermediate paths, which respectively connect two network elements, they are combined to form an intermediate interface. As such, an intermediate interface may be made of one or more intermediate paths depending on the organization structure. If necessary, for example, if the intermediate path capacity is sufficiently large or in the case of special network architectures, two network elements may also be networked by two or more intermediate interfaces.
During operation, the intermediate interfaces are administered largely in the network elements themselves. Structures recommended for the architecture, control, and administration of intermediate interfaces are defined in the Standards produced by the European Telecommunications Standards Institution (ETSI) for V interfaces and, in particular, the V5.2 interface. Standards ETS 300 324-1, ‘Signaling Protocols and Switching (SPS); V interfaces at the digital Local Exchange (LE), V5.1 interface for the support of Access Network (AN)’ and ETS 300 347-1, ‘Signaling Protocols and Switching (SPS); V interfaces at the digital Local Exchange (LE), V5.2 interface for the support of Access Network (AN)’ describe the specification of the V5.2 interface. A Q3 interface for its configuration is defined in Standards ETS 300 376-1, ‘Signaling Protocols and Switching (SPS); Q3 interfaces at the Access Network (AN) for configuration management of VS interfaces and associated user ports’ and ETS 300 377-1, ‘Signaling Protocols and Switching (SPS); Q3 interfaces at the Local Exchange (LE) for configuration management of VS interfaces and associated customer profiles’. To the extent necessary for understanding the invention, the following text uses
FIGS. 1 and 2
to briefly describe the essential features of an intermediate interface, using the example of a V5.2 interface, and its representation in the context of a Q3 interface. Reference should be made to the cited Standards for further information.
FIG. 1
shows an example of a configuration of network elements in a telecommunications network TKN that are connected using a V5.2 interface VIF. The first network element, shown on the left-hand side in
FIG. 1
, is an access network AN that is used as a concentrator for subscriber terminals TEA. The second network element, on the right in
FIG. 1
, is a local exchange LE, and is connected through network-internal interfaces to other nodes in the telecommunications network TKN, for example, to other local exchanges LE′ or to a service control point SCP, or through a gateway GTW to another telecommunications network TKN′. Obviously,
FIG. 1
is only a simple example, although it has all the features required for understanding the invention. A network element such as an access network or an exchange office can be connected through a number of intermediate interfaces to other network elements and, in particular, to one or more network elements as well through in each case more than one intermediate interface, although the intermediate interfaces need not all be V5.2 interfaces.
The network elements AN, LE, and the intermediate interfaces associated with them are configured and administered, for example, from terminals QTL in the form of workstation computers. The terminals QTL are connected to the network elements AN, LE through their own interfaces QIF provided for this purpose, and are referred to as Q interfaces.
As indicated in
FIG. 1
, the V5.2 interface VIF is provided using a number of intermediate paths in the form of V5 links LNK, which need to be configured as a connecting line configured for 2 Mbit/s. The ETSI Standards mentioned above limit, to a maximum of 16, the number of links that are respectively combined to form a V5.2 interface VIF. According to the ETSI Standards, each link LNK has 32 timeslots of 64 kBit/s each, which are numbered successively from 0 to 31.Timeslot 0 in each link is used for synchronization. The other timeslots are used for information interchange. The other timeslots include the carrier traffic, of course, that is to say, the interchange of user information on the subscriber connections. Some timeslots, however, are used for interchanging communication information. The communication information is interchanged between the two network elements AN, LE in order to control and administer the intermediate interface VIF and the carrier traffic passing through the intermediate interface VIF. A timeslot that is used for interchanging information relating to carrier traffic or communication information is identified with a transmission channel, or channel for short. Because the terminology difference between a timeslot and the channel associated with the timeslot is of secondary importance for understanding of the invention, the two terms are used interchangeably in the following text. Each channel may occupy one or more transmission paths. A channel that is used for communication information is referred to as a communication channel or C channel. A transmission path for a C channel, which is thus used to interchange communication information, is referred to as a communication path or C path.
The communication information transmitted through an intermediate interface VIF is split into protection groups. Each intermediate interface is assigned a Type 1 protection group and a Type 2 protection group. The Type 1 protection group includes the communication protocols for controlling the operating state of the connections and links, and for controlling the allocation of the user information channels. Two timeslots are reserved for the Type 1 protection group, these are associated with different links, for protection reasons. Timeslot
16
in these two links LN
1
, LN
2
is always reserved for the Type 1 protection group. The two links used for the Type 1 protection group are respectively referred to as the primary link LN
1
and the secondary link LN
2
. The transmission of the PSTN protocol for the signals for the PSTN network, and of the ISDN protocols for the ISDN servi
Chang Jung-won
Maung Zarni
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
LandOfFree
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