Telephonic communications – Plural exchange network or interconnection – Interexchange signalling
Patent
1998-03-18
2000-05-16
Zele, Krista
Telephonic communications
Plural exchange network or interconnection
Interexchange signalling
379207, 379229, H04M 342
Patent
active
060647299
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
A microfiche appendix (comprising 1 sheet of 18 frames) is of record and has been substituted for pages 11-27 of the originally filed specification comprising Tables 1-8 referred to below.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a telecommunications system using an intelligent network (IN) architecture, and in particular to the control of a peripheral in such a network.
In conventional public switched networks (PSTNs) the functions the network is able to perform depend on the design of the switch which handles basic call-routing. Introducing any new functionality requires the switch to be redesigned, with the provision of new software and possibly also new hardware. For a large network this process can take one or more years. As PSTNs are required to provided a rapidly growing range of services to users, this type of delay in service provision becomes increasingly unacceptable.
Intelligent networks (IN's) have been developed to address the problem of the relative inflexibility of conventional networks. As described in the paper by T W Abernethy and A C Munday, "Intelligent networks, standards and services" BT Technol J Vol 13 No. 2 April 1995, in the intelligent network the control of the basic call routing is carried out at a service switching point (SSP) and is kept functionally separate from the control of call progression by a service control point (SCP). The service control point is also able to access functions provided by an intelligent peripheral (IP). An intelligent peripheral might be equipped, for example, to play pre-recorded announcements to a subscriber. To ensure that the interworking of networks and components of different operators and suppliers is possible, the architecture and protocols of the intelligent network are required to conform to internationally agreed standards. The need to conform to these standards might however tend to negate the very flexibility which the IN architecture was intended to provide. For example, BT has developed and deployed in the UK PSTN a voice messaging service known as CALL MINDER (TM). It would be desirable to incorporate this service on an intelligent peripheral within an IN system. The Call Minder functions however do not correspond to either of the two classes of IP functions which the relevant standards provide for.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating an intelligent peripheral (IP) under the control of a service control point (SCP) in a telecommunications network, the method comprising: service control point to the intelligent peripheral, some of the said control messages including an extension field identifying the messages as relating to an additional function not provided for in the standard protocol; the messages, predetermined functions which are provided for in the said standard protocol; and including the said extension field, a routine which implements the additional function.
The present invention provides for the first time a method of accessing any additional functions which may be provided on a given intelligent peripheral whilst maintaining conformity with standard protocols. This is achieved by effectively disguising calls to the additional functions as messages for invoking the standard functions, but with a field included in the message identifying the disguised nature of the message. The intelligent peripheral then responds by executing application code performing an appropriate one of the additional functions instead of the relevant standard function.
Preferably the said standard protocol is the Intelligent Network Application Protocol (INAP) and the said field identifying the message as relating to an additional function is the extension field of the INAP IP-to-SCP application context.
INAP--the Intelligent Network Application Protocol--is an internationally agreed standard for Intelligent Networks. The standard is set out in full in "Intelligent Network (IN); Intelligent Network Capability
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British Telecommunications public limited company
Tieu Benny Q.
Zele Krista
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