Telephonic communications – Special services – Service profile
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-12
2003-06-24
Smith, Creighton (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Special services
Service profile
C379S900000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06584186
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to communications networks, and more particularly, to protecting the operational integrity of such networks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A well-known feature of conventional telecommunications systems which provide telephone service, e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), central offices (CO), private branch exchange (PBX), and Internet telephony servers, is that such systems are discrete islands of functionality, and each such island has its own particular syntax and semantics. The use of the different syntaxes, semantics, and protocols, makes it difficult to easily interconnect the various islands, and it is virtually impossible to provide features that work together seamlessly across the various islands.
Furthermore, the introduction of new service features, i.e., applications, into conventional telephony networks by the network's operator is accomplished using internal applications programmers and/or a limited number of select (and in most cases, certified) external software vendors. The reason for such careful introduction of new service features through a small number of vendors is directly related to the apprehension of introducing a piece of uncertified software into the network which can cause major service interruptions. There exist numerous examples of well publicized communications network failures which have caused major service interrupts and significant financial losses for their network operators and customer base.
Complicating matters further is the current day evolution of next generation networks which are centered on the convergence of voice and data networks. That is, it appears highly likely that the next generation communications network will be an evolution of today's PSTN and Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Today's service providers are being driven by a number of factors in the development of such next generation networks such as: (1) the well-known Internet is becoming a major network choice for distribution of voice and data; (2) IP usage is increasing at a dramatic rate thereby causing bandwidth problems on existing PSTN networks carrying significant data traffic; (3) convergence of PSTN and packet networks (e.g., IP networks) is required to allow for end-to-end delivery of communications services; (4) the creation of new services connected with the increasing use of packet networks; and (5) increasing deregulation in the marketplace is creating new and competitive telecommunications environments for established, new and specialized service providers in both voice and data traffic.
One major underlying feature in delivering such next generation communications networks is network interoperability. That is, the service provider's ability to offer valued added communications services across circuit and packet networks is tied directly to the ability of providing interoperability across a number of heterogeneous networks that support a wide range of signaling protocols (e.g., SS7, IP, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), H.323, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the like). An emerging switching platform useful in resolving such network interoperability issues is so-called “software switching”, Software switches (also known in the art as “softswitches”) are a multi-protocol software solution for signaling and transport thereby providing interoperability across heterogeneous networks,-e.g-., circuit-and packet networks. As such, PSTN and Internet Telephony Service Providers can provide seamless interoperability between PSTN and IP network domains. Of course, the issue raised above with regard to network safety and the introduction of new service features through the implementation of software switches in next generation networks, remains unchanged.
More particularly, there are two main safety properties that are critical in next generation networks, namely, so-called “computational” safety and “network” safety. Computational safety is directed to ensuring that the introduction of a particular piece of software code will be incapable of corrupting other pieces of currently executing code in the system, e.g., the software switch. Computational safety can be provided through the selection of the programming language for coding the software. For example, Java™ is a popular programming language which enables users to create applications that can be used and executed across the Internet without concerns about platform compatibility or network security. That is, Java is a well-known platform-neutral language meaning that programs developed using Java can execute on a variety of computer systems without the need for any modifications. Such platform independence stems from the use of a special format for compiled Java programs called “bytecodes” which are a set of instructions which look similar to conventional machine code, but are not specific to any one processor. Thus, a Java bytecode can be read and executed by any computer system that has the well-known Java interpreter. Thus, placing the Java program in bytecode form enables the execution of such programs across any platform, operating system, or windowing system so long as the Java interpreter is available. As such, the capability of having a single binary file, i.e., Java bytecode file, executable across multiple platforms is a key attribute which is making Java bytecode, particularly in the form of applets, a common way of executing programs across the World Wide Web (WWW).
As will be appreciated, a byetcode file is typically obtained by compiling a Java file and is a stream of bytes representing a single class in a form suitable for the well-known Java Virtual Machine (“JVM”). The Java Virtual Machine executes bytecodes and provides Java with certain fundamental capabilities such as object creation and garbage collection. Importantly, as a virtual machine based language, Java inherently provides computational safety which ensures that a piece of Java code will be incapable of corrupting some other piece of Java code that is executing in the same (or different) process space.
However, while providing computational safety in the context of next generation networks is important, such networks employ robust call processing systems for which computational safety alone is insufficient to ensure the integrity of the network. That is, even though a particular piece of software code, e.g., a service feature, does not corrupt another piece of software code in the network, the particular piece of code can still significantly disrupt the network, e.g., by sending arbitrary messages through the network which, in turn, use network resources arbitrarily. So-called network safety is the safety property that ensures that no single application can arbitrarily misuse network resources thereby damaging the network or decreasing network efficiency. Further, and particular to call processing systems, network safety also means that any damage caused by a specific feature is localized to the that particular feature, e.g., a call, and the balance of the features in the call processing system function normally. Therefore, a need exists for providing network safety in next generation networks
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An aspect of the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for protecting against network damage in next generation call processing systems. More particularly, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, network safety is achieved using semantic restriction of higher level call processing protocol primitives coupled with dynamically programming the various network routing elements to enforce both so-called connection control and rate control. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, such semantic restriction restricts the nature of the messages that can be exchanged between the various components of a softswitch. Further, connection control limits the number of connections between various components of the softswitch, and rate control establishes the rate at which such connections are made.
Aravamudan Murali
Naqvi Shamim A
Dinella Donald P.
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Smith Creighton
LandOfFree
Protecting communications network integrity does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Protecting communications network integrity, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Protecting communications network integrity will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3134020