At&t Information Systems Inc.

Other

Lucent Technologies Inc.

At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone and Telegraph, Co.

At&t Company

Andrew D Franklin

John R Lothrop

Lloyd A Hasley

Robert William Gebhardt

Dennis R Sanger

Charles H Parker

James E Smith

Robert J Gallegos

John D Wiidakas

Frank J Boyle, Iii

Jane Gambill

Frank J Boyle

Parker,charles H

A telecommunications system infrastructure that facilitates easy insertion of feature software into existing such telecommunications systems and easy integration of the new calling features and their implementing software with existing features and their software. The infrastructure comprises the Lucent Technologies MMCX multimedia communications server (100) and middleware-compliant communications endpoints (101-102) executing the Lucent Technologies MMCX communications middleware (111-112). Feature-implementing software has a modular client/server construction, with feature managers (server modules, 300,350) executing on the MMCX server and feature administration agents (client modules, 303-353, 304-354) executing on the endpoints. The infrastructure provides a context service (120) and a context API (121) for registering an instance of a feature manager (a user policy, 301-302, 351-352) for each user upon that user becoming entitled to the feature, an administration API (360) for communications between feature managers and feature administration agents on the user's endpoint to customize the user's user policies for the user, and a context (a cyberspace meeting room, 200) and the context API for involving the user policies of users who are parties to a call in the call and for communicating call-related events to feature servers and other service-implementing software. Call-related events are passed to user policies involved in the call, and they are given a chance to react to the events by allowing or rejecting the events. Interactions between features are managed by having feature managers register at different priorities with the context service; higher-priority modules are serially given an opportunity to allow or reject events before lower-priority modules.

Arrangement for facilitating plug-and-play call features

A distributed control arrangement for a multi-mode circuit-switching or circuit- and packet-switching system avoids disadvantages attendant to a centralized control center and offers flexibility in the sourcing of communication-routing information. The switching system communicatively interconnects a plurality of communication endpoints, such as PBXs, and includes a plurality of circuit-switching units interconnected with each other and with the endpoints by at least one communication medium. Control is effected through a plurality of logical links of the LAPD communication protocol, one of which extends through the medium between each pair of adjacent units and of adjacent unit and endpoint. Each unit is responsive to receipt of a messeage that specifies a route of a circuit-switched communication path through the system, including through the receiving unit. The message contains a plurality of address bytes each one of which specifies a segment of the route through the system: the bytes specify a sequence of system nodes through which the path extends. In response to receiving the message over a first link that extends to the receiving unit from another unit or an endpoint, the receiving unit establishes a communication path for the communication from the adjacent unit or endpoint from which the first link extends, through the receiving unit, and to an adjacent unit or endpoint-en-route of the communication. The individual unit then also sends the received message to the adjacent en-route unit or endpoint, over a second link which extends between the individual unit and the adjacent en-route unit or endpoint.

Control architecture of a multi-node circuit- and packet-switching system

In a packet network, each data packet that is transported through the network to a destination node is assigned one of 2**N priority levels based on the type of information contained in the data packet. A data packet containing system control information is assigned the highest priority level. A data packet containing, for example, user information, is assigned a lower priority level. In addition, each priority level is associated with a respective 'watermark' threshold. When a data packet arrives at a network node, the node compares the packet's associated watermark threshold with the number of data words currently stored in a common memory. The node rejects the packet if the watermark threshold is found to be less than that number to reserve space in the memory for data packets of higher priority. Otherwise, the data packet is stored in the common memory.

Programmable data packet buffer prioritization arrangement

A flow control mechanism for a packet switching system that provides for the continuous dynamic control of station window size beginning with call setup and extending through the duration of the call. A station window size can be of a first magnitude at call setup time when system traffic may be low. The window size can be subsequently reduced to free up port buffer space as system traffic increases. This permits the serving of more calls during periods of heavy traffic.

Flow control scheme for a switching network

A distributed packet switching system in which a centralized switch is not used and, instead, each transmitting port contains the intelligence required to derive and then insert the destination port and station addresses into the header of each packet to be transmitted by the port. The port circuitry that derives the destination addresses operates under control of a central controller which, prior to the setup of each call, receives information identifying the transmitting port and calling station as well as the destination station number dialed at the calling station. The controller processes this data to derive the destination port and station addresses. The derived addresses are sent to and stored in a RAM in the transmitting port. The RAM outputs the destination port and station addresses for each packet subsequently transmitted by the port on the call.

Distributed packet switching system

In a communication switching system controlled by a control processor, line port circuit connections are served by line call processing algorithms and trunk port circuit connections are served by trunk call processing algorithms. Trunk call processing algorithms offer the user a wide variety of call processing features and system management capabilities which are not included in normal line call processing algorithms. Host computer interconnections are typically established between digital line port circuits and therefore, host interconnections are administered by line call processing algorithms which offer only a limited set of services. To provide trunk services for host computer interconnections, an auxiliary algorithm has been added to the normal line call processing algorithms to interlink line to trunk call processing. In particular, when a host computer is served, the normal line call processing algorithm branches to the auxiliary algorithm. The auxiliary algorithm simulates the signalling characteristics associated with a trunk port circuit during the call set-up phase of a connection. Following simulation, the auxiliary algorithm intercepts the normal trunk call processing algorithms. The control processor 'perceives' the service request as originating from an analog trunk port circuit rather than a digital line port circuit, and therefore administers the request according to trunk call processing algorithms. Call processing features and system management capabilities associated with trunk services are now automatically available for the host computer interconnection.

Trunk call processing services for host computer interconnections

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Andrew D Franklin