Lucent Technologies Inc.

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

Elbert Lee Sneed, Jr

Dorothy V Stanley

Albert Joseph Sawyer

Zoe S Quan

Michael R Ordun

Kalwant S Grewal

The invention provides the capability for creating local number portability, enabling a telephone service subscriber to retain a phone number when the local switch servicing the subscriber changes. A database acts as a centralized source of call connection information. Two tiers of databases are used; local databases dedicated to local switches are first queried for call connection information matching the dialed number, and a centralized database serving all switches is subsequently queried if local database response is not sufficient for call placement. Each dialed number is correlated to a call connection a information set containing augmenting information to provide the equivalent of the actual service number for the subscriber for call placement. Call connection information sets are dynamically maintained and updated between the centralized database and the local databases.

Means and method for providing local telephone number portability

This invention provides a means and method for updating two-tiered databases in a telecommunications system which support local number portability through call connection information sets stored on the databases. Pro-active updating is accomplished by tracking location, time and frequency of each switch querying the first tier centralized database for each stored call connection information set. At the time an update is made to a call connection information set at the first tier database, the set is offered to all second tier databases supporting individual switches which have queried the centralized database for that set. Second tier databases accept the set as an update, a new set or reject. Acceptance of a new set or rejection is dependent upon the set achieving a ranking based on recency and frequency of query above the threshold for storage. The second tier databases provide confirmation of set acceptance and rejection to the first tier database.

Means and method for updating databases supporting local telephone

A distributed control switching system where multi-port hunt groups are controlled by hunting for idle group members in a sequential fashion starting with the members on one of the switching modules of the system and continuing through a predetermined sequence of modules until an idle group member is found. The busy/idle hunt data is distributed across the modules so that each module maintains the hunt data for only the group members on that module. Therefore, no inter-module control communication is devoted to updating the hunt data of other modules.

Growing community of inventors

Wheaton, IL, United States of America

Elbert Lee Sneed, Jr