At+t Corp.

At&t Intellectual Property I, L.p.

Frank J Androski

Saul Daniel Fishman

James Ibezim

Barbara Joanne Kittredge

James J Mansell

James C Ehlinger

Sekar Ganesan

Promod Kumar Bhagat

Daniel Sheinbein

Scott Sayers

Jerry Allen Robinson

Smita Pradip Sheth

Nancy Binowski

A method and apparatus for providing routing of calls in a packet network, using one or more criteria extracted from signaling information to determine the routing for the calls are disclosed. The routing criteria extracted from signaling messages comprises at least one of: an access Uniform Resource Identifier, a destination phone number, a destination URI host, a calling party number, a calling party URI host, an incoming IP address, or a requested codec. An access URI and the egress URI are used to enhance routing decisions in a VoIP network. The egress URI can be used to specify egress route selections from the egress point of a VoIP network. The access URI can be used to influence the routing decisions within the VoIP network as well as the routing decisions with regard to egress routes from the egress point of the VoIP network.

Method and apparatus for providing access and egress uniform resource identifiers for routing

A method and apparatus for providing routing of calls in a packet network, e.g., a Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) network, using one or more criteria extracted from signaling information to determine the routing for the calls are disclosed. In one embodiment, the routing criteria extracted from signaling messages comprises at least one of: an access Uniform Resource Identifier, a destination phone number, a destination URI host, a calling party number, a calling party URI host, an incoming IP address, or a requested codec. An access URI and the egress URI are used to enhance routing decisions in a VoIP network. For instance, the egress URI can be used to specify egress route selections from the egress point of a VoIP network. The access URI can be used to influence the routing decisions within the VoIP network as well as the routing decisions with regard to egress routes from the egress point of the VoIP network.

To facilitate routing changes, a telecommunications network () includes a centralized network routing database () queried by each ingress switch upon receipt of a call by a calling subscriber (). In response to the query, the network routing database returns to the querying switch the identity on the next (downstream) switch in the routing path. The querying switch then translates the switch identity to establish the link to that next switch. Because each querying switch makes the necessary translation of the next switch identity to make the link to the next switch, the centralized network database need not concern itself with the particular characteristics of the switch. To make global routing changes, only the network routing database need be updated, not each individual switch.

Method and apparatus for providing telecommunications services

A distributed communications switching system and its associated telecommunications network infrastructure(10) includes a plurality of interconnected switching systems (12.sub.1, 12.sub.2 and 12.sub.3), some of which may be controlled by another switching system and its associated telecommunications network infrastructure. The switching systems are controlled via at least one switch processing platform (16) that generates generic commands for receipt by the switching systems in response to signaling messages received by the SPP. A fabric application interface (19) couples the switching systems to the switch processing platform for distributing generic commands to and from the appropriate switching system and for translating the generic commands into native commands (or vice versa) for execution by the switching system. The fabric application interface also translates signals received at the switching system into generic commands for receipt by the switch processing platform. The ability of the fabric application interface to distribute generic commands to and from the switching systems and to communicate signals received at the switching systems allows the switch processing platform to exercise call control for each switching system regardless of the nature of the call processed thereby, allowing greater flexibility and cost-effective use of application software (both service control and basic call control), and other associated telecommunications network infrastructure such as service circuit equipment.

Distributed network control and fabric application interface

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Freehold, NJ, United States of America

Frank J Androski