Lucent Technologies Inc.

At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone and Telegraph, Co.

William Keith Cline

James Joseph Fuentes

Michele M Janowiak

Ram Nathan

A method and apparatus for offering wireless telecommunication service. A switch such as an automatic Private Branch Exchange (PBX), equipped to communicate with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) stations sends ISDN signaling messages to and receives ISDN signaling messages from a protocol converter. The protocol converter, which also communicates with a wireless cell site, converts messages between the ISDN protocol and a protocol for communicating with the wireless cell site. The cell site sets up wireless connections to a mobile station, essentially in its prior art mode, and the PBX sets up connections to the cell site essentially in its prior art ISDN station control mode. The PBX is connected to a class 5 (central office) telecommunications switching system for establishing connections between the public switched telephone network and the PBX, or between outlets of the PBX for a call between wireless stations.

Wireless telecommunication system using protocol conversion for

A switching system is disclosed in which inter-switch unit trunks interconnect the switch units of a distributed switching system and when the central switch, which normally advances connections between the switch units is unavailable, connections between switch units are advanced by control units of the switch units over the inter-switch unit trunks. The inter-switch unit trunks comprise a connection arrangement which is an alternative to the central switch. In one embodiment, the control unit of a first switch unit detects the unavailability of the central switch to advance connections and in response to a request for connection to destination line or trunk at a second switch unit transmits signaling information on a selected inter-switch unit trunk to the second switch unit. The second switch unit responds to the signaling information by completing a connection from the selected inter-switch unit trunk to the destination. In a second embodiment, an alternative path between an origination and destination switch unit is completed, via a first and second inter-switch unit trunk, which are serially connected by a selected path through an intermediate switch unit. The use of inter-switch unit trunks as an alternative to the central switch avoids possible subscriber isolation during a central office catastrophe, such as a major fire.

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Naperville, IL, United States of America

William Keith Cline