The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 27, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 03, 1997
Akinwale Ademola Akinpelu, Leonardo, NJ (US);
Promod Kumar Bhagat, Morganville, NJ (US);
Dana Lee Garoutte, Wheaton, IL (US);
Anthony Hatalla, Clinton, NJ (US);
Robert Bruce Hirsch, Whippany, NJ (US);
Ali H. Krisht, Dearborn, MI (US);
Chiu-Kai Lee, Holmdel, NJ (US);
James Benford Shepard, Pickerington, OH (US);
Dorothy V. Stanley, Warrenville, IL (US);
Theodore Louis Stern, Suffern, NY (US);
AT&T Corp., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
In an environment of competitive local and interexchange carriers, offering number portability between local carriers serving a common region and between switches serving that region, each local carrier accesses a regional database to determine the identity of the carrier and switch serving a local customer. In addition, interexchange carriers access a national database to determine the identity of the carrier and switch serving the customer specified by the number dialed by an originating customer. For customers requiring high reliability service, alternate carriers can be used to serve such customers in case the primary carrier is unavailable; the databases identify these alternate carriers. Advantageously, this arrangement allows a high degree of freedom of movement of customers between carriers and geographic relocation without requiring a number change.