Service and information management system for a telecommunications network
First Claim
1. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network, comprising:
- an interconnect bus;
a database for storing information relating to the telephone call, said database in communication with said interconnect bus; and
a communications unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus, wherein said communications unit instructs the network elements as to routing of the calls originating at the network elements and wherein information associated with each call is transmitted to said communications unit for storage in said database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for service control and operations for a telecommunications network. In particular, an architecture and method for a service control and operations element system. The system communicates with a plurality of interconnected telecommunications network elements via a switching and signaling subsystem. The system provides and controls the various functions of the telecommunications network, such as call processing and routing, automatic fault detection and correction, providing services to customers in an interactive manner, fraud detection and control, identification of patterns of abuse of the network, collecting data regarding call activity at each network element, and producing a record of each call placed within the network.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network, comprising:
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an interconnect bus;
a database for storing information relating to the telephone call, said database in communication with said interconnect bus; and
a communications unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus, wherein said communications unit instructs the network elements as to routing of the calls originating at the network elements and wherein information associated with each call is transmitted to said communications unit for storage in said database.
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2. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network, comprising:
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an interconnect bus;
a database for storing information relating to the telephone call, said database in communication with said interconnect bus; and
a communications unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus, wherein information associated with each call is transmitted to said communications unit for storage in said database and wherein said communications unit creates a record of the calls originating at the network elements for billing purposes.
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3. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network, comprising:
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an interconnect bus;
a database for storing processing and routing information relating to the telephone call, said database in communication with said interconnect bus;
a plurality of instructions specifying functions of the apparatus;
a processor in communication with said interconnect bus;
a communications unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network elements in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus; and
an information packet associated with the telephone call, said information packet containing data which supports one of the functions of the apparatus, said information packet being transmitted from at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements to said communications unit. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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23. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call made in a telecommunications network comprising:
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an interconnect bus;
a first database for storing processing and routing information relating to the telephone call, said first database in communication with said interconnect bus;
a plurality of processors in communication with the interconnect bus, said processors having instructions specifying functions of the telecommunications network;
a switching and signaling unit in communication with a plurality of interconnected network elements in the telecommunications network and in communication with said interconnect bus;
an information packet associated with the telephone call, said information packet containing data which supports said functions of the apparatus, said information packet being transmitted from at least one of the plurality of interconnected network elements to said switching and signaling unit, and being stored in a second database.
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24. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call, comprising:
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means for communicating with a plurality of interconnected network elements associated with a telecommunications network;
means for collecting an information packet associated with the telephone call, the information packet being transmitted from the interconnected network elements to said means for communicating with the plurality of interconnected network elements; and
means for routing of the call based on a signal within a message transmitted from the means for communicating to at least one of the interconnected network elements.
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25. An apparatus for servicing a telephone call, comprising:
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means for communicating with a plurality of interconnected network elements associated with a telecommunications network;
means for collecting an information packet associated with the telephone call, the information packet being transmitted from the interconnected network elements to said means for communicating with the plurality of interconnected network elements; and
means for storing the information packet, the stored information packet being used for creating a billing record of the call.
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26. A method of recording information generated by a plurality of interconnected telecommunications network elements in response to a call traversing the network elements, comprising:
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transmitting to an originating network element a message generated by one of the plurality of interconnected network elements;
copying the transmitted message;
forwarding the message to a succeeding interconnected network element;
appending transaction information to the copied message having an error signal indicating whether an error was detected in the transmitted message, so that the transaction information and the copied message form an information packet;
forwarding the information packet to a communications unit in communication with the first network element; and
storing the forwarded information packet in a database so that a record of each call is formed.
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34. A method of establishing a through path for a call which traverses a plurality of interconnected network elements within a telecommunications network, comprising:
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detecting by an originating network element a request message indicating that the call has been initiated;
copying the request message;
forwarding the request message to succeeding interconnected network elements in the through path;
appending a set of transaction information to the copied request message, so that the transaction information and the copied request message form an information packet;
including in the information packet an indication that the originating network element desires instructions regarding processing and routing of the call;
forwarding the information packet from the originating network element to a communications unit; and
utilizing a database in communication with the communications unit to determine the required processing and routing of the call based on the contents of the information packet.
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42. A method of establishing a through path for a call which traverses a plurality of interconnected network elements within a telecommunications network, the method comprising:
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detecting by a first network element a request message indicating that the call has been initiated;
copying the request message;
forwarding the request message to a succeeding network element;
appending a set of transaction information to the copied request message detected by the first network element, so that the transaction information and the copied request message form an information packet;
including in the information packet an indication that a second network element is seeking instructions regarding processing and routing of the call;
forwarding the information packet from the first network element to a communications unit in communication with the first network element;
utilizing a database in communication with the communications unit to determine required processing and routing of the call based on the contents of the forwarded information packet;
transmitting a message from the communications unit to the second network element indicating how to process and route the call; and
correlating the request message with the transmitted message indicating the processing and routing instructions for the call by the second network element. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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Specification