METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING INDEPENDENT AUTHORIZATION LEVELS IN A VPN

• US 20080043754A1
• Filed: 08/02/2006
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: REDMAN, MICHAEL E., KARNALKAR, ANUP D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,123 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/397
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for determining independent authorization levels. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a controlling element that manages operations of a virtual private network. The controlling element manages operations of a virtual private network (VPN) by validating that a call belongs to an ISDN access type of the VPN, retrieving from a look-up table a private number associated with a switch identifier, a trunk group identifier, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) corresponding to the call in response to determining that the call belongs to the ISDN access type of the VPN, and identifying a first authorization level associated with the private number. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A switch control point, comprising:

a controlling element that manages operations of a virtual private network (VPN) by;

validating that a call belongs to an ISDN access type of the VPN;

retrieving from a look-up table a private number associated with a switch identifier, a trunk group identifier, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) corresponding to the call in response to determining that the call belongs to the ISDN access type of the VPN; and

identifying a first authorization level associated with the private number.

2. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element associates one specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier value to one specific private number.

3. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element associates a plurality of specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier values to one specific private number.

4. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element associates a range of specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier values to one specific private number.

5. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element determines whether a call originating from a dedicated access line (DAL) is marked with the ISDN access type via a look-up of a DAL'"'"'s specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier access table.

6. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element assigns an authorization level of a dedicated access line to the call if the access type of the call fails to be the ISDN access type.

7. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the controlling element matches a calling party identifier of an incoming transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message to an OSN entry in the look-up table.

8. The switch control point of claim 7, wherein the controlling element uses the private number assigned to the OSN entry in the look-up table to get the first authorization level to be used if the calling party identifier of the TCAP message matches the OSN entry.

9. The switch control point of claim 7, wherein the controlling element uses a second authorization level corresponding to a pseudo private number when no match exists between the calling party identifier of the TCAP message and the OSN entry.

10. The switch control point of claim 8, wherein the controlling element prompts a caller to enter an authorization code if the first authorization level is less than a required authorization level.

11. A switch control point, comprising:

a controlling element that manages operations of a virtual private network by;

determining from a look-up table whether the call corresponds to a predetermined access type;

associating a first private number to a specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier when the call does not correspond to the predetermined access type; and

associating a first authorization level for the call derived from a second private number that matches the switch identifier and trunk group identifier, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) when the call corresponds to the predetermined access type.

12. The switch control point of claim 11, wherein the predetermined access type is an ISDN access type.

13. The switch control point of claim 11, wherein the Originating Station Number (OSN) associated with a primary rate interface.

14. The switch control point of claim 11, wherein the controlling element associates one specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier value to one specific private number or associate many specific switch identifier and trunk group identifier values to one specific private number.

15. The switch control point of claim 11, wherein the controlling element assigns an authorization level of a dedicated access line to the call when the access type of the call fails to be the ISDN access type.

16. The switch control point of claim 11, wherein the controlling element matches a calling party identifier of an incoming transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message to an OSN entry in the look-up table.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising:

retrieving from a look-up table a private number associated with a switch identifier, a trunk group identifier, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) corresponding to a call belonging to a predetermined access type; and

identifying a first authorization level associated with the private number.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises selecting an action based on a comparison of the first authorization level to a second authorization level required in the communication network.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein selecting an action comprises processing the call based on the comparison of the first and second authorization levels.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the predetermined access type is an ISDN access type.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein associating the first authorization level comprises combining a Service Switch Point identifier (SWID) and a Trunk Group Number identifier (TGN) to identify a VPN access type.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein a combination of the Service Switch Point identifier (SWID) and the Trunk Group Number (TGN) is combined with the OSN to identify the first authorization level associated with the OSN.