Upgraded telecommunication network

• US 5,293,376 A
• Filed: 01/10/1992
• Issued: 03/08/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TTI Inventions A LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Bell Communications Research, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: White, Patrick E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Safourek, Benedict V.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLUM, RUSSELL
• Application Number:
  US07/819,404
• Time in Patent Office: 788 Days
• Field of Search: 370/54, 370/55, 370/85.15, 379/210, 379/213, 379/207, 379/230
• US Class Current: 370/258
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0042 Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/005 Terminal equipment, e.g. codecs, synch
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0051 Network Node Interface, e.g. tandem connections, transit switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0057 Operations, administration and maintenance [OAM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0058 Network management, e.g. Intelligent nets
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0064 Admission Control
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0066 Signalling, e.g. protocols, reference model
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/085 for ring networks, e.g. SDH/SONET rings, self-healing rings, meashed SDH/SONET networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/12 Arrangements providing for calling or supervisory signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1611 Synchronous digital hierarchy [SDH] or SONET H04J3/1664 takes precedence for interactions with OTN
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13209 ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13541 routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/907 Synchronous optical network, SONET

Abstract

The routing of signals in a telecommunication network 100'"'"' comprising a plurality of interconnected nodes 102, 103, 104, 104'"'"', 105, 106, 106'"'"' and 107, such as a SONET ring network, is modified through use of a controller 160. The controller 160 maintains a mapping between the telephone numbers of subscriber locations 132, 138, and the network nodes 104'"'"', 106'"'"' to Which the subscriber locations are attached The ring controller 160 permits a subscriber location to change the node to which it is attached without changing its telephone number. Utilizing the ring controller, new services such as ISDN, can be offered to a large body of potential subscribers while only a limited number of central offices are actually upgraded.

Claims

1. A communications network having both upgraded central offices allowing the offering of new services and central offices that have not been upgraded for such new services and wherein a subscriber desiring such new services can be connected to an upgraded central office while still utilizing a subscriber identifier associated with one of said other offices, said network comprising

a synchronous optical (SONET) network,

means individually connecting said upgraded and said other offices to said SONET network, and

a ring controller distinct from said offices and independently connected to said SONET network and maintaining a mapping between subscriber identifiers and the central office to which a subscriber is actually connected for a subscriber connected to an upgraded office while still utilizing the subscriber identifiers associated with a central office that has not been upgraded.

2. A communication network in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means connecting said offices to said SONET network comprises SONET add/drop multiplexers.

3. A communications network in accordance with claim 2 wherein said SONET network is a closed ring configuration.

4. A communications network in accordance with claim 2 wherein said SONET network is a linear configuration and includes terminating means positioned at first and second ends of said linear configuration.

5. A communications network in accordance with claim 2 wherein signals comprising frames divided into time slots are transmitted both upstream and downstream in said SONET network.

6. A communication network comprising

a synchronous optical (SONET) network.

a plurality of nodes each having one or more subscriber identifiers associated therewith and each of said nodes comprising a SONET add/drop multiplexer unit connecting said nodes to said SONET network.

means for connecting a plurality of subscriber locations to said nodes, each of said subscriber locations having a subscriber identifier normally associated with a particular one of said nodes, and

a ring controller distinct from any of said nodes and a SONET add/drop multiplexer connecting said ring controller independently to said SONET network, said ring controller maintaining a mapping between said subscriber identifiers and the nodes to which the corresponding subscriber locations are connected,

said controller permitting a subscriber location to be moved from one of said nodes to another of said nodes without changing its subscriber identifier.

7. The network of claim 6 wherein said SONET network is a closed ring configuration.

8. The network of claim 6 wherein said SONET network is a linear network configuration and wherein said SONET network includes first and second terminating nodes positioned at first and second ends of said linear configuration.

9. A communication network comprising

a synchronous optical (SONET) network,

a plurality of nodes and means connecting each of said nodes to said SONET network,

means for connecting to said nodes a first set of subscriber locations, each subscriber location of the first set having an identifier associated with the particular one of said nodes with which it is connected,

means for connecting to said SONET network a second set of subscriber locations, each said subscriber location of the second set having an identifier associated with a node to which a subscriber location of the first set is connected, and

a controller distinct from said nodes and connected to said SONET network for controlling the routing of calls to subscriber locations of the second set.