Dynamic routing-administration

• US 5,311,586 A
• Filed: 10/31/1991
• Issued: 05/10/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated, The Dow Chemical Company (Dow, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T, Inc.
• Inventors: Ditmer, Henry C., Hardouin, Larry J., Butterfield, Bruce D., Bogart, Frank J., Chavez, David L. Jr., Thomson, Linda L., Schmidt, Nancy K., Fix, Frederick R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Application Number:
  US07/786,168
• Time in Patent Office: 922 Days
• Field of Search: 379/91, 379/92, 379/112, 379/201, 379/207, 379/219, 379/220, 379/221, 379/269
• US Class Current: 379/221.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13531 virtual networks - inc. PVN
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13541 routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/66 Traffic distributors

Abstract

Choice of what portions of a dialed number are important and what weight they carry in deciding how to route or otherwise treat a call is customized and made contextually dependent via a call-processing arrangement (200) that uses stored definitions of syntax (320, 350) and grammar (400, 410) of the network numbering plan. The syntax definitions are reprogrammable definitions (312) of individual symbol strings and include the string'"'"'s associated virtual nodepoint index (VNI 334) which indicates the string'"'"'s influence on call treatment, an indicator (335) of whether digit collection is to continue, an indicator (339) of whether the VNI is to be combined with a VNI resulting from any preceding symbol strings in the dialed number, and an indicator (338) of whether the VNI resulting from this symbol string is to be combined with a VNI of any succeeding symbol strings in the dialed number. The dialed number is parsed (340) to identify therein all included symbol strings, and the definitions of the included symbol strings are used to selectively combine (341) their VNIs to form a resulting VNI that specifies the route or other treatment for the call.

Claims

1. A call-processing arrangement for use in a switching system of a telecommunications network having a network numbering plan and wherein callers supply sequences of symbols to specify treatment that is to be given to calls, each sequence comprising at least one symbol string that is defined for the numbering plan of the network, comprising:

programmable means for holding information for each defined symbol string specifying each symbol string'"'"'s individual influence on call treatment within a context of other symbol strings, the programmable means for holding information for each symbol string defining each of (a) the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence on call treatment, (b) whether the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence is to be combined with the influence of a preceding symbol string in a call-control symbol-sequence, and (c) whether the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence is to be combined with the influence of a succeeding symbol string in the call-control symbol sequence, the programmable means being reprogrammable to change the specified influence;

means responsive to receipt of one of the symbol sequences, each individual symbol string included in the received symbol sequence having a context formed by other symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence, for identifying the individual included symbol strings and their contexts;

means for applying the identities and the contexts of the individual included symbol strings to the information presently held by the programmable means to determine the influences of the individual included symbol strings on the call treatment of the call; and

means for selectively combining the context-independent influences of the included strings defined by the held information as dictated for the included strings by the held information to define the call treatment to be given to the call.

2. A call-processing arrangement for use in a switching system of a telecommunications network having a network numbering plan and wherein callers supply sequences of symbols to specify treatment that is to be given to calls, each sequence comprising at least one symbol string that is defined for the numbering plan of the network, comprising:

programmable means for holding information defining each defined symbol string and including information specifying each symbol string'"'"'s individual influence on call treatment within a context of other symbol strings, the programmable means for holding a plurality of entries for each individual symbol string, including

a first entry having a call-treatment identifier,

a second entry indicating whether the call-treatment identifier of the first entry is to be combined with a call-treatment identifier resulting from any symbol string preceding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and

a third entry indicating whether a call-treatment identifier resulting from the individual symbol string is to be combined with a call-treatment identifier of any symbol string succeeding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence,

the programmable means being reprogrammable to change the specified influence;

means responsive to receipt of one of the symbol sequences, each individual symbol string included in the received symbol sequence having a context formed by other symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence, for identifying the individual included symbol strings and their contexts;

means for applying the identities and the contexts of the individual included symbol strings to the information presently held by the programmable means to obtain from the programmable means the entries for the identified included symbol strings in order to determine the influences of the individual included symbol strings on the call treatment of the call; and

means for combining the call-treatment identifiers contained in the retrieved first entries in a manner defined at least in part by the retrieved second and third entries to form a resultant call-treatment identifier that specifies the treatment to be given to the call.

3. A call-processing arrangement comprising:

data storage means for storing contents defining a syntax and a grammar of a network numbering plan that comprises a plurality of defined symbol strings, the contents that define the syntax comprising

definitions of individual ones of the symbol strings of the network numbering plan, each definition including an identifier of the symbol string as being of one of a plurality of string types, a virtual nodepoint index (VNI) for influencing selection of a treatment to be given to a call, an indication of whether the VNI is to be combined with a VNI resulting from any symbol string preceding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and an indication of whether a VNI resulting from the individual symbol string is to be combined with a VNI of any symbol string succeeding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and the contents that define the grammar comprising

a combine grammar matrix having a plurality of intersecting rows and columns, each row corresponding to a different symbol string type and each column corresponding to a different symbol string type, the rows and the columns indicating at each intersection whether VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column are permitted to be combined so as to both influence selection of the treatment to be given to the call;

parsing means connected to the data storage means and responsive to receipt of a sequence of symbols associated with a call for parsing the received symbol sequence by using the contents of the data storage means, to identify in the symbol sequence at least one symbol string of the network numbering plan; and

means connected to the data storage means and to the parsing means and responsive to an identity of the identified at least one symbol string of the network numbering plan for specifying a treatment to be given to the call, by using the contents of the data storage means, including

first means for indicating whether a VNI resulting from any identified symbol string preceding an individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence has been frozen,

second means responsive to the first means indicating that the resulting VNI has been frozen for using the resulting VNI to specify the treatment to be given to the call, and responsive to the first means indicating that the resulting VNI has not been frozen for determining from the definition of the individual identified symbol string whether the VNI of the individual identified symbol string is to be combined with the resulting VNI,

third means responsive to the second means determining that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are not to be combined for making the VNI of the individual identified symbol string a new said resulting VNI, and responsive to the second means determining that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are to be combined for applying to the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix a string type determined by said any identified symbol string preceding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence and the string type of the individual identified symbol string, to determine whether the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined.

fourth means responsive to the third means determining that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are not permitted to be combined for making the VNI of the individual identified symbol string a new said resulting VNI, and responsive to the third means determining that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined for combining the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string and making the combined VNIs a new said resulting VNI,

fifth means responsive to the first means indicating that the resulting VNI has not been frozen for determining from the definition of the individual identified symbol string whether the VNI resulting from the individual identified symbol string is to be combined with a VNI of any identified symbol string succeeding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence, and

sixth means responsive to the fifth means determining that the resulting VNI is not to be combined with a VNI of any identified succeeding symbol string for causing the first means to change its indication.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein

the treatment-specifying means further comprise:

seventh means responsive to the individual identified symbol string being a last identified symbol string in the symbol sequence, for using the VNI resulting from the individual identified symbol string to specify treatment to be given to the call.

5. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein:

the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix further indicate, at least at each intersection which indicates that the VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column are both permitted to be combined, the string type retained upon combination of the VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column;

the third means include

seventh means for indicating a retained string type resulting from any identified symbol string preceding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence, and

eighth means for applying to the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix the retained string type indicated by the seventh means and the string type of the individual identified symbol string, to determine whether the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined and to determine the retained string type resulting from the individual identified symbol string; and

the fourth means include

ninth means for causing the seventh means to indicate the retained string type determined by the eighth means.

6. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein

the second means comprise:

contents in the data storage means listing a plurality of call treatments; and

means connected to the data storage means, for applying the resulting VNI to the contents which list the call treatments to select therefrom the treatment to be given to the call.

7. The arrangement of claim 6 wherein a call treatment comprises at least one of a feature and a route for the call.

8. A call-processing method for use in a switching system of a telecommunications network having a network numbering plan and wherein callers supply sequences of symbols to specify treatment that is to be given to calls, each sequence comprising at least one symbol string that is defined for the numbering plan of the network, comprising the steps of:

receiving one of the symbol sequences, each individual symbol string included in the received symbol sequence having a context formed by other symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence;

identifying the individual symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence and their contexts;

applying the identities and the contexts of the individual included symbol strings to a reprogrammable programmed arrangement, which holds information for each defined symbol string specifying each defined symbol string'"'"'s present individual influence on call treatment within a context of other symbol strings and defining each of (a) the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence on call treatment, (b) whether the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence is to be combined with the influence of a preceding symbol string in a call-control symbol-sequence, and (c) whether the symbol string'"'"'s context-independent influence is to be combined with the influence of a succeeding symbol string in the call-control symbol-sequence, to determine from the information presently held by the reprogrammable programmed arrangement the present influences of the individual included symbol strings on the call treatment of the call; and

selectively combining the context-independent influences of the included strings defined by the presently-held information as dictated for the included strings by the presently-held information to define the call treatment to be given to the call.

9. A call-processing method for use in a switching system of a telecommunications network having a network numbering plan and wherein callers supply sequences of symbols to specify treatment that is to be given to calls, each sequence comprising at least one symbol string that is defined for the numbering plan of the network, comprising the steps of:

receiving one of the symbol sequences, each individual symbol string included in the received symbol sequence having a context formed by other symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence;

identifying the individual symbol strings included in the received symbol sequence and their contexts;

applying the identities and the contexts of the individual included symbol strings to a reprogrammable programmed arrangement which holds information defining each defined symbol string and including information specifying each defined symbol string'"'"'s present individual influence on call treatment within a context of other symbol strings, the reprogrammable programmed arrangement having a plurality of entries for each individual symbol string including

a first entry having a call-treatment identifier,

a second entry indicating whether the call-treatment identifier of the first entry is to be combined with a call-treatment identifier resulting from any symbol string preceding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and

a third entry indicating whether a call-treatment identifier resulting from the individual symbol string is to be combined with a call-treatment identifier of any symbol string succeeding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence,

to obtain from the reprogrammable programmed arrangement the entries for the identified included symbol strings in order to determine from the information presently held by the reprogrammable programmed arrangement the present influences of the individual included symbol strings on the call treatment of the call; and

combining the call-treatment identifiers contained in the retrieved first entries in a manner defined at least in part by the retrieved second and third entries to form a resultant call-treatment identifier that specifies the treatment to be given to the call.

10. A call-processing method comprising:

in response to receipt of a sequence of symbols associated with a call, parsing the received symbol sequence by using stored definitions of a syntax and a grammar of a network numbering plan that comprises a plurality of defined symbol strings, the stored definitions of the syntax comprising

definitions of individual ones of the symbol strings of the network numbering plan, each definition including an identifier of the symbol string as being of one of a plurality of string types, a virtual nodepoint index (VNI) for influencing selection of a treatment to be given to a call, an indication of whether the VNI is to be combined with a VNI resulting from any symbol string preceding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and an indication of whether a VNI resulting from the individual symbol string is to be combined with a VNI of any symbol string succeeding the individual symbol string in a symbol sequence, and the stored definitions of the grammar comprising

a combine grammar matrix having a plurality of intersecting rows and columns, each row corresponding to a different symbol string type and each column corresponding to a different symbol string type, the rows and the columns indicating at each intersection whether VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column are permitted to be combined so as to both influence selection of the treatment to be given to the call,

to identify in the symbol sequence at least one symbol string of the network numbering plan; and

in response to identification of at least one symbol string of the network numbering plan in the symbol sequence, specifying a treatment to be given to the call by using the stored definitions, including the steps of

indicating whether a VNI resulting from any identified symbol string preceding an individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence has been frozen,

in response to an indication that the resulting VNI has been frozen, using the resulting VNI to specify the treatment to be given to the call,

in response to an indication that the resulting VNI has not been frozen, determining from the definition of the individual identified symbol string whether the VNI of the individual identified symbol string is to be combined with the resulting VNI,

in response to a determination that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are not to be combined, making the VNI of the individual identified symbol string a new said resulting VNI,

in response to a determination that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are to be combined, applying to the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix a string type determined by said any identified symbol string preceding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence and the string type of the individual identified symbol string, to determine whether the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined,

in response to a determination that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are not permitted to be combined, making the VNI of the individual identified symbol string a new said resulting VNI,

in response to a determination that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined, combining the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string,

in response to the combining, making the combined VNIs a new said resulting VNI,

in response to an indication that the resulting VNI has not been frozen, determining from the definition of the individual identified symbol string whether the VNI resulting from the individual identified symbol string is to be combined with a VNI of any identified symbol string succeeding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence, and

in response to a determination that the resulting VNI is not to be combined with a VNI of any identified succeeding symbol string, causing a change in the indication of whether the VNI resulting from any identified preceding symbol string has been frozen.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein

the step of specifying a treatment includes the further step of:

using the VNI resulting from the individual identified symbol string to specify treatment to be given to the call, in response to the individual identified symbol string being a last identified symbol string in the symbol sequence.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein:

the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix further indicate, at least at each intersection which indicates that the VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column are both permitted to be combined, the string type retained upon combination of the VNIs of the string types that correspond to the intersecting row and column;

the step of applying includes the steps of

indicating a retained string type resulting from any identified symbol string preceding the individual identified symbol string in the symbol sequence, and

applying to the rows and the columns of the combine grammar matrix the indicated retained string type and the string type of the individual identified symbol string, to determine whether the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are permitted to be combined and to determine the retained string type resulting from the individual identified symbol string; and

the step of making the VNI of the individual symbol string a new said resulting VNI in response to a determination that the resulting VNI and the VNI of the individual identified symbol string are not permitted to be combined, includes the step of

causing a change in the indication of the retained string type to the retained string type determined from the combine grammar matrix in the step of applying.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein

the step of using the resulting VNI to specify the treatment to be given to the call comprises the step of:

applying the resulting VNI to stored information listing a plurality of call treatment to select therefrom the treatment to be given to the call.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein

the step of applying the resulting VNI comprises the step of:

applying the resulting VNI to stored information listing a plurality of at least one of features and routes for calls to select therefrom at least one of the listed features and routes for the call.