Service observing equipment for signalling System Seven telephone network
First Claim
1. A telephone service observation system for a telephone network controlled by digital data packets sent over high speed data links, said network comprising a plurality of switching points interconnected by said high speed data links, each of said data links carrying said data packets with information relating to individually associated calls which are identified in said packets by addresses assigned to said individually associated calls, said service observation system comprising:
- means for giving said service observation system access to at least a selected one of said data links for monitoring said data packets as they are transmitted over said selected links;
memory means having a plurality of data depository memory locations for storing said monitored data packets appearing on said selected data links while said service observation system has access thereto;
means for assigning said packet addresses to identify corresponding individual ones of said data depository memory locations for the duration of an observed call identified by said packet address;
means responsive to said stored data packets for accumulating call record information derived from all of said data packets having the packet address corresponding to the address assigned to the depository memory location where the observed call record information accumulates for the duration of the call; and
means responsive to a termination of an observed call represented by said packet address for reading out the call record information accumulated in said depository memory location identified by that packet address in order to indicate the quality of service given to the observed call.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Service observing equipment monitors, detects and makes call records from digital and audio information on an individual call basis. The observation equipment can monitor both a Signalling System Seven (SS #7) and a CCITT #7 in which data packets are transmitted along the high speed data links separated from the telecommunication audio channels. The call record indicates how trouble free and efficiently (or how troubled and inefficiently) individual calls are processed by the telecommunication network. A plurality of separate memory locations are assigned on an individual call basis, for the duration of a given call, to store data received over any of many data links and communication channels relative to that given call. After the call has terminated, the accumulated data is analyzed to determine the call'"'"'s final disposition. A call record is restored in memory for reports and/or transmitted to a printer or another processor. Then, the emptied memory locations are reassigned to accumulate data relative to new calls. In addition, the service observation equipment can trap annoyance calls and generate disposition reports on threshold levels of operation, provide live observing of calls in progress, generate real-time and/or long term peak and average link occupancy reports, and display a listing of time stamped messages for a specific call in order to provide for protocol analysis.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A telephone service observation system for a telephone network controlled by digital data packets sent over high speed data links, said network comprising a plurality of switching points interconnected by said high speed data links, each of said data links carrying said data packets with information relating to individually associated calls which are identified in said packets by addresses assigned to said individually associated calls, said service observation system comprising:
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means for giving said service observation system access to at least a selected one of said data links for monitoring said data packets as they are transmitted over said selected links; memory means having a plurality of data depository memory locations for storing said monitored data packets appearing on said selected data links while said service observation system has access thereto; means for assigning said packet addresses to identify corresponding individual ones of said data depository memory locations for the duration of an observed call identified by said packet address; means responsive to said stored data packets for accumulating call record information derived from all of said data packets having the packet address corresponding to the address assigned to the depository memory location where the observed call record information accumulates for the duration of the call; and means responsive to a termination of an observed call represented by said packet address for reading out the call record information accumulated in said depository memory location identified by that packet address in order to indicate the quality of service given to the observed call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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- 7. A service observing system comprising means for processing data packets containing coded call information received from high speed data links associated with an asynchronous telecommunication network, each of said data packets containing address information relating that particular data packet to a given observed call while in progress within said network, means for assigning said service observing system to a selected location in said telecommunication network, means in said service observing system responsive to said high speed data appearing at said selected location and associated with said observed call for decoding said call and said address information contained within a data packet responsive to a receipt of that data packet at said selected location, memory means associated with said service observing system for accumulating decoded call information in a memory location assigned on a per observed call basis as identified by decoded address locations, means responsive to a termination of an observed call for reading out accumulated call information from said memory location identified by the address of the terminated observed call, and means for thereafter reassigning said memory location to accumulate information under an address assigned to a later observed call.
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14. A telephone service observation system comprising interface means coupled to individual data links and audio communication channels in a telecommunication network where said data links and audio communication channels are separate from and independent of each other;
- means associated with said interface means for connecting said service observation system to select and read data packets appearing on said data links;
means responsive to reading data packets for decoding, storing, and accumulating call record information in said service observation system on a per observed call basis;
call recording means;
means responsive to a termination of an observed call for transferring accumulated call record information to said call recording means;
microprocessor means for decoding packets and audio communications channel information into a final disposition category; and
means associated with said microprocessor means for processing said call record information into reports relating to said observed call. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- means associated with said interface means for connecting said service observation system to select and read data packets appearing on said data links;
- 23. A service observation system for monitoring a telephone network having separate audio and data links, said service observation system being separate from but connectible to said telephone network, said links carrying data packets containing different messages relating to an establishment of an observed call and events occurring in said telephone network pertaining to said observed call, said service observation system comprising a plurality of memory locations, each of said locations being individually associated with specific calls in order to store information about establishment of said observed call and specific events occurring in said telephone network, means responsive to said messages and a sequence of said messages in at least some of said data packets for storing call disposition information in an individual one of said locations identified by said messages and the sequence thereof relating to an observed call, and data processing means for producing a call record with a disposition category in response to said information stored in said locations relating to said observed call.
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28. A service observation equipment for attachment to a signal system seven telephone network wherein audio and data links are separate, said service observation system comprising means for monitoring data packets appearing on at least one of said data links selected for observation, means responsive to said monitoring means for storing information derived from said data packets and from internally within said service observing equipment, said information being stored in a six line format of binary signals, a first line of said format being individually related to a specific call, a second line of said format being generated within said service observation equipment for interpreting a call, a third line of said format being individually related to one of an originating and an intermediate or a terminating telephone system, a fourth line of said format being individually related to the other of said originating and said intermediate or said terminating telephone systems, a fifth line of said format being individually related to billing charges for a telephone call, and a sixth line registering post answer dual tone multi frequency, dial tone, FAX, call waiting tones, etc.
Specification