Networked telephony central offices
First Claim
1. A method for managing a network, comprising;
- determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network;
performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2);
(A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said set;
(A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel;
wherein each of said process interfaces is responsive to its corresponding network address when the corresponding network address is identified in network communications by the process interface; and
providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with one or more of said process interfaces on the network;
decoding at least a first network address of said one or more corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communications networking system is disclosed for controlling and monitoring devices within a telephony central office. The networking system includes a high bandwidth local area network (LAN) within the central office for transferring substantially all communications between each central office network element and remote telephony operational support systems (OSSs) that control and monitor network element performance. The LAN simplifies communications within the central office: (a) by substantially eliminating direct connections, between central office network elements and remote OSSs, and (b) by utilizing at least one standardized communication protocol such as TCP/IP, UDP/IP, or OSI when transferring communications over the LAN. The networking system includes a mediation device(s) for translating between network element specific protocols and a standardized protocol used on the LAN. The networking system further includes redundant routers, each acting as an interface between a wide area network (WAN) connecting to the central office and the central office local area network, wherein the WAN provides substantially all of the communications between the central office and the OSSs. One of the routers is used in securing the central office against undesirable access by agents dialing into the central office via the public telephone lines. This router obtains an ID and password from a dial-in agent, and communicates with a remote security center to determine what central office process interfaces the agent may access. The router also prohibits dial-in users from accessing the WAN and thereby accessing other telephony service control sites.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. A method for managing a network, comprising;
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determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network; performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2); (A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said set; (A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel; wherein each of said process interfaces is responsive to its corresponding network address when the corresponding network address is identified in network communications by the process interface; and providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with one or more of said process interfaces on the network; decoding at least a first network address of said one or more corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for managing a network, comprising;
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determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network; performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2); (A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said corresponding set of hardware components; (A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel; providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with at least one process interface on the network; decoding, for a technician, a first network address of said corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components; wherein said network includes a wide area network using an Internet protocol addressing scheme. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
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46. A method for managing a network, comprising;
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determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network, wherein for each of said process interfaces, a local area network of a telephony central office is determined for communicating with the process interface; performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2); (A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said set; (A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said corresponding set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel; providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with at least one process interface on the network; decoding, for a technician, a first network address of said corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
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49. A method for managing a network, comprising;
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determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network; performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2); (A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said set, wherein at least one of a communication card and a socket on said communication card is a hardware component of said corresponding set of hardware components; (A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel; providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with at least one process interface on the network; decoding, for a technician, a first network address of said corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for managing a network, comprising;
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determining a plurality of process interfaces, each said process interface being connected to said network; performing for each of said process interfaces the following steps (A1) through (A2); (A1) identifying a corresponding set of hardware components wherein network communications with the process interface utilize a corresponding communication channel defined by said hardware components of said corresponding set of hardware components; (A2) assigning a corresponding network address for routing network communications to the process interface, wherein said corresponding network address comprises an encoded identification of each hardware component of said corresponding set of hardware components for the corresponding communication channel, and wherein said corresponding network address includes an Internet protocol address extended with additional addressing information for encoding said corresponding set of hardware components; providing one or more of said corresponding network addresses for communicating with at least one process interface on the network; decoding, for a technician, a first network address of said corresponding network addresses to determine said hardware components in said corresponding set of hardware components for locating one or more of said hardware components in the corresponding set of hardware components. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification