System and method for providing a unified communications link between divergent communication networks

• US 5,896,440 A
• Filed: 02/26/1996
• Issued: 04/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GTE Service Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GTE Service Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Tamminen, Walter E. Jr., Reed, Walter S., Kohn, Nathan M., Thornton, Ronald D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US08/613,758
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• Field of Search: 379/1, 379/2, 379/10, 379/34, 379/15, 379/16, 379/93, 379/94, 379/112, 379/221, 379/229, 379/230, 379/236, 379/237, 379/240, 379/241, 370/465, 370/466, 370/467
• US Class Current: 379/9.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/08 Indicating faults in circuits or apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2254 in networks

Abstract

A unified communication system is designed using an agreed upon transmission protocol between different carriers. The protocol is used to allow the automatic gathering of administrative data (such as trouble reports) from diverse locations within a sending network, using the proprietary administration data language and structure of that network. The gathered data is transported using the transmission principle to a single point of contact at a receiving network and translated into a data structure proprietary to the receiving network and thus presented to the proper system for action within the receiving system.

Claims

1. A processor for use between telecommunication networks for controlling the control data between said telecommunication networks, said control data of each telecommunication network being incompatible with control data from other of said telecommunication networks, and wherein at a sending one of said telecommunication networks said control data are generated from a plurality of geographically-separated systems and wherein at a receiving one of said telecommunication networks said control data are directed to one of the plurality of geographically-separated systems, the particular one of said plurality of geographically-separated systems being unknown to said sending telecommunication network, said processor comprising:

means for accepting data from any one of said plurality of geographically-separated systems associated with a sending one of said telecommunication networks;

means for organizing said accepted data into a message protocol for transport on a common communications network to a selected receiving telecommunication network;

means for accepting a transported message protocol from a sending one of said telecommunication networks and for converting said message protocol into the control data usable by said plurality of geographically-separated systems associated with said receiving telecommunication network;

means for controlled by data contained within each said converted message protocol for determining which one of said plurality of geographically-separated systems associated with said receiving telecommunication network said converted message protocol is directed to; and

means for communicating said control data from each said converted message protocol to the proper one of said plurality of geographically-separated systems within said receiving telecommunication network under the control of said determining means.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein said organizing means includes:

means for direecting all said message protocols to the same communications switch address without regard to either the system from which said data have been accepted or the system to which said data are directed.

3. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for accepting a transported message protocol includes:

means for concurrently accepting transported message protocols from a plurality of different networks.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein said means for accepting a transported message protocol further includes:

means for maintaining a distinction between respective received ones of said transported message protocols from said plurality of different networks.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein said means for accepting a transported message protocol further includes:

means for accepting responses from systems to which control data have been communicated;

means for organizing said accepted responses into message protocols for transport on said common communications switch to said telecommunication network from which said control data has been received under control of said distinction maintaining means.

6. In a communication system in which a long distance carrier handles certain telecommunication connections between calling and called telephone end users and wherein a local carrier provides respective physical connections to at least some of the end users, and wherein administrative data pertaining to a particular one of said physical connections are generated at either the long distance carrier or at the local carrier, said administrative data structured in a protocol unique to said generating carrier and generated at a number of different physical locations within said generating carrier'"'"'s operating boundaries, said system comprising:

means at said generating carrier for gathering at a central point generated administrative data destined for the other carrier;

means at said central point for packaging groups of said gathered administrative data into a transport protocol for communication across a switched telecommunication network to a target carrier;

means at said target carrier for receiving transported ones of packaged groups of administrative data and for processing said transport protocol to reconstruct said administration data into a protocol usable by equipment within said target carrier;

means at said target carrier for maintaining a cross reference between equipment and the physical location of said equipment; and

means controlled by said processing means for delivering said reconstructed data to a location within said target carrier in accordance with equipment information embedded within said transport protocol and with said cross reference maintained by said target carrier.

7. The invention set forth in claim 6 further comprising:

means at said generating carrier for identifying a group of said administrative data to be processed as a unit by said target carrier;

means for identifying a communication channel between said generating carrier and said target carrier with a particular one of said units; and

means at said target carrier for returning messages pertaining to each said unit over said communication channel identified with said unit.

8. The invention set forth in claim 6 wherein said administrative data comprise a trouble report generated at said long distance carrier identifying a particular end user'"'"'s equipment and wherein said target carrier is said local carrier;

means at said local carrier for accepting said trouble report and for determining the condition of said end user'"'"'s equipment; and

means controlled by said target carrier processing means and responsive to said determining means for packaging a response into said transport protocol for delivery across said switched network to said long distance carrier.

9. The invention set forth in claim 6 wherein said communication across said switched telecommunication network is between a single point of contact within each said carrier.

10. The invention set forth in claim 6 further comprising:

association means for cooperating between said packaging means at said generating carrier and said receiving means at said target carrier for establishing a linkage therebetween for each said transported protocol;

means at said target carrier for maintaining a data association between each said linkage and the equipment identification received as part of said transported protocol of said linkage; and

means controlled by said packaging means at said generating carrier for transporting inquiry messages to said target carrier receiving means on a linkage-by-linkage basis.

11. The invention set forth in claim 10 further comprising:

means controlled by said receiving means at said target carrier for determining when an association should be closed; and

means controlled by said receiving means at said target carrier for communicating said determination to said generating carrier.

12. The invention set forth in claim 11 wherein all said transported protocols across said switched telecommunications network occur between a single transmission point at said generating carrier and a single transmission point at said target carrier.

13. The invention set forth in claim 12 further comprising:

means for ending each said association under control of said closure determination means; and

means for maintaining a pathway through said swithched telecommunication network between said central points for each said association prior to an ending of said association.

14. The invention set forth in claim 10 further comprising:

means controlled by said receiving means at said target carrier for screening incoming status inquiry messages and for providing responses to said inquiry messages only when the inquiry for a particular linkage matches said stored data pertaining to said linkage for each said linkage.

15. The invention set forth in claim 10 wherein said inquiry message pertains to a trouble history record of said identified equipment.

16. The invention set forth in claim 10 further comprising:

means controlled by said receiving means at said target carrier for verifying that said packaging means at said generating carrier is authorized to transport said inquiry message.