Method for operating a telecommunication network using maintenance messages having filter conditions

• US 6,289,215 B1
• Filed: 10/16/2000
• Issued: 09/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Siemens Networks GmbH & Company KG (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Bernhardi, Karl, Schild, Bernhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thuan T.
• Application Number:
  US09/688,920
• Time in Patent Office: 330 Days
• Field of Search: 455/423, 455/424, 455/550, 455/412, 455/449, 370/338, 370/349, 370/395, 370/422
• US Class Current: 455/423
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/545 using a stored programme

Abstract

The method defines operating a telecommunication network. Application objects which are to be processed using the filter conditions in a maintenance message are selected in an exchange from a control computer. In the exchange, a central interface program uses the filter condition to select an application program in a preselection process. When the application program is executed, the application objects to be processed are then selected and processed.

Claims

1. A method of operating a telecommunications network, which comprises:

providing a switching processor with an operating system and a plurality of application programs for processing application objects containing object data prescribed according to association with an object class;

controlling call-processing equipment with the switching processor at a network node of a telecommunications network;

maintaining the switching processor from at least one control computer, using at least one maintenance message;

forming the maintenance message with a filter condition for selecting particular application objects;

upon execution of an interface program used for a plurality of application programs, utilizing the filter condition to select at least one object class and at least one application program processing the application objects for the object class; and

when the selected application program is executed, selecting and processing the application objects.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filter condition defines a value for at least one object data item, and the method further comprises:

selecting the application program based on at least one of the object data item stipulated in the filter condition and an object class stipulated in the filter condition;

selecting, with the selected application program, the application objects for which the object data item stipulated in the filter condition has the value stipulated in the filter condition.

3. The method according to claim 1, which comprises, when the interface program is executed, using a class database stipulating, for each of the object classes, the object data and at least one application program for processing application objects in the respective class.

4. The method according to claim 1, which comprises defining the filter condition with at least one logic combination operation, and evaluating a logic structure of the filter condition when the interface program is executed.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the evaluating step comprises forming at least one of a normal form and a reduced normal form.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one logic combination operation is selected from the group consisting of AND, OR, and NOT operation.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the evaluating step comprises replacing all NOT operations relating to particular details by a logic value “

TRUE.”

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the evaluating step comprises replacing the value in the filter condition by a prescribed standard value indicating that the object data item stipulated in the filter condition needs to be present in the object class to be determined.

9. The method according to claim 1, which comprises defining a tree structure for the classes and using the tree structure by the control computer and by the switching processor.

10. The method according to claim 1, which comprises performing, with the interface program, further interface functions between the control computer and the switching processor.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the performing step comprises performing a protocol conversion between the message protocol inside and outside of the switching processor.

12. The method according to claim 1, which comprises selecting at least one program from the group consisting of:

a first application program for subscriber administration;

a second application program for an administration of connecting lines to other switching equipment;

a third application program for maintaining the switching equipment; and

a fourth application program for traffic measurement on connected links.

13. The method according to claim 1, which comprises carrying out, with the application objects, processes for processing the object data defined by a respective object class.

15. The network element according to claim 14, wherein said processor is programmed to carry out the method according to claim 1.

14. A network element for a telecommunication network, comprising:

a data memory for storing application objects containing object data prescribed according to association with an object class;

a program memory for storing a plurality of application programs and an interface program;

wherein the application objects are processed when the application program is executed;

wherein, upon execution of the interface program, maintenance messages received via an interface to a control computer are forwarded to at least one application program with a filter condition for selecting particular application objects;

at least one processor configured to execute instructions of the application programs and of the interface program, wherein said processor is programmed to;

select at least one application program via the filter condition on execution of the interface program; and

select and process the application objects on execution of the selected application program.