Apparatus and method for facilitating service management of communications services in a communications network

• US 6,778,651 B1
• Filed: 02/13/1998
• Issued: 08/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vallely, John, Martens, Gary, Vieth, Terry, Merz, Sue, Gilmore, Terry, Jost, Larry, Leet, Randall, Klos, Tim, Champion, Pat, Clark, Mary, Sexton, Mark, Steinmetz, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Deane, Jr., William J.
• Application Number:
  US09/023,923
• Time in Patent Office: 2,377 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 379/201.01, 379/201.02, 379/201.03, 379/201.12, 379/201.05, 379/219, 379/243
• US Class Current: 379/201.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/90 using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/016 Billing using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2263 Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking

Abstract

A service management system for a communications network which accepts requests for communications services from service order sources. The service management system includes an interface to the service order sources, a database, and an interface to network elements which provide the communications services. The service order sources may have differing order input formats which are converted by the system into a single internal format for processing and determining of provisioning information to be output to the network-elements. The service management system includes table-driven logic which is used to validate and process the requests to determine the provisioning information. Once the provisioning information is determined, it is queued to the appropriate network element, and an acknowledgment is sent to the originating service order source. The service management system also includes a interface to query the database and network elements to perform debugging and error correction.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating service order management within a communications network, said system receiving requests from a plurality of service order sources, each request representative of a service order for at least one communications service associated with a subscriber number, said communications network comprising network elements which provide communications services, said system comprising:

an order manager configured to input said requests, said order manager determining service implementing information, through a plurality of processes, that is output to said network elements to implement said at least one communications service, the processes comprising a verification process that determines when the request contains an allowable combination of communications services at a scheduled implementation date and that further determines which of the network elements support the communications services at the scheduled implementation date;

an interface configured to interface said service order manager with the service order sources and said network elements; and

a database configured to store and access data related to said requests in a hierarchical format;

wherein at least one of the service order sources has a dissimilar input/output format, each dissimilar input/output service order format being converted into a single internal format.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processes of said order manager further comprise an input process, a messaging process, and an output process.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the messaging process formats messages created by said order manager for distribution within said order manager, and for distribution to said database, said at least one service order source and said network elements via said interface.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said interface comprises an interface controller that monitors and controls transactions.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said interface controller provides a mechanism for concurrently processing a plurality of requests within said order manager.

6. The system according to claim 4, further comprising a query controller that queries said database and said network elements.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the messages comprise queries, acknowledgments, transaction types, function types, broadcasts, informational messages, and error notices.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein, the input process comprises accepting input data from said at least one service order source and verifying that the inputted data contains a predetermined minimum content requirement.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the input process further comprises populating said database with raw data associated with the request, and wherein an internal sequence number is generated and associated with the request.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the input process further comprises determining if the request contains errors, and if so, the input process corrects the errors and populates said database with the raw data based on the request.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the input process further comprises identifying duplicative requests, and wherein a first of the duplicative requests is processed and others of the duplicative requests are not processed by said order manager.

12. The system according to claim 8, wherein the input process further comprises updating requests received in a raw format from operations support systems and identifying manual update requests.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein the input process further comprises reformatting raw data into the hierarchical format of said database, the hierarchical format comprising tables having fields, said tables being associated by said internal sequence number.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the verification process further determines if the fields contain valid data in accordance with at least one predetermined constraint.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the verification process further selectively updates a lock table to prevent concurrent processing of two requests associated with the subscriber number.

16. A system for facilitating service order management within a communications network, said system receiving request, each request representative of a service order for at least one communications service associated with a subscriber number, from a plurality of service order sources, said communications network comprising network elements which provide communications services, said system comprising:

means for order management that inputs said request, said order management means comprising processes which determine service implementing information that is output to said network elements to implement said at least one communications service, the processes comprising a verification process that determines when the request contains an allowable combination of communications services at a scheduled implementation date, the verification process determining which of the network elements support the communications services at the scheduled implementation date;

means for interfacing said service order management means with said service order sources and said network elements; and

database means for storing and accessing data related to said requests in a hierarchical format;

wherein each service order source has a dissimilar input/output format, wherein said managing means coverts each dissimilar input/output service order format into a single internal format, and wherein said processes communicate via messages containing said requests, said messages being monitored at predetermined times.

17. An advanced intelligent network (AIN) system for facilitating service order management within a communications network, the system receiving requests from a plurality of service order sources, each request representative of a service order for at least one communications service associated with a subscriber account, the communications network comprising network elements which provide communications services, the system comprising:

an order manager that inputs the requests, the order manager determining service implementing information, through a plurality of processes, output to the network elements, the processes comprising at least a service order matching process, relating a plurality of orders associated with the subscriber account, determining a net change to the subscriber account based on the related orders, and provisioning a composite service order based on the net change; and

an interface that interfaces the service order manager with the service order sources and the network elements;

wherein the order manager converts service order formats of the service order sources into a single internal format.

18. The system for facilitating service order management within an AIN communications network according to claim 17, wherein the service order matching comprises a local service provider order matching.

19. The system for facilitating service order management within an AIN communications network according to claim 17, the order matching comprising From (F) and To (T) as a single service order.

20. A system for facilitating service order management within an advanced intelligent network (AIN) communications network, the system receiving requests from a plurality of service order sources, each request representative of a service order for at least one communications service associated with a subscriber, the communications network comprising network elements which provide communications services, the system comprising:

an order manager that inputs the requests, the order manager determining service implementing information, through a plurality of processes, output to the network elements to implement the at least one communications service, the processes comprising at least a number change process determining a change from a first subscriber number to a second subscriber number, based on at least one related order, and determining a composite service order to provision a communications service, associated with the first subscriber number, in association with the second subscriber number; and

an interface that interfaces the service order manager with the service order sources and the network elements;

wherein the order manager converts service order formats of the service order sources into a single internal format.