Method and system for dynamic service profile integration by a service controller

• US 7,027,408 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2001
• Issued: 04/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nabkel, Jafar S., Jaramillo, Paul D., Egan, Ronald J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cho, Hong Sol
• Application Number:
  US09/842,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20020167935A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,812 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/352, 370/486, 370/487, 709/220, 709/221, 709/222, 379/114, 379/121, 379/201, 379/221
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13296 Packet switching, X.25, frame relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet

Abstract

A method and system for providing integrated control of communication services includes an Integrated Service Controller (ISC) to establish communications with one or more communications networks, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network or the Internet. The ISC is further configured to provide dynamic service profile merging of service specific parameters, which are settable by a customer and/or communications service. The service specific parameters may contain variable entries which each of the communication services provide. The ISC may logically merge the service specific parameters into a multi service profile which contains a master key as well as service specific fields unique to each communications services.

Claims

1. A system for providing integrated control of at least one communication service provided by at least one communication service provider comprising:

at least one integrated services controller (ISC) connectable to a plurality of communications networks, said at least one ISC is configurable to provide dynamic service profile merging of service-specific parameters settable by at least one of;

a customer and the service, which contains one or more variable entries, provided by each of the at least one communication services; and

wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to logically merge the service-specific parameters into a multi-service profile (MMSP) which contains at least one master key field and which further comprises at least one service-specific field unique to each of the at least one communication service.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to control the at least one communication service for an individual person customer.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured as a child member within a group all related to a parent ISC that manages a customer group of related individual persons or a group of related ISC groups.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to control the at least one communication service for a plurality of individual person customers.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the service profile adheres to a profile schema pre-defined by the at least one ISC which includes the at least one master key field shared across the at least one communication services and comprises at least one service-specific field unique to each of the at least one communication services.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the profile schema defines a visibility attribute settable by the at least one communication service providing at least one level of visibility setting that defines whether the service-specific fields for said service are visible to other services when merged by the at least one ISC.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the profile schema supports a default entry for each of the at least one service-specific field settable by at least one of a customer or the service wherein if defined establishes a default setting for said field whereby all other entries in the profile schema establish exceptions to the default entry.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein the profile schema supports a child ISC modifiability attribute for each of the at least one master key field and each of the at least one service-specific field settable by at least one of a customer or the service wherein if defined establishes a default setting of modifiability for said field by other child ISCs related to said at least one ISC.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein the current entry values for the at least one master key field and possible at least one service-specific field in the service profile are dynamically communicated, through an interactive exchange of one or more commands, from each of the at least one communication services to the at least one ISC at the time the said service is initiated.

10. The system of claim 5 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to automatically merge shared master key fields of the service profile from each of the at least one communication services and append corresponding service-specific fields from each of the at least one communication services into a merged multi-service profile (MMSP).

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a user interface connectable to the at least one ISC which provides for viewing and editing access to all or a portion of the MMSP.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the MMSP contains one or more service-specific fields for presence information and also contains one or more service-specific fields for availability information.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the presence and availability information is made visible to other services for use in internal service processing.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the presence and availability information is provided by a single Presence and Availability service.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the presence and availability information is provided by a separate Presence Service and an Availability Service.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein a first ISC is further configurable to communicate with at least one other ISC to provide inter-ISC integration.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein one of the at least one ISCs is configured as a master ISC and another of the at least one ISCs is configured as a remote ISC relative to the master ISC for a specific customer.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the master ISC restricts access to the remote ISC.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein a plurality of the at least one ISCs are configured as peer ISCs.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein one of the at least one lSCs is configured as a standalone ISC within a hierarchy of the at least one ISCs.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein each of the at least one ISCs is configured as at least one of:

a master ISC to other remote ISCs, a remote ISC to other of the master ISCs, a peer ISC to other peer ISCs, or a standalone ISC.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein the other ISC is provisioned in the same network domain operated by the same communication service provider as the first ISC.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein the at least one other ISC is provisioned in a different network domain operated by a different communication service provider as the first ISC.

24. A method for providing integrated control of at least one communication service provided by at least one communication service provider comprising the steps of:

configuring at least one integrated services controller to be connectable to a plurality of communications network;

receiving from at least one communications service a plurality of service-specific parameters settable by at least one of;

a customer and the service, which contain one or more variable entries; and

dynamically merging the plurality of service-specific parameters into a multi-service profile (MMSP) which contains at least one master key field and which further comprises at least one service-specific field unique to each of the at least one communication service.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to control the at least one communication service for an individual person customer.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured as a child member within a group all related to a parent ISC that manages a customer group of related individual persons or a group of related ISC groups.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to control the at least one communication service for a plurality of individual person customers.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the service profile adheres to a profile schema pre-defined by the at least one ISC which includes at least one master key field shared across the at least one communication services and comprises at least one service-specific field unique to each of the at least one communication services.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the profile schema defines a visibility attribute settable by the at least one communication service providing at least one level of visibility setting that defines whether the service-specific fields for said service are visible to other services when merged by the at least one ISC.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the profile schema supports a default entry for each of the at least one service-specific field settable by at least one of:

a customer or the service wherein if defined establishes a default setting for said field whereby all other entries in the profile schema establish exceptions to the default entry.

31. The method of claim 28 wherein the profile schema supports a child ISC modifiability attribute for each of the at least one master key field and each of the at least one service-specific field settable by at least one of:

a customer and the service, wherein if defined establishes a default setting of modifiability for said field by other child ISCs related to said at least one ISC.

32. The method of claim 28 wherein the current entry values for the at least one master key field and possible service-specific field in the service profile are dynamically communicated, through an interactive exchange of one or more commands, from each of the at least one communication services to the at least one ISC at the time the said service is initiated.

33. The method of claim 28 wherein the at least one ISC is further configured to automatically merge shared master key fields of the service profile from each of the at least one communication services and append corresponding service-specific fields from each of the at least one communication services into a merged multi-service profile (MMSP).

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising a user interface connectable to the at least one ISC which provides for viewing and editing access to all or a portion of the MMSP.

35. The method of claim 24 wherein the MMSP contains one or more service-specific fields for presence information and also contains one or more service-specific fields for availability information.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the presence and availability information is made visible to other services for use in their internal service processing.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the presence and availability information is provided by a single Presence and Availability service.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the presence and availability information is provided by a separate Presence Service and an Availability Service.

39. The method of claim 24 wherein a first ISC is further configurable to communicate with at least one other ISC to provide inter-ISC integration.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein one of the at least one ISCs is configured as a master ISC and another of the at least one ISCs may be configured as a remote ISC relative to the master ISC for a specific customer.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein the master ISC restricts access to the remote ISC.

42. The method of claim 39 wherein a plurality of the at least one ISCs are configured as peer ISCs.

43. The method of claim 39 wherein one of the at least one ISCs is configured as a standalone ISC within a hierarchy of the at least one ISCs.

44. The method of claim 39 wherein each of the at least one ISCs is configured as at least one of:

a master ISC to other remote ISCs, a remote ISC to other of the master ISCs, a peer ISC to other peer ISCs, or a standalone ISC.

45. The method of claim 39 wherein the other ISC is provisioned in the same network domain operated by the same communication service provider as the first ISC.

46. The method of claim 39 wherein the at least one other ISC is provisioned in a different network domain operated by a different communication service provider as the first ISC.