Methods and systems for routing messages between a mated pair of routing nodes with a distributed processing architecture and one or more redundantly connected remote applications
First Claim
1. A method for routing messages between a mated pair of routing nodes having a distributed internal processing architecture and one or more redundantly connected remote applications, the method comprising:
- (a) receiving a signaling message at a first communications module in a first routing node of a mated pair of routing nodes, the mated pair of routing nodes being redundantly connected to one or more remote applications, the signaling message being addressed to a first point code shared by the mated pair of routing nodes and the one or more remote applications;
(b) determining, based on information in the signaling message, whether to forward the message to one of the remote applications or to a second routing node of the mated pair of routing nodes;
(c) in response to determining to forward the message to one of the remote applications, replacing the first point code with a second point code used internally by the first and second routing nodes to identify the remote application and distributing the message to a second communications module within the first routing node using the second point code, the second communications module being associated with the remote application; and
(d) in response to determining to forward the message to the second routing node, replacing the first point code with a third point code used internally by the first routing node to identify the second routing node and distributing the signaling message to a third communications module within the first routing node based on the third point code, the third communicatidns module being associated with the second routing node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for routing messages between a mated pair of routing nodes with a distributed processing architecture and one or more redundantly connected remote applications are disclosed. A mated pair of routing nodes uses private point codes to distribute messages destined for remote applications among internal processing modules and between the routing nodes. The routing nodes replace the private point codes with a shared point code before sending the messages to one of the remote applications. When communicating with external PSTN nodes, the mated pair of routing nodes uses the shared point code.
61 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for routing messages between a mated pair of routing nodes having a distributed internal processing architecture and one or more redundantly connected remote applications, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving a signaling message at a first communications module in a first routing node of a mated pair of routing nodes, the mated pair of routing nodes being redundantly connected to one or more remote applications, the signaling message being addressed to a first point code shared by the mated pair of routing nodes and the one or more remote applications; (b) determining, based on information in the signaling message, whether to forward the message to one of the remote applications or to a second routing node of the mated pair of routing nodes; (c) in response to determining to forward the message to one of the remote applications, replacing the first point code with a second point code used internally by the first and second routing nodes to identify the remote application and distributing the message to a second communications module within the first routing node using the second point code, the second communications module being associated with the remote application; and (d) in response to determining to forward the message to the second routing node, replacing the first point code with a third point code used internally by the first routing node to identify the second routing node and distributing the signaling message to a third communications module within the first routing node based on the third point code, the third communicatidns module being associated with the second routing node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for utilizing message transfer part (MTP) routing to communicate messages between routing nodes of a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application that share a point code, the method comprising:
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(a) communicating with nodes in a public switched telephone network (PSTN) using a first point code shared by a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application; (b) communicating messages between routing nodes of the mated pair of routing nodes using second and third point codes used by the routing nodes to identify each other; (c) communicating messages intended for the remote application between the routing nodes using a fourth point code utilized internally by the routing nodes to identify the remote application; and (d) identifying messages from the nodes in the PSTN addressed to the first point code as being intended for the remote application using a parameter in each of the signaling messages in combination with the first point code. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for utilizing message transfer part (MTP) routing to communicate messages between routing nodes of a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application that share a point code, the method comprising:
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(a) communicating with nodes in a public switched telephone network (PSTN) using a first point code shared by a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application; (b) communicating messages between routing nodes of the mated pair of routing nodes using second and third point codes used by the routing nodes to identify each other; and (c) communicating messages intended for the remote application between the routing nodes using a fourth point code utilized internally by the routing nodes to identify the remote application, wherein communicating with nodes in the PSTN using the first point code includes replacing originating point code values in messages destined for the PSTN with the first point code.
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19. A method for utilizing message transfer part (MTP) routing to communicate messages between routing nodes of a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application that share a point code, the method comprising:
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(a) communicating with nodes in a public switched telephone network (PSTN) using a first point code shared by a mated pair of routing nodes and a remote application; (b) communicating messages between routing nodes of the mated pair of routing nodes using second and third point codes used by the routing nodes to identify each other; (c) communicating messages intended for the remote application between the routing nodes using a fourth point code utilized internally by the routing nodes to identify the remote application, wherein said communicating messages intended for the remote application between the routing nodes using the fourth point code includes replacing point code values in destination point code (DPC) fields of messages intended for the remote application with the fourth point code, and (d) replacing the fourth point code values in the DPC fields of the messages intended for the remote application with the first point code before sending the messages to the remote application.
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20. A system including pair of routing nodes having signal transfer point (STP) functionality and remote application support functionality, the system comprising:
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(a) a first routing node capable of operating in a first mode for performing normal STP functions and a second mode for providing remote application support; and (b) a second routing node for functioning in the first mode for performing normal STP functions, and in the second mode for providing remote application support, wherein the first and second routing nodes are adapted to switch between the first and second modes of operation based on the origins of received signaling messages, wherein switching between the first and second modes of operation includes operating in the first mode in response to receiving a signaling message from a first public switched telephone network (PSTN) and operating in the second mode in response to receiving a signaling message from a second PSTN. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system including pair of routing nodes having signal transfer point (STP) functionality and remote application support functionality, the system comprising:
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(a) a first routing node capable of operating in a first mode for performing normal STP functions and a second mode for providing remote application support; and (b) a second routing node for functioning in the first mode for performing normal STP functions, and in the second mode for providing remote application support, wherein the first and second routing nodes are adapted to switch between the first and second modes of operation based on the origins of received signaling messages, wherein operating in the first mode includes performing MTP routing of messages based on public SS7 point codes contained in destination point code (DPC) fields of the messages without replacing the point code values in the DPC fields with private point codes.
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26. A remote application support system for supporting multiple remote applications using multiple internal point codes, the system comprising:
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(a) a first routing node for communicating with a first network using a first public point code and for internally distributing messages between processing modules in the first routing node intended for a plurality of remote applications and using a plurality of different private point codes; and (b) a second routing node coupled to the first routing node, the second routing node being configured to communicate with the first network using the first point code and to internally distribute messages intended for the remote applications between processing modules in the second routing node using the private point codes, wherein the first routing node, the second routing node and the plurality of remote applications all have, as an address in the first network, the first public point code. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A remote application support system for supporting multiple remote applications using multiple internal point codes, the system comprising:
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(a) a first routing node for communicating with a first network using a first public point code and for internally distributing messages intended for a plurality of remote applications and using a plurality of different private point codes; and (b) a second routing node coupled to the first routing node, the second routing node being configured to communicate with the first network using the first point code and to internally distribute messages intended for the remote applications using the private point codes; wherein; the first routing node, the second routing node and the plurality of remote applications all have, as an address in the first network, the first public point code, the first and second routing nodes each include a distributed internal processing architecture having a plurality of link interface modules connected via a bus;
the plurality of link interface modules includes first link interface modules in the first and second routing nodes for communicating with the first network, second link interface modules for communicating messages between the first and second routing nodes, and third link interface modules for communicating with the remote applications; andthe first link interface modules each include a transmit filter for preventing messages having the private point codes from being sent to the first network, the second link interface modules each include a transmit filter for replacing originating point code (OPC) values in messages communicated between the first and second routing nodes with private point codes, and the third link interface modules each include a transmit filter for replacing destination point code (DPC) values in messages destined for the remote applications with the first point code.
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Specification