System and method for monitoring congestion paging

• US 7,576,634 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2005
• Issued: 08/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: King, Kevin, Beeler, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman; Brian A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Syed; Nabil H
• Application Number:
  US11/128,466
• Publication Number:
  US 20050208955A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,558 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/332, 370/333, 455/453, 455/434, 455/423, 455/458, 455/422, 340/505, 340/7.58, 340/7.2, 340/825, 340/7.1, 379/88.11
• US Class Current: 340/7.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring a paging signal from a mobile switch to a cellular transmitter for occurrences of congestion. The system includes a switch; a cell site in communication with the switch, for broadcasting a page received from the switch to a cellular device configured to receive the page; and a monitoring module in communication with the switch for monitoring occurrences of paging congestion between the switch and the cell site.

Claims

1. An apparatus for monitoring paging congestion, comprising:

a first interface to a mobile switch that transmits paging messages to be communicated through a cell site from a public switched telephone network in communication with the mobile switch, the mobile switch providing a bridge between a public switched telephone network and the cell site; and

a monitoring module in communication with a paging queue of the mobile switch via a second interface, the monitoring module determining congestion in the transmission of the paging messages between the mobile switch and the cell site by counting a number of paging messages that the mobile switch is unable to transmit to the cell site via the first interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the paging message is adapted to alert the cell phone to ring for an incoming call.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the incoming call is a voice communication.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus communicates a notification responsive to the number of messages that the mobile switch is unable to transmit to the cell site within a predetermined limit.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the predetermined limit is evaluated per a unit of time.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the notification is at least one of an electronic mail message and a page.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the monitoring module is located outside of the cell site.

7. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions which, when executed on a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive data from a paging queue of a bridging device over a second interface concerning messages to be communicated to a cell site over a first interface from the bridging device which is in communication between the cell site and a public switched telephone network, the messages comprising information that is broadcast by the cell site to page a cell phone; and

determine congestion in the transmission of the paging messages between the cell site and the bridging device by counting a number of paging messages that a cell site is unable to receive via the first interface of the bridging device.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein a paging message is a page adapted to alert the cell phone to ring for an incoming call.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the incoming call is a voice communication.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising communicating a notification responsive to the number of paging messages that the bridging device is unable to transmit to the cell site within a predetermined limit.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predetermined limit is evaluated per a unit of time.

12. The computer-readable medium claim 10, wherein communicating the notification comprises communicating at least one of an electronic mail message and a page.