Method and system for determining independent authorization levels in a VPN

• US 7,809,123 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2006
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Redman, Michael E., Karnalkar, Anup D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Quynh H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Asanbayev; Oleg
• Application Number:
  US11/461,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20080043754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,525 Days
• Field of Search: 379/200, 379/221.03, 379/221.06, 379/221.08, 726/2, 726/3, 726/15, 726/17
• US Class Current: 379/200
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for determining independent authorization levels. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a controlling element that manages operations of a virtual private network. The controlling element manages operations of a virtual private network (VPN) by validating that a call belongs to an ISDN access type of the VPN, retrieving from a look-up table a private number associated with a switch identifier, a trunk group identifier, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) corresponding to the call in response to determining that the call belongs to the ISDN access type of the VPN, and identifying a first authorization level associated with the private number. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A switch control point comprising:

a memory to store a private-number table; and

a control element to control a call originated via a private branch exchange (PBX) by a first user of a plurality of users associated with a virtual private network (VPN) by;

determining whether the call from an originating station associated with the first user originated via integrated services digital network (ISDN) access to the VPN;

when the call originated via the ISDN access, querying the private-number table based on a switch identifier for a signal switching point, a trunk group identifier for the PBX, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) associated with the originating station to obtain a private number assigned to the first user;

identifying an authorization level associated with the private number; and

providing the authorization level to the signal switching point, the signal switching point to process the call according to the authorization level.

2. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the private-number table is to associate one specific switch identifier and one specific trunk group identifier to one specific private number.

3. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the private-number table is to associate a plurality of switch identifiers and a plurality of trunk group identifiers to one specific private number.

4. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the private-number table is to associate a range of specific switch identifiers and trunk group identifier identifiers values to one specific private number.

5. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the control element is to assign a default authorization level for a dedicated access line (DAL) to the call when the call did not originate via the ISDN access.

6. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the control element is to match a calling party identifier of an incoming transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message to an OSN entry in the private-number table.

7. The switch control point of claim 1, wherein the control element is to compare the authorization level to a threshold to determine whether to prompt the first user to enter an authorization code.

8. A tangible computer-readable storage medium excluding propagating signals, the storage medium storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:

determine whether a call originated from an originating station via integrated services digital network (ISDN) access to a virtual private network (VPN), the call originating via a private branch exchange (PBX) associated with the VPN by a first user of a plurality of users associated with the VPN, the originating station being associated with the first user;

query a private-number table based on a switch identifier for a signal switching point, a trunk group identifier for the PBX, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) associated with the originating station to obtain a private number assigned to the first user when the call originated via the ISDN access;

identify an authorization level associated with the private number; and

provide the authorization level to the signal switching point, the signal switching point to process the call according to the authorization level.

9. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the private-number table is to associate one specific switch identifier and one specific trunk group identifier to one specific private number.

10. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the private-number table is to associate a plurality of switch identifiers and a plurality of trunk group identifiers to one specific private number.

11. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the private-number table is to associate a range of specific switch identifiers and trunk group identifiers to one specific private number.

12. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to assign a default authorization level for a dedicated access line (DAL) to the call when the call did not originated via the ISDN access.

13. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to match a calling party identifier of an incoming transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message to an OSN entry in the private-number table.

14. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to compare the authorization level to a threshold to determine whether to prompt the first user to enter an authorization code.

15. A method comprising:

determining whether a call originating from an originating station originated via integrated services digital network (ISDN) access to a virtual private network (VPN), the call originating via a private branch exchange (PBX) associated with the VPN by a first user of a plurality of users associated with the VPN, the originating station being associated with the first user;

when the call originated via the ISDN access, querying a private-number table based on a switch identifier for a signal switching point, a trunk group identifier for the PBX, and an Originating Station Number (OSN) associated with the first user to obtain a private number assigned to the first user;

identifying an authorization level based on the obtained private number; and

providing the authorization level to the signal switching point, the signal switching point to process the call according to the authorization level.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the private-number table is to associate one specific switch identifier and one specific trunk group identifier to one specific private number.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the private-number table is to associate a plurality of switch identifiers and a plurality of trunk group identifiers to one specific private number.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the private-number table is to associate a range of specific switch identifiers and trunk group identifiers to one specific private number.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein further comprising assigning a default authorization level for a dedicated access line (DAL) to the call when the call did not originated via the ISDN access.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein further comprising matching a calling party identifier of an incoming transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message to an OSN entry in the private-number table.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein further comprising comparing the authorization level to a threshold to determine whether to prompt the first user to enter an authorization code.