Implementation of service independent building blocks

• US 6,347,311 B1
• Filed: 11/15/1999
• Issued: 02/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Eight Esemay DE LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Networks (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Aakula, Jukka, Hartikainen, Eeva, Saviranta, Tapio
• Primary Examiner(s): Davis, George B.
• Application Number:
  US09/440,411
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 706/57, 707/104
• US Class Current: 706/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0058 using service-independent building blocks (SIBBs) or "primitives"
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

When implementing services compiled of service independent building blocks (SIB) in an intelligent network, the SIB parameters to be relayed in computer instructions are replaced with a global data structure, whereby no parameters at all are transferred in the instruction call. Having no parameters means that each SIB receives the parameters it needs from one global variable. The global variable is visible to all SIBs, whereby each individual SIB fetches the parameters it requires from it. As regards some SIBs it is rather certain that they will remain unchanged and thus really service independent, but for some there is no such certainty, and for this reason the SIBs may be divided logically into two groups: assisting and performing SIBs respectively. Parameters of the performing SIBs are not relayed in the sub-programme call, but in one or several global data structure variables. The global variable is some data structure which is suitable for the purpose and in the fields of which the assisting SIBs place their information and from the fields of which the performing SIBs fetch the information they need. In the placing and fetching of information reference is made to a field of the data structure with the aid of an unambiguous field identifier. In addition, use of the information is conditional so that the information will be used only if the information differs from a certain initialisation value. In this way it is ensured that the building blocks (SIB) to be used in the implementation of telecommunication services in an intelligent network are service independent.

Claims

1. A method of a special implementation of service independent building blocks for use in service programmes in an intelligent network, each service independent building block having a name and at least one of service independent building block'"'"'s having at least one parameter, the method comprising:

forming a set of assisting building blocks, said set containing the service independent building blocks having parameters of which number and type are unchangeable;

forming a set of performing building blocks, said set containing the service independent building blocks having parameters of which number and type are changeable;

setting an identifier to each field of a data structure used as a global variable, said setting enables the service independent building blocks to place a parameter in the field or fetch parameter from the field by referring to the identifier;

forming a service programme by using names and parameters of the service independent building blocks, and during an execution of the service programme, relaying the parameters of the assisting building blocks in sub programme calls;

placing the parameters of the performing building blocks in the global variable; and

fetching the parameters of the performing building blocks from the global variable.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein a new parameter of a performing building block is introduced so that a new field is added to the data structure used as the global variable and an unambiguous identifier is set to the new field, and before the execution of the service programme, the new field is initialized with a predetermined initialization value.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein use of the new parameter is conditional, wherein the new parameter does not have to be added to existing service programmes.

4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the performing building block uses the new parameter only if a value of the new field differs from the predetermined initialization value.