System for expanding a parameter encoding field in a message to allow additional parameters to be added while maintaining compatibility with existing parameter encodings

• US 6,529,505 B1
• Filed: 07/14/1998
• Issued: 03/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Shelhamer, Kenneth Wayne, Kuo, Jason T., Sawyer, Albert Joseph, Davis, William Robert, Larson, Ronald Frank, Thompson, Robin Jeffrey, Stoa, Larry Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): TON, DANG T
• Application Number:
  US09/115,149
• Time in Patent Office: 1,694 Days
• Field of Search: 370/465, 370/466, 370/470, 370/471, 370/473, 370/232, 370/252, 370/260, 370/267, 370/351, 370/389, 370/392, 370/395, 370/401, 370/431, 370/464, 370/474, 370/254, 358/434, 375/286, 709/243, 709/213, 709/238, 709/250, 710/242, 380/25, 395/200.12, 395/650
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0025 Provisions for signalling

Abstract

A system for expanding a parameter encoding field in a new communications protocol that is compatible with an old protocol. An unused command parameter in an old protocol is used to indicate an expanded parameter encoding field in a new protocol. Parameter encodings from the old protocol are unchanged in the new protocol. A system communicating using the old protocol recognizes all parameters from the old protocol and ignores parameters from the new protocol. A system communicating using the new protocol recognizes parameters from both the old and new protocols.

Claims

1. A communication system for transmitting message packets between processing systems comprising:

means in a first processing system for generating and transmitting messages in a first protocol;

a parameter in said message containing a parameter identification field;

an indicator encoding in said parameter identification field indicating an expanded parameter identification;

an expanded parameter identification sub-field in a data field of said parameter;

means in a second processing system for receiving said message;

means in said second processing system for reading said parameter responsive to receiving said message;

means responsive to reading said parameter for determining whether said indicator encoding is in said parameter identification field;

means responsive to a determination that said indicator encoding is contained in said parameter identification field of said parameter for reading said expanded parameter identification field from said parameter containing a one of a plurality of encodings representing a parameter that is supported by said first protocol and is not supported by a second protocol; and

means for processing said parameter responsive to reading said expanded encoding.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said expanded parameter sub-field is in a data segment of said parameter in said message.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said expanded parameter identification sub-field is at a beginning of said data segment.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said indicator encoding is an unused parameter encoding for parameters supported by said second protocol.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

means in said second device for determining whether said encoding in said parameter identification field represents a parameter supported by said second protocol responsive to a determination that said indicator encoding is not contained in said parameter identification field;

means responsive to a determination that said encoding represents a parameter supported by said second protocol for processing said parameter.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

means in a third processing system for receiving message from said first processing system;

means for said reading said parameter from said message;

means for reading said parameter encoding from said parameter identification field of said parameter;

means for determining whether said parameter encoding represents a parameter supported by said second protocol; and

means for processing said parameter responsive to a determination that said parameter encoding represents a parameter supported by said second protocol.

7. The system of claim 6 further comprising:

means responsive to a determination that said encoding does not represent a parameter supported by said second protocol for ignoring said parameter.

8. A system for transmitting message packets between a first communications device and a second communications device comprising:

an old protocol defining the data structure of said packets;

a parameter identification field in a parameter contained in a packet;

a first plurality of parameter encodings for identifying a first plurality of parameters supported by said old protocol in a parameter identification field;

a new protocol for defining data structures of said packets which supports said first plurality of parameters supported by said first protocol and said first plurality of encodings;

an indicator encoding in said first plurality of parameter encodings that is written into said parameter identification field to indicate an expanded parameter identification field of said parameter in said second protocol;

a second plurality of parameters that are supported by said second protocol and are represented by a second plurality of parameter encoding written into said expanded identification field.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein each of said message packets contains at least one parameter and each parameter comprises:

a data field in each parameter in a packet; and

said expanded parameter identification field being in said data field of said parameter.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said expanded parameter identification field is at the beginning of said data field.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein a first communications device executes instructions for said old protocol stored on a machine readable media to perform the steps of:

reading an encoding from an identification field of a parameter;

determining whether said encoding is a one of said plurality first plurality of encodings corresponding to one of said first plurality of parameters; and

ignoring said parameter responsive to a determination said encoding does not correspond to one of said plurality of parameters.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein a first communications device executes instructions for communicating with said new protocol stored on a machine readable media to perform the steps of:

reading a first encoding from a parameter identification field of a parameter;

determining whether said first encoding is said indicator encoding;

reading an expanded encoding from said expanded identification field in said parameter responsive to a determination that said first encoding is said indicator encoding;

determining whether said expanded encoding represents to a one of said second plurality of parameters; and

processing said parameter responsive to a determination that said expanded encoding represents one of said second plurality of parameters.

13. A method for detecting an expanded command encoding field in a parameter in a message received by a first device from a second device via a communication path comprising the steps:

receiving a message;

reading a parameter encoding from a parameter identification field from a parameter in said message;

determining whether said parameter encoding is an indicator of an expanded parameter identification in said parameter;

reading an expanded identification encoding from an expanded parameter identification field responsive to said encoding being said indicator;

determining said expanded parameter encoding represents a parameter supported by a first protocol; and

processing said parameter responsive to a determining said expanded command encoding represents a command supported by said first protocol.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said indicator is an unused parameter encoding in an old protocol and said method further comprises the step of:

determining said parameter encoding read from said parameter encoding field represents a parameter supported in a second protocol responsive to a determination that said parameter encoding is not said indicator;

processing said parameter responsive to a determination said parameter represents a parameter supported by said second protocol.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said first device communicates using said second protocol that does not support expanded parameter encodings and said method further comprises the step of:

ignoring said parameter responsive to a determination that said parameter encoding is said indicator.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein said first and said second devices are switching systems and said method further comprises the steps of:

reading call data from said message.