MXPA97000181A - Network architecture for addressing services based on auxilia - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel architectural design for architecture based on auxiliary. The architecture is built on two key principles: addressing traffic based on geographical origin and addressing based on a group of customers. In order to implement geographic targeting, the communications network is divided into regions. A method used to achieve optimal regions is described. Greater realization of geographical addressing covers a design of the architecture regions, determined the number of auxiliaries / region and equally distributing the load through the auxiliary sites. The method is also described to optically return to the initial position the traffic between OAS and TAS A and between TAS A and TAS B. The architecture eliminates deficiencies in prior art architecture such as interquarter approach, architectural instability and reliability.

Description

NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF AUXILIARY BASED SERVICES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to telecommunications networks and more particularly to an auxiliary-based network architecture. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Auxiliary based services (ABS = Adjunct Based Services) are services introduced in an auxiliary-based architecture containing auxiliary processors. An auxiliary is a well-known component of the advanced intelligent network architecture (AIN = Advanced Intelligent Network). In this document, the term "auxiliary" is consistent with common usage and generally refers to a system connected to a communication system that can provide, for example service logic, DTMF detection and advertisements. As such, the term "auxiliary" present may include the auxiliary functionality AIN and Intelligent Peripheral Functionality, and functionality in services nodes of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU equal to International Telecommunications Union) as understood by a person skilled in The technique. Typically, services are deployed in an auxiliary-based architecture to meet cost or time-to-market requirements that can not be achieved by other architectures (for example, REF: 23806 switch-based architecture). Numerous ABS have been offered in both the consumer and business markets. An example of an ABS is the transfer connection service 800 (TCS = Transfer Connect Service). The 800 Connection Transfer Service (TCS) is an automated calling routing service that is provided by long distance carriers for certain customers who use the 1-800 numbers. In general, TCS provides features for redirecting subsequent call response to a subscriber? Jue llama, eg conference, query, blind transfer, etc. These services are invaluable to holders of 800 numbers, for example large corporations, since customer calls can be directed to any number of corporate locations in an extremely efficient manner.

Specifically, TCS allows the called party to redirect calls to an 800 number, POTS number (old simple telephone service) or a pre-defined speed dialing code. TCS systems of the prior art use small-scale auxiliary architecture (SSA = Small Scale Adjunct) to direct a specified set of client traffic to a primary helper site. Each helper site is assigned a special service code (SSC = Special Service Code) which is used for management purposes; these is, there is a 1-to-1 relationship between SSC and auxiliary site. Addressing tables provide addressing to a primary helper site and overflow sites. Addressing tables, referred to as multi-routing treatment tables (MRT = Multiple Routing Treatment), are located on the long-distance carrier's originating switch (OAS) to direct calls to a specified auxiliary site. Each client to TCS is assigned an auxiliary address number (ARN = Adjunct Routing Number) in the SSC-AAA-XXXX format. Each auxiliary site undergoes engineering treatment to handle the capacity of a specified set of clients. With reference to Figure 1, an exemplary call flow for an ABS 10 employed in the prior art is illustrated. The ABS call flow is a key aspect of ABS architecture; Additional aspects of the auxiliary-based architecture will be discussed here. As illustrated in Figure 1, a calling subscriber dials a charge-free call 1800-NXX-XXXX and the call is sent to the local exchange (LS = Local Exchange Carrier) 12. The LS performs 10-digit translation of the number free of charge 800 marked to determine the appropriate telecommunications network. The LS then passes the call to the originating switch (OAS) 14 of the appropriate telecommunications network. How it will be understood, switches such as the OAS, provide connection control for network calls in a well-known manner. Based on the digit translation of the 800 dial-free toll-free number, the OAS points to a customer database 16 with the toll-free number 800 dialed and the automatic number identifier (ANI = Automatic Number Identified) of the calling subscriber. . The database retrieves and executes the client registry. The database returns an RNA in the SSC-AAA-XXXX format to OAS 14. Based on the three-digit translation of the RNA (SSC) in OAS 14, the OAS directs the call to the appropriate MRT 17 table that resides in the switch, for example. The MRT table 17 provides routing instructions to a primary assistant site 19 and the overflow sites. As illustrated in Figure 1, the MRT table provides the routing instructions for the switch to direct the call to a primary auxiliary site 19. The MRT table provides the call type equal to the destination switch number and the switch number Network (NRN) equal to 094. The OAS directs the call to the terminating switch (TAS) A 18 based on the MRT table information. The TAS A 18 translates the first digit of the RNA (SSC) and directs the call to another MRT table. The MRT table (TAS A) 15 provides the call type equal to the address data block and the call data equal to 261. The MRT table directs the call to the primary auxiliary site, based on the MRT table information. The first selected address is the trunk sub-group to the helper site.

If the trunk sub-group fails / is busy or the primary auxiliary site 19 is inoperative, the call is routed back to the OAS and the OAS directs the call back to the MRT table 17. The OAS then directs the call to the second address selection that provides addressing instructions to the auxiliary overflow site. With reference to Figure 2, an exemplary "partial" network architecture 20 is illustrated, based on the previously described TCS call flow 10. This Figure effectively illustrates some key disadvantages of the prior art. Specific disadvantages include: cost effectiveness, OAS approach to TAS A that leads to inter-block blocking. The TAS A to TAS B approach that leads to inter-blockade, architecture instability under fluctuations of traffic loads, and reliability perceived by the client; Each of these points is considered at a time. It is well known in traffic theory that large trunk groups handle traffic more efficiently than small trunk groups (Erlang-B distribution). The ABS architecture directs all originating traffic from any OAS 14 in the network to a single TAS A 18. This addressing is artificial since large volumes of traffic flow between switches that normally support minimal traffic (for example, the community of interest between Iowa and New York is much smaller than between New York and Philadelphia).

As a result, large amounts of traffic flow over the paths with few trunks 11. This results in large numbers of calls that require route addressing (potentially blocked); directed calls by way, that increase post-marked delay and require more resources of the network. A similar phenomenon occurs for the. branch TAS A to TAS B of the call. For large clients, who access the network from a TAS B that is geographically removed from TAS A, there will be large amounts of traffic focused on small groups of inter-trunk trunk. The effects of the OAS-TAS and TAS A-TAS B approach result in extra cost and poor performance. The architecture of the prior art is also not stable under reasonable fluctuations of customer traffic (fluctuations that predominate particularly for 800 ABS). Consider an auxiliary subjected to engineering for a load of X use, of which a large client uses wX of capacity. Note that wX is the total network load for the client and it is not uncommon for w to have a value of 0.5 or greater. If as a result of calls stimulated by means by that particular client, the load increases to twice the normal load, the auxiliary would be in serious congestion (150% of the load). This would most likely result in network congestion, inter-block and calls losses. Similarly, if a particular helper site fails (especially in the case of a failure that goes from automatic detection) all the traffic of the determined clients is affected. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that for each auxiliary deployed in the network, a new SSC code is required. There is a finite number of SSC codes available; Further growth of the architecture of the prior art will lead to exhaustion of these codes. According to this, there is a need for a more flexible network architecture than the one that effectively supports ABS traffic. COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a novel architecture design for auxiliary-based architecture. Architecture is built on two key principles; Addressing traffic based on geographic origin and addressing based on customer group. In order to implement geographic targeting, the communications network is divided into regions. A method used to achieve optimal regions is described. Additional realization of geographic addressing involves a design of the architecture regions, determining the number of auxiliaries / region and equally distributing the loads through the auxiliary sites. As well, the method for returning to the initial position optimally the traffic between OAS and TAS A and between TAS A and TAS B. The architecture eliminates deficiencies in prior art architectures such as interquarter approach, architecture instability and reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be made to the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an example call flow to provide 800 TCS service according to the prior art; Figure 2 shows a block diagram illustrating focusing effects of the architecture of the prior art; Figures 3 to 4 show block diagrams illustrating the method of the present invention for directing TCS calls in accordance with the present invention; Figure 5 shows an exemplary "optimal" division of a domestic long distance network in optimal regions according to the present invention, two locations for some of the auxiliaries comprising the auxiliary-based network are included; Figure 6A shows trunk volume in 100 seconds of call (CCS) against auxiliary site, based on the prior art architecture, where numbers 133 to 166 represent the special service code (SCC) for each site; Figure 6B shows the trunk volume in 100 seconds of call (CCS) against auxiliary site, based on the architecture of the present invention, where the numbers 133 to 166 represent the special service code (SCC) for each site; Figure 7 shows an exemplary addressing table for an originating switch (OS) according to the present invention; and Figure 8 shows an exemplary call flow according to the STAR architecture of the present invention. DfJffCKTPClPN nF-TM.T-? Nft The present invention establishes a novel architecture design for auxiliary-based architectures.

The architecture of the present invention also referred to as architecture for auxiliary addressing for service traffic (STAR = Service Traffic Adjunct Routing) distributes calls to an auxiliary based on geographic origin and group of clients. With reference to Figure 3, the basic methodology for the addressing architecture of the present invention is illustrated. The STAR architecture is built on two key principles; address traffic based on geographic origin (box 32) and address based on customer group (box 33). In order to implement geographic addressing, the communications network is divided into regions as illustrated in box 34, selections of auxiliaries must be made for the network (box 35) and a requirement of the new network architecture is to balance the TCS traffic load (box 36). As illustrated in the next level of the flow chart of Figure 3, further embodiment of the geographic addressing involves a design of the architecture regions of the present invention 38, determining the number of auxiliaries / region 40 and equally distributing the loads through of the auxiliary sites 42. Determination of Regions Figure 4 illustrates the essential steps necessary to logically divide the network into regions. Auxiliary-based Services are deployed as one of many services in a shared telecommunications network. As such, the first stage 41 is the direct activity to determine the capacity and topology of the existing network. Of particular interest is the inter-link capacity from switch to switch that will be the focus of the following discussion. The capacity of other network resources, such as switching computing capacity (for example, real-time processing) is also relevant, but is addressed by direct extension of the principles to be discussed. A final step 45 consists of determining the "optimal" number of regions that use as feed the information obtained in stage 1.

There are several capacity measures that prove to be useful. Denotes the number of switches in a network per N ", the number of auxiliaries per NA, and the number of trunks intercutes by T. The inter-rate capability of switch-to-average switch < Tß > , is given by < T. > = T * N. * (N.-l) / 2; As you will see, this parameter is useful since it adjusts the scale additional decisions in the design of the architecture. Next, consider dividing the network into R regions. In general, these regions are not required to be of equal capacity or even have an equivalent topology. However, for operational simplicity, it is considered that regions are chosen in such a way that they are of approximately equal capacity and topology. By extension, the average switch-to-switch capability within a region is given by < Tß > R = TR * (NR * (N ^, - l) / 2. Switching-to-switch load for existing traffic between two switches m and n, will be denoted by B-, ABS traffic between OAS and TAS A will be denoted by A and between TAS A and TAS B shall be denoted by B. "The number of interconnected trunks between two switches m and n is denoted by T." The determination of < T. >, L », A- * and B» ,, complete the first stages (boxes 39, 41, 43); these parameters are fed to the next stage (box 45). The next step is to determine the number of regions (box 45) and the set of switches and auxiliaries that reside in each region (boxes 46, 47). In other words, what is the "optimal" value for R and which of the N "/ R of the N. switches reside in a given region. The value of R is mainly driven by three things; effects of "geographic community of interest, the ratio N./NA and the number of client groups." The central idea behind the community effect of interest is to note that L. ,,, A ", and B" are very strongly dependent on distance in air miles In a statistical sense, as the separation in mile areas between switch M and switch N increases, the load decreases (number of call hold times * calls). Therefore, it will be designed with very large trunk groups Tw between two nearby switches ra and N. Thus, the larger that R is, the greater the use and binding will be, this fact taken by itself directs the number of regions to be large (in fact equal to the number of commutators) The effect of community of interest is balanced by the fact that almost universally NA "N .. ABS by its very nature are services deployed in auxiliaries because the function ality that is provided by the auxiliary is not available in the switch. Traffic volumes are those expected from niche markets and new services and thus require relatively less auxiliaries to provide sufficient capacity. The methodology described here is applicable when NA and N. are approximately equal, however the value of the approach is somewhat diminished. The size of R is adjusted by the ratio N "/ NA. The optimal value of R is obtained by applying any of several well-known optimization methodologies (for example a heuristic algorithm) to a "cost function" F. F is a function of Tm, L ", A ™ and Bm and R. This optimization process not only produces the value of R, but also the optimal set of geographically "close" switches that logically comprise a R region. It should be noted that it is not unreasonable < T. > R (obtained by using switches per region that is an order of magnitude greater than <T.> As is well known in traffic theory, these large trunk groups are much more efficient than smaller subgroups Topology for Auxiliary-Switch Addressing The topology for addressing-switch is based on which group of clients the call belongs to, the region of origin, and the specific values that are provided in the MRT tables. Clients (one or more SCC codes) and region of origin are the key points underlying the architecture of the present invention This is a form of substantial deviation from the prior art that was based only on an RNA as discussed previously. Key topologies of the architecture of the present invention include return to the initial position of traffic from multiple regions to a given auxiliary site and the capacit To uniquely identify, under normal conditions, that specific assistant receives traffic from a specific group of customers within a region. An effective number of customer groups needs to be determined. The number of customer groups is related to the number of regions as well as details of the constitution of customers for the ABS service. Client constitution comes into play especially for 800 ABS. This is because there may be large groups of customers in common industries that are highly stimulated by media or advertising (for example, the airline industry). It is prudent to take this detail when choosing the number of client groups, so that large clients in common industries can be assigned to separate groups. With this qualification, the number of customer groups Nai is approximately given by Nco = 2NA / R; This relationship should be considered a heuristic and may vary slightly depending on the specific implementation. To perform addressing based on a group of clients in the architecture of the present invention, the RNA is reused (SSC-AAA-XXXX). The interpretation of the SCC is substantially different from the previous technique. In the architecture of the present invention, the SCC code does not correlate with an auxiliary site, but rather represents a set of clients. It is quite common for 800 ABS to have large fluctuations in traffic volumes not only nationally but also regionally. The architecture of the present invention provides stability under regional congestion by requiring any auxiliary to receive traffic from at least two regions (and in some cases 3). Receiving traffic from a large number of regions makes the architecture less efficient due to loss of benefits from the community of interest. Many of the key advantages of the architecture of the present invention result from its distributed nature. One of the key drivers for prior art architectures is that it should be a simple method to resolve customer complaints. In fact, a key advantage of the architecture of the previous SSA is that it was a direct mapping between the SSC code and the auxiliary site; Any problem can be associated immediately with a specific site. This capability is not compromised in the architecture of the present invention. This is seen in the MRT table shown 90 that is provided in Figure 8. For a specific client group and specific origin region, the auxiliary to which the traffic is returned to the starting position is unique.

In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figure 5, a switched communications network 100 includes the E.U.A. continental areas divided into eight geographical regions according to the criteria previously discussed. The origin traffic of each region returns to the initial position to three auxiliary sites. Each auxiliary receives traffic from two unique regions and calls 800 of origin will be roughly evenly distributed among the eight regions. In addition, each group of clients (3 SSCs (ARNs)) is mapped to a single MRT table in all OASs of source switch locations within a specified region. All MRT tables are provided with an optimal auxiliary and seven backup auxiliaries, where the route selection # 1 is the desired selection 100% of the time and the route selections 2 to 8 are conveniently 0% of the time as will be explained. With reference to Figure 7, an exemplary MRT table 60 is illustrated which is provided in accordance with the present addressing strategy. The MRT table contains the primary auxiliary route selection and route selections for overflow. The MRT capability allows a call to be directed to the primary auxiliary site, and in the event that the call to the primary auxiliary site can not be completed due to network failure or auxiliary failure, the call is routed back to the OAS and Choose the next route selection. The MRT 60 table has three fields; the PCT 62, the call type 64 and the call data 66. The PCT field 62 indicates the percentage of calls to apply a given treatment as a first selection. In the illustrated mode of the MRT table, 100% of the calls will receive the address of the first selection and 0% of the calls will receive other treatments. Valid entries are from 0 to 100. The call type field 64 indicates the addressing treatment and the call data field 66 indicates the data associated with the addressing treatment. The network switches use the information in the MRT table to direct calls through the network. As can be seen, the present invention is different from the prior art since the architecture of the present invention provides a method for designing a cost-effective, stable, reliable and maintainable architecture, in which the disadvantages of the previous technique This is achieved through a direct methodology that is based on two simple principles. With reference to Figure 8, it can be seen that the architecture of the present invention directs the originating traffic from a local exchange carrier 12, based on customer group and geographic origin. High community of interest between the OAS 14 and TAS A 82 switches results in more efficient linking and thus a reduction in the cost of capital associated with inter-bond linking. In the branch TAS A 82 - TAS B 86 of a call, all traffic arriving at a particular switch TAS B does not arrive from a single TAS A. Between any pair TAS A - TAS B, the load is reduced by a factor of 1 / R of the prior art. The architecture of the present invention is stable under reasonable fluctuations of customer traffic. Consider an auxiliary subjected to engineering for a load of X utilization, of which a large client uses (w / R) X of the total capacity. Note that the total network load for the client would be R. (w / R) X == wX. If, as a result of calls stimulated by means of communication by that particular client, the network load increases to twice the normal load, the impact is distributed through R different auxiliaries. Specifically, the load on a given auxiliary will increase from X to (l + w / R) X; for w = 0.5 and R = 10 regions this results in only an increase of 5% over the traffic load subjected to engineering. A similar effect occurs for reliability perceived by the client. If only one auxiliary site experiences problems, only 1 / R of the traffic of certain customers is impacted (it should be noted that the compensation is that more clients are impacted compared to the previous technique but only in a small way).

Another advantage of the architecture of the present invention is that very few SSCs are required (one per client group). New auxiliaries can be deployed without requiring the provisioning of a new SSC; in this way this limited resource can be retained. Figure 6A illustrates two key deficiencies of the prior art. First, as illustrated in the graph, 200 traffic loads between different auxiliaries are very heterogeneous. This is the result of having a single SSC assigned to a single switch; the architecture does not "naturally" accommodate sub- or over-forecast traffic volumes. Secondly, it is clear that a daily fluctuation in traffic (for example in SBNDIN) will potentially place the auxiliary in overload. Figure 6B illustrates the same traffic load 210 distributed by network architecture of the present invention. The distributed nature of the architecture "naturally" balances the traffic through the nine auxiliaries. It should be noted that the traffic volume of a single group of customers is only about one ninth of the total load. Doubling the traffic load for a single group of customers results in a slight ("10%) increase in the total load for the auxiliary.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the modalities described, with respect to the drawings, are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art can make variations and modifications to the illustrated modes without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All of these variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (28)

1. SEJVINDICACIQWES 1. Method for directing calls in a communication network, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: receiving a call in a switch of origin of the communication network; refer to an address table to determine a destination switch to direct the call, addressing is based on geographic origin and group of clients of the call; and direct the call to the destination switch based on the geographic origin and group of customers.
2. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that auxiliary sites are coupled to switches in the communications network, further includes the step of accessing a database before the step of referring an address table to thereby To determine if the call is an auxiliary-based call intended for one of the auxiliary sites, the auxiliary-based call ends at one of the auxiliary sites after the addressing stage.
3. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the group of clients for the call is indicated during the step of accessing a database, the group of clients is identified from a called number.
4. 4. - The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the communication network is divided into a plurality of geographical regions, each of the auxiliary sites receives auxiliary-based calls from at least two of the geographical regions.
5. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the group of clients is mapped to a unique addressing table in originating switching locations within a specified one of the geographical regions.
6. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a group of clients is represented as one or more special service codes.
7. 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a group of clients represents a set of clients that have auxiliary-based services.
8. 8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the addressing step is performed according to a cost function.
9. 9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the cost function is a function of the number of inter-trunk trunks between two switches, switch-to-switch load between two switches, auxiliary-based traffic between a source switch and a destination switch and auxiliary based traffic between a first destination switch to a second destination switch.
10. 10. - The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the geographical regions are determined according to the ratio of number of switches to number of auxiliaries and number of customer groups.
11. 11. The method according to the claim 10, characterized in that the geographical regions are also determined according to the geographical community of interest.
12. 12. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it also includes the step of referring an address table in the destination switch in order to direct the call to a coupled auxiliary site.
13. 13. Method for directing auxiliary-based calls to auxiliary sites in a communications network, where the auxiliary sites are coupled to terminating switches in the network, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: receiving a call based on in auxiliary, in a commutator of origin of the communications network; access a client database to determine a group of clients for the auxiliary-based call; refer a routing table to determine call addressing based on auxiliary to one of the terminating switches; and direct the call based on auxiliary to a terminating switch, based on geographical origin and the group of clients.
14. 14. - The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the communications network is divided into a plurality of geographical regions, each of the auxiliary sites receives auxiliary-based calls from at least two of the geographical regions.
15. 15. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that each group of clients is mapped to a unique addressing table at source switching locations within a specified one of the geographic regions.
16. 16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the auxiliary-based call is able to be directed between a first termination switch and a second termination switch in the network.
17. 17.- The method according to the claim 13, characterized by further includes the step of referring an address table in the terminating switch to thereby direct the auxiliary-based call to an auxiliary site coupled to the terminating switch.
18. 18.- A system to direct calls based on auxiliary in a communications network, to auxiliary sites, the auxiliary sites are coupled to terminating switches in the network, the system is characterized by comprises: source switch to receive a call based in auxiliary; a database accessible by the source switch to store a group of clients corresponding to the auxiliary-based call; an address table for storing identification of a terminating switch to direct the auxiliary-based call, the identification of the terminating switch based on a geographical origin and the client group of the auxiliary-based call; and means for directing the auxiliary-based call based on the identification of the addressing table.
19. 19. The system according to claim 18, characterized in that the communications network is divided into a plurality of geographical regions, each of the auxiliary sites is adapted to receive calls based on auxiliary from at least two of the geographical regions.
20. 20. The system according to claim 18, characterized in that the addressing table includes at least one primary route selection and at least one overflow route selection to direct the communications traffic.
21. 21. The system according to claim 20, characterized in that the addressing table includes a call data field indicative of addressing treatment for a call, a second call data field including data associated with the addressing treatment for the call and a percentage of the field indicative of a percentage of calls to be applied to a given address treatment.
22. 22. The system according to claim 18, characterized in that a group of clients is represented as one or more special service codes.
23. 23. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that a group of clients represents a set of clients that have auxiliary-based services.
24. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that at least one of the auxiliary sites are adapted to receive auxiliary-based calls for more than one of the geographic regions.
25. 25.- The system in accordance with the claim 18, characterized in that the addressing table is adapted to direct auxiliary-based calls to a single auxiliary for a specific group of clients and a specific source region.
26. 26.- The system in accordance with the claim 19, characterized in that each group of clients is mapped to a unique addressing table in originating switches within a specific one of the geographical regions.
27. 27. The system according to claim 18, characterized in that the auxiliary-based traffic can be routed between a first termination switch and a terminating switch in the network.
28. 28. - The system according to claim 19, characterized in that the geographical regions are determined according to the community of geographical interest, the ratio of numbers of switches to numbers of auxiliaries and numbers of groups of customers.