US5568475A — ATM network architecture employing an out-of-band…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 181 words

A method of establishing a connection for a call that is being forwarded from an origination STM switch to an intended destination switch via an ATM network formed from a plurality of interconnected ATM switches, said method comprising the steps of at said first STM switch, transmitting routing information associated with said call to a first one of said ATM switches via an out-of-band signaling network, said routing information including at least a called telephone number and identity of a trunk over which said STM switch will forward said call to said first ATM switch, providing an interface between each of said ATM switches and said out-of-band signaling network to translate an identity of a trunk contained in routing information received via said out-of-band signaling network into at least a predetermined virtual channel identifier, and receiving said routing information associated with said call at said first ATM and translating the trunk identity contained in such routing information into a particular virtual channel identifier and routing said call through said first ATM switch as a function of said particular virtual channel identifier.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 181 words

A method of establishing a connection for a call that is being forwarded from an origination STM switch to an intended destination switch via an ATM network formed from a plurality of interconnected ATM switches, said method comprising the steps of at said first STM switch, transmitting routing information associated with said call to a first one of said ATM switches via an out-of-band signaling network, said routing information including at least a called telephone number and identity of a trunk over which said STM switch will forward said call to said first ATM switch, providing an interface between each of said ATM switches and said out-of-band signaling network to translate an identity of a trunk contained in routing information received via said out-of-band signaling network into at least a predetermined virtual channel identifier, and receiving said routing information associated with said call at said first ATM and translating the trunk identity contained in such routing information into a particular virtual channel identifier and routing said call through said first ATM switch as a function of said particular virtual channel identifier.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said step of translating includes the step of translating said trunk identity into said particular virtual channel identifier on a one-to-one basis such that said particular virtual channel identifier is made to equal said trunk identity.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 50 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said routing information associated with said call includes an identity of a trunk subgroup associated with trunk identified in the routing information and wherein said step of translating includes the step of translating the identity of said trunk subgroup into a virtual path identifier.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 48 words

The method of claim 3 wherein said step of translating the identity of said trunk subgroup includes the step of translating said trunk subgroup identity into said virtual path identifier on a one-to-one basis such that said virtual path identifier is made to equal said trunk subgroup identity.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 70 words

The method of claim 4 wherein said method further comprises the step of translating said virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers into output virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers as a function of a called number associated with said call and wherein said step of routing includes the step of routing said call through said first ATM switch as a function Of said output virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 92 words

The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of at said first ATM switch, deriving, as a function of at least said output virtual circuit identifier, an identity of an outgoing trunk and associated trunk subgroup defining a path to a second one of said ATM switches that will forward said call to said destination, generating a call set-up message containing at least (a) the identity of said outgoing trunk and (b) said called number, and sending said call set-up message to said second ATM switch via said out-of-band signaling network.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 165 words

The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of receiving said call set-up message at the interface interfacing said second ATM switch with said out-of-band signaling network, and responsive to receipt of said call-set up message, translating the identity of the outgoing trunk and associated trunk subgroup contained in said message into an input port, virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers, respectively, determining, as a function of the called number, at least an identity of an output port, and output virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers that may be used at said second switch to forward said call to said destination and supplying the identity of said output port and output virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers to said second switch input port so that voice signals received via said first ATM switch and associated with said call may be routed to said output port via a virtual connection derived as a function of said second switch outgoing virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 79 words

The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of at said second ATM switch, respectively translating said second switch output virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers into an outgoing trunk and associated trunk subgroup defining a path to said destination, generating a call set-up message containing at least (a) identifiers respectively identifying said outgoing trunk and associated trunk subgroup, and (b) said called number, and sending said call set-up message toward said destination via said out-of-band signaling network.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 86 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of at a terminal adapter interfacing said first ATM switch with said trunk, accumulating voice signals received over said trunk and forming the accumulated signals into a message having a format acceptable to said first ATM switch, translating said trunk identity and identity of an associated trunk subgroup into respective virtual channel and virtual path identifiers and affixing said identifiers to said accumulated signals, and supplying the resulting message to an input of said first ATM switch.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 113 words

The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of at a terminal adapter interfacing said output port of said second ATM switch with said destination, responsive to receipt of a data cell containing a sequence of octets from said output port, supplying the payload of the data cell to an ATM adaptation layer function such that the adaptation layer function supplies respective ones of the octets to a trunk of a trunk subgroup associated with a communications path extending to said destination, in which said trunk and trunk subgroup associated with said path are selected as a function of the outgoing virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers determined by said second switch.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 1, wherein said out-of-band signaling is performed over a Signaling System 7 network.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of interfacing an ATM switch of an ATM network with an out-of-band signaling network comprising the steps of interconnecting said ATM switch with said out-of-band signaling network, and responsive to receiving via said out-of-band signaling network a message containing, inter alia, an identity of a trunk over which voice signals associated with a telephone call will be transported, translating said identity into at least a virtual circuit identifier and an identity of an incoming port which will receive said voice signals at said ATM switch.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of interfacing an ATM switch of an ATM network with an out-of-band signaling network comprising the steps of interconnecting said ATM switch with said out-of-band signaling network, and responsive to receiving via said out-of-band signaling network a message containing, inter alia, an identity of a trunk over which voice signals associated with a telephone call will be transported, translating said identity into at least a virtual circuit identifier and an identity of an incoming port which will receive said voice signals at said ATM switch.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 70 words

The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of determining, as a function of a called number associated with said telephone call, an output port that may be used to forward said voice signals to their intended destination and at least an output virtual circuit identifier identifying an associated virtual circuit connection that may be used to route said voice signals from said input port to said output port.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 53 words

The method of claim 13 further comprising the steps of translating said output virtual circuit identifier into an identifier identifying an output trunk, generating a call set-up message containing at least (a) the identifier identifying said output trunk, and (b) said called number, and sending said call set-up message to a destination switch.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 167 words

A method of a transmitting signaling messages from a first ATM switch to a second ATM switch comprising the steps of connecting said first and second ATM switches to an out-of-band signaling network via respective signaling interface arrangements, at each of said interface arrangements, responsive to receipt of a signaling message via said out-of-band network in which the message identifies at least a trunk and associated trunk subgroup over which a respective telephone call is to be routed to the associated one of said ATM switches, translating said trunk and trunk subgroup identities into respective virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers and passing said identifiers to the associated one of said switches, and responsive to receiving output virtual channel and virtual path identifier from the associated one of said switches, respectively translating said output virtual channel and virtual path identifiers into an output trunk identifier and trunk subgroup identifier and transmitting a signaling message containing said trunk and said trunk group identifiers over said out-of-band signaling network.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 167 words

A method of a transmitting signaling messages from a first ATM switch to a second ATM switch comprising the steps of connecting said first and second ATM switches to an out-of-band signaling network via respective signaling interface arrangements, at each of said interface arrangements, responsive to receipt of a signaling message via said out-of-band network in which the message identifies at least a trunk and associated trunk subgroup over which a respective telephone call is to be routed to the associated one of said ATM switches, translating said trunk and trunk subgroup identities into respective virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers and passing said identifiers to the associated one of said switches, and responsive to receiving output virtual channel and virtual path identifier from the associated one of said switches, respectively translating said output virtual channel and virtual path identifiers into an output trunk identifier and trunk subgroup identifier and transmitting a signaling message containing said trunk and said trunk group identifiers over said out-of-band signaling network.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 57 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said step of translating said trunk identity and trunk subgroup identity into respective virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers includes the step of performing the translating on a one-to-one basis such that said trunk identity and trunk subgroup identity are made to equal said virtual circuit and virtual path identifiers, respectively.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 60 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said step of translating said output virtual channel and virtual path identifiers into output trunk and trunk subgroup identifiers includes the step of performing the translating on a one-to-one basis such that identities of said output virtual channel and virtual path identifiers are made to respectively equal said output trunk and trunk subgroup identifiers.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1999-10-22	2000-04-22	2000-10-22	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2003-10-22	2004-04-22	2004-10-22	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2007-10-22	2008-04-22	2008-10-22	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

ATM network architecture employing an out-of-band signaling network

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