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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A call processing arrangement for generating requirements signals to
establish calls in a communication system in response to receipt of
message signals from terminal equipment, the arrangement comprising:
first program controlled call processing means responsive to receipt of
first message signals having a first portion requesting establishment of
calls and having a second portion identifying certain calls, for
generating by a single process requirements signals to establish the
certain calls;
second program controlled call processing means responsive to receipt of
second message signals having a first portion requesting estabishment of
calls and having a second portion identifying calls other than the certain
calls, for generating by a plurality of processes requirements signals to
establish each of the other calls, each process for generating
requirements signals to establish an individual one of a calling and a
called portion of a call; and
signal routing means responsive to receipt of the first and the second
message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the
second portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message
signals and send them to the first processing means and (b) to activate
the processes of the second processing means and send second message
signals to the processes of the second processing means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions to
make requests from subscriber terminal equipment for call establishment
independent of differences between the first and the second processing
means.
2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the second portions of first message
signals comprise identifiers of certain destinations of calls; and wherein
the second portions of second message signals comprise identifiers of other
destinations of calls.
3. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein identifiers of certain call
destinations comprise identifiers of broadcast service sources.
4. The call processing arrangement of claim 1 for generating requirements
signals further to control established calls in a communication system in
response to receipt of message signals from terminal equipment, wherein
the first means are responsive to receipt of first message signals having a
first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the certain calls, for generating by the single
process requirements signals to control the certain calls; wherein
the second means are responsive to receipt of second message signals having
a first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the other calls, for generating by the
plurality of processes requirements signals to control the other calls,
each process for generating requirements signals to control an individual
one of the calling and the called portions of a call; and
wherein the signal routing means are responsive to receipt of the first and
second signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the
second portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message
signals and send them to the first processing means, and (b) to activate
unactivated processes of the second processing means and send second
message signals to activated processes of the second processing means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions
for requesting identical subscriber call functions to make requests from
subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions independent of
differences between the first and the second processing means.
5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein
the second portions of second message signals comprise call numbers
associated by the first call processing means and the subscriber terminal
equipment with the certain calls; and wherein
the second portions of the second message signals comprise call numbers
associated by the second call processing means and the subscriber terminal
equipment with the other calls.
6. A call processing arrangement for a communication switching system
having physical resources configurable to provide communications for
terminal logical channels of the system and a resource management
arrangement responsive to receipt of requirements signals for configuring
the physical resources into (a) physical communication channels
corresponding to logical communication channels and into (b) physical call
paths between the physical channels corresponding to logical call paths,
the call processing arrangement comprising:
first program controlled call processing means having a single process
responsive to receipt of first message signals having first portions
requesting control functions for calls and having second portions
identifying calls to broadcast program sources for any one of the logical
channels, for processing call information to generate the requirements
signals for controlling the logical call paths for the calls between the
one logical channel and a logical channel of a broadcast program source,
independently of the physical resources;
second program controlled call processing means having a plurality of
processes responsive to receipt of second message signals having first
portions requesting control functions for calls and having second portions
identifying point-to-point calls for any one of the logical channels, each
one of the plurality of processes for processing call information to
define the requirements signals for establishing and controlling the
logical call path for an individual one of a calling and a called portion
of one of the point-to-point calls between the one logical channel and
another at least one logical channel, independently of the physical
resources; and
signal routing means responsive to receipt of the first and second message
signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the second
portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message signals and
send them to the first call processing means and (b) to establish
unestablished processes of the second call processing means and send
second message signals to established processes of the second call
processing means;
the first and the second signals having identical first portions to make
subscriber function requests from subscriber terminal equipment
independent of differences between the first and the second call
processing means.
7. A control arrangement for establishing calls in a communication system
in response to receipt of message signals from terminal equipment, the
arrangement comprising:
first program controlled means responsive to receipt of first message
signals having a first portion requesting establishment of calls and
having a second portion identifying certain calls, for establishing the
certain calls by a single process;
second program controlled means responsive to receipt of second message
signals having a first portion requesting establishment of calls and
having a second portion identifying calls other than the certain calls for
establishing each of the other calls by a plurality of processes, each
process for establishing an individual one of a calling and a called
portion of the call; and
signal routing means responsive to receipt of the first and the second
message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the
second portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message
signals and send them to the first means and (b) to activate the processes
of the second means and send second message signals to the processes of
the second means;
the first and the second signals having identical first portions to make
requests from subscriber terminal equipment for call establishment
independent of differences between establishment by the first and the
second means of the certain and the other calls, respectively.
8. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein
the second portions of first message signals comprise identifiers of
certain destinations of calls; and wherein
the second portions of second message signals comprise identifiers of other
destinations of calls.
9. The arrangement of claim 8 wherein
identifiers of certain call destinations comprise identifiers of broadcast
service sources.
10. The control arrangement of claim 7 further for controlling established
calls in a communication system in response to receipt of message signals
from terminal equipment; wherein
the first means are responsive to receipt of first message signals having a
first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the certain calls, for controlling the certain
calls by the single process; wherein
the second means are responsive to receipt of second message signals having
a first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the other calls, for controlling each of the
other calls by the plurality of processes, each process for controlling an
individual one of the calling and the called portions of the call; and
wherein the signal routing means are responsive to receipt of the first and
the second message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for
processing the second portions of the received signals (a) to identify
first message signals and send these to the first means and (b) to
activate unactivated processes of the second means and send second message
signals to activated processes of the second means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions
for requesting identical subscriber call functions to make requests from
subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions independent of
differences between control by the first and the second means of the
certain and the other calls.
11. The arrangement of claim 10 wherein
the second portions of the first message signals comprise call numbers
associated by the first call processing means and the subscriber terminal
equipment with the certain calls; and wherein
the second portions of the second message signals comprise call numbers
associated by the second call processing means and the subscriber terminal
equipment with the other calls.
12. A control arrangement for establishing calls in a communication system
having physical resources configurable to establish calls in response to
receipt of message signals from subscriber terminal equipment, the
arrangement comprising:
first program controlled call processing means responsive to receipt of
first message signals having a first portion requesting establishment of
calls and having a second portion identifying certain calls, for
generating by a single process requirements signals to establish the
certain calls;
second program controlled call processing means responsive to receipt of
second message signals having a first portion requesting establishment of
calls and having a second portion identifying calls other than the certain
calls, for generating by a plurality of processes requirements signals to
establish each of the other calls, each process for generating
requirements signals to establish an individual one of a calling and a
called portion of a call;
third means responsive to receipt of the requirements signals for directing
configuration of the physical resources to establish the calls; and
signal routing means responsive to receipt of the first and the second
message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the
second portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message
signals and send them to the first call processing means and (b) to
establish the processes of the second call processing means and send
second message signals to the processes of the second call processing
means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first potions to
make requests from subscriber terminal equipment for call establishment
independent of differences between the first and the second call
processing means.
13. The control arrangement of claim 12 wherein the third means comprise
fourth means responsive to receipt of the requirements signals from the
first call processing means for directing configuration of the resources
to establish the certain calls; and
fifth means responsive to receipt of the requirements signals from the
second call processing means for directing configuration of the resources
to establish the calling and called portions of the other calls.
14. The control arrangement of claim 13 in a system having resources
pre-configured to establish called portions of the certain calls, wherein
the fourth means comprise
means for directing configuration of the resources to establish the calling
portions of the certain calls.
15. The control arrangement of claim 12 further for controlling established
calls in the communication system in response to receipt of message
signals from terminal equipment, wherein
the first means are responsive to receipt of first message signals having a
first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the certain calls, for generating by a single
process requirements signals to control the certain calls; wherein
the second means are responsive to receipt of second message signals having
a first portion requesting subscriber functions for calls and having a
second portion identifying the other calls, for generating by a plurality
of processes requirements signals to control each of the other calls, each
process for generating requirements signals to control an individual one
of a calling and a called portion of a call; wherein
the third means are further responsive to receipt of the requirements
signals for directing configuration of the physical resources to control
the calls; and wherein
the signal routing means are responsive to receipt of the first and the
second message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing
the second portions of the received signals (a) to identify the first
message signals and send these to the first means, and (b) to establish
unestablished processes of the second means and send other signals to
established processes of the second means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions
for requesting identical subscriber call functions to make requests from
subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions independent of
differences between control by the first and the second means of the
certain and the other calls, respectively.
16. The control arrangement of claim 15 wherein the third means comprise
fourth means responsive to receipt of the requirements signals from the
first means for directing configuration of the resources to establish and
control the certain calls; and
fifth means responsive to receipt of the requirements signals from the
second means for directing configuration of the resources to establish and
control the calling and called portions of the other calls.
17. The control arrangement of claim 16 in a system having resources
pre-configured to establish called portions of the certain calls, wherein
the fourth means comprise
means for directing configuration of the resources to establish and control
the calling portions of the certain calls.
18. A control arrangement for a communication switching system having
physical resources configurable to provide communications for terminal
logical channels of the system, the control arrangement comprising:
first program controlled call processing means having a single process
responsive to receipt of first message signals having first portions
requesting control functions for calls and having second portions
identifying calls to broadcast program sources for any one of the logical
channels, for processing call information to generate requrirements
signals for controlling logical call paths for the calls between the one
logical channel and a logical channel of a broadcast program source,
independently of the physical resources;
second program controlled call processing means having a plurality of
processes responsive to receipt of second message signals having first
portions requesting control functions for calls and having second portions
identifying point-to-point calls for any one of the logical channels, each
one of the plurality of processes for processing call information to
generate requirements signals for establishing and controlling a logical
call path for an individual one of a calling and a called portion of one
of the point-to-point calls between the one logical channel and another at
least one logical channel, independently of the physical resources;
program controlled resource management means responsive to receipt of the
requirements signals for configuring the physical resources into physical
communication channels for the logical channels and into physical call
paths between the physical channels for logical call paths; and
signal routing means responsive to receipt of the first and the second
message signals from subscriber terminal equipment for processing the
second portions of the received signals (a) to identify first message
signals and send them to the first means and (b) to establish
unestablished processes of the second means and send second message
signals to established processes of the second means;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions
for requesting identical subscriber call functions to make requests from
subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions independent of
differences between the first and the second call processing means.
19. The arrangement of claim 18 for a system having pre-established
physical paths for logical call paths to certain ones of the terminal
logical channels for the certain calls, wherein
the resource management means comprise:
first resource management means responsive to receipt of the requirements
signals from the first call processing means for processing resource
information both (a) to allocate physical resources for physical
communication paths to the pre-established physical paths to the one
logical channel for establishment of the logical channel, and (b) to
direct establishing of connections between the allocated physical
resources for control of the logical call paths; and
second resource management means responsive to receipt of the requirements
signals from the second call processing means for processing resource
information both (a) to allocate physical resources to logical channels
and to logical call paths for establishment of the logical channels and
paths, and (b) to direct establishing of connections between the allocated
physical resources for control of the logical call paths;
the first and the second message signals having identical first portions
for requesting identical subscriber call functions further to make
requests from subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions
independent of differences between the first and the second resource
management means.
20. The control arrangement of claim 19 wherein
the first call processing means generate requirements signals for
establishing connections between the logical call paths and the logical
channels for controlling the logical call paths; wherein
the second call processing means generate requirements signals for both (a)
establishing the logical call paths, and (b) establishing logical and
physical connections between the logical call paths and the logical
channels for controlling the logical call paths; wherein
the first resource management means are responsive to receipt of the
requirements signals from the first call processing means for processing
network resource information (a) to establish resource management logical
structures for the logical channels for establishment of the logical
channels, (b) to allocate physical resources to the logical structures for
physical channels connecting to the pre-established physical call paths
for establishment of logical connections, and (c) to direct establishing
of physical connections between the resources allocated to the logical
structures and the pre-established paths for establishment of physical
connections; and wherein
the second resource management means are responsive to receipt of the
requirements signals from the second call processing means for processing
network resource information (a) to establish resource management logical
structures for the logical channels and the logical call paths for
establishment of the logical channels and paths, (b) to allocate physical
resources to the logical channel structures for physical channels and to
the logical call path structures for physical call paths between the
physical channels, for establishment of the logical connections, and (c)
to direct establishing of physical connections between the resources
allocated to the logical structures for establishment of the physical
connections. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The subject matter disclosed in this patent application relates to subject
matter disclosed in application of H. R. Lehman et al. entitled "Digital
Communication Network Architecture for Providing Universal Information
Services", Ser. No. 809,196, filed on Dec. 13, 1985, and in application of
L. B. Oberlander et al. entitled "Communication System Control
Arrangement", Ser. No. 840,458, filed on even date herewith, both of which
related applications are assigned to the same assignee as this application
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to the call processing and resource management
portions of a communication system control arrangement, and particularly
relates to the structure of the call processing portion and its
cooperation with the resource management portion to provide different
services to system subscribers by different means in a manner that is
transparent to the subscriber terminal equipment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The control arrangement of a communication system is the intelligence that
acts, generally in response to stimuli such as subscriber requests, to
determine the configuration of system resources that is necessary to
provide subscribers with desired communication services.
In systems that provide a variety of services to subscribers, it is
typically a characteristic of control arrangements that interactions with
the system that are required of subscriber terminal equipment to obtain a
particular type of communication service are dependent upon the particular
service type being sought, and each service type typically requires a
different set of interactions. For example, the traditional control
software of a telephone electronic switching system typically requires a
subscriber to follow a particular protocol to control a standard telephone
call, to follow a different protocol to control a conference call, and to
follow yet another protocol to control a data call. This characteristic is
generally a consequence of the system internally providing each type of
service in a different manner, via different system structures each of
which typically responds to and returns different stimuli.
A recognized disadvantage in the prior art is that communication systems
typically are unable to provide different types of services by means of
different mechanisms without making these differences visible to
subscribers in their interactions with the system and to the subscribers'
terminal equipment. This occurs, in part, because prior art control
arrangements view the services differently and often force subscriber
terminal equipment, and consequently the subscribers themselves, to also
view them differently. This control arrangement characteristic requires
that subscribers or their terminal equipment be aware of the types of
services being provided, know which services fall into which service
types, and remember a number of different interaction procedures to be
able to obtain from the system a variety of different services. From the
subscriber viewpoint, this makes the systems difficult and sometimes
impractical to use. It also unduly complicates the design of subscriber
terminal equipment.
While the above-described characteristics are disadvantageous to control
apparatuses of conventional communication systems, they become even more
so to control apparatuses of integrated services digital networks (ISDNs).
Such networks seek to provide subscribers with many types of voice, data
and, in some instances, video, communication services in integrated form,
i.e., via a common network and a common interface to the subscribers. Yet,
internally, the ISDNs provide the various services significantly through
different communication handling--for example, call processing--procedures
and through different physical subsystems, each one of which is optimized
for the requirements of the particular service that it is providing. This
makes it difficult to hide the differences from the subscribers and to
provide them with an interface to the network that is common for all
services and yet is simple.
The evolution of ISDN technology is young, and their system configurations
and hardware are often changing. But to present subscribers or their
terminal equipment with a new interface to the network with each major
redesign of network internals is undesirable.
In summary, what the art requires but lacks is a control arrangement for
communication systems in general, and for ISDN-type networks in
particular, that presents a common and unvarying network interface to
subscribers and their terminal equipment for a variety of services and
across many network fabrics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to solving these and other disadvantages of the
prior art. In a specific illustrative embodiment, a subscriber terminal
generates a multi-part message which, by way of example, specifies a
customer-requested call function and a called destination. A message
router advantageously examines the called destination portion of the
message and routes call control signals to either a first or a second call
processing arrangement. In doing so, the message router eliminates a need
for the two call processing arrangements to process the multi-part message
and therefore allows them to be available for serving other calls. The
first call processing arrangement illustratively controls the processing
of calls from subscribers to broadcast program sources (so-called "proxy
vendor" calls), and significantly uses a single process to do so. Two
processes, one for the calling end and another for the called end of a
call, are used by the second call processing arrangement for processing
calls from originating subscribers to destination subscribers (so-called
"point-to-point" calls).
The two processing arrangements separately cooperate with an individual one
of two segments of a resource management arrangement under control of
requirements signals generated by the call processing arrrangements.
Requirements signals of the single process used for proxy vendor calls
activate an integrated services digital network (ISDN) to establish and
control connections from the subscriber terminal through the network to an
access point semi-permanently interconnected with a broadcast program
source. Use of the access point allows calls to a broadcast program source
to be established quickly, because the portion from the access point to
the program source of the communication path between a subscriber and the
program source is pre-established. Use of the access points also allows a
plurality of subscribers to share a single path between the access point
and the program source. Use of a single process to establish all calls to
an access point avoids having to create a separate process for each call
and the consequent context switches, and thus further speeds up the
establishing of calls to broadcast service sources. For the point-to-point
calls, requirements signals for the separate calling and called processes
activate the ISDN network to establish and control the calling subscriber
end and called destination end communication channels. Use of a separate
process for each call end separates the involved call-handling task into
two simpler tasks and thereby reduces the complexity of call processing
system design. Advantageously, the division of call processing into the
proxy vendor and point-to-point arrangements is hidden from the subscriber
terminal equipment. The subscriber terminal equipment generates like
messages to request call functions from either arrangement, the difference
between the messages being the call destination information. Since the
terminal equipment need not be aware of the fact that proxy vendor and
point-to-point services are provided in the network by different
mechanisms, terminal equipment design is greatly simplified.
Broadly according to the invention, a call processing arrangement of a
communication system comprises first and second program controlled
arrangements each for establishing, and preferably also controlling,
different types of calls and each for establishing, and preferably also
controlling, the calls differently from the other. The first arrangement
receives first message signals having a first portion requesting
establishment, and/or control of calls and having a second portion
identifying certain calls--for example, calls to broadcast service vendor
channels--and responds thereto by generating, by a single process,
requirements signals to establish, and control, the certain calls. The
second arrangement receives second message signals having a first portion
also requesting establishment and/or control of calls, and having a second
portion identifying calls other than the certain calls--for example,
point-to-point calls--, and responds thereto by generating by a plurality
of processes requirements signals to establish and control each of the
other calls. Each process of the second arrangement generates requirements
signals to establish and control one of a calling and a called portion of
the call. The first and the second message signals have identical first
portions to make requests from subscriber terminal equipment for call
establishment and control independent of the differences between the two
manners in which the call processing arrangements go about establishing
and controlling calls.
The call processing arrangement advantageously also comprises a signal
routing arrangement that cooperates with both call processing
arrangements. It responds to receipt of the first and the second message
signals from subscriber terminal equipment and significantly processes the
second portions thereof to identify the first message signals, which it
sends to the first call processing arrangement. The signal routing
arrangement also activates--illustratively establishes--the processes of
the second call processing arrangement, and sends second message signals
to the activated processes. The signal routing arrangement has the
advantage that it centralizes the decision-making function regarding which
call processing arrangement is to process a call message signal, thereby
eliminating duplication of effort, and consequent waste of processing
time, that would result from each call processing arrangement having to
process the second portion of each message signal to determine if it is
responsible for responding to that message signal.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the invention, in a switched
integrated multiservices digital network, a network control complex
includes a program-controlled call processing arrangement that comprises
(a) a point-to-point call processing arrangement for handling conventional
point-to-point calls, and (b) a broadcast service vendor call processing
arrangement for handling calls to broadcast program source channels. For
quick response to "channel change" requests from subscribers, the
broadcast service vendor call processing arrangement handles all calls to
broadcast program source channels by a single process. Conversely, the
point-to-point call processing arrangement handles each call via two
processes, one for each of the calling and called portions of each call,
thereby to subdivide and hence simplify the call control functions. The
two call processing arrangements perform their call handling functions in
response to receipt of subscriber messages. Each message has a message
type portion that identifies the subscriber function (such as call setup,
acceptance, hold, transfer, and clearing) being requested for the call,
and a parameter portion that specifies, inter alia, the destination of the
call--a destination directory number, for example. Messages to which the
two call processing arrangements respond have identical message type
portions for requesting identical subscriber call functions. In this way,
requests from subscriber terminal equipment for subscriber call functions
are made independent of differences between the two call processing
arrangements.
A message router in the control complex receives the messages from
subscriber terminal equipment and examines the parameters portion thereof
to determine which call processing arrangement should receive the message.
It then sends the messages to the appropriate one of the proxy vendor and
point-to-point processes. The message router also creates the
point-to-point processes for new calls, for which the processes do not yet
exist, and then sends the messages thereto.
A resource management arrangement in the network control complex cooperates
with the call processing arrangement to establish call paths through the
network. It responds to receipt of the requirements signals from the two
call processing arrangements for directing configuration of network
physical resources to establish calls. Illustratively, the resource
management arrangement comprises two portions, a first portion responsive
to receipt of the requirements signals from the first call processing
arrangement for directing configuration of the resources to establish, and
preferably also control, the proxy vendor calls, and a second portion
responsive to receipt of the requirements signals from the second call
processing arrangement for directing configuration of the resources to
establish, and preferably also control, the calling and called portions of
the point-to-point calls. Illustratively, the system has resources
pre-configured to establish called portions of the proxy vendor calls. For
example, paths are semipermanently set up between a broadcast service
vendor's premises and predetermined access points within the network, such
as particular switch ports. Hence, the first resource management
arrangement portion does not have to establish these paths for each of the
proxy vendor calls, but directs configuration of the resources to
establish only the calling portions of the proxy vendor calls--those
leading from the calling subscriber to the access point. The separation of
the resource management arrangement into the two portions is likewise
hidden from subscribers and their terminal equipment.
In the disclosed illustrative embodiment, the proxy vendor resource
management arrangement processes resource information both (a) to allocate
physical resources for a physical communication path leading to the
pre-established physical paths and corresponding to a logical channel, for
establishment of the logical channel, and (b) to direct establishing of
connections between the allocated physical resources for control of the
pre-established logical call path. The point-to-point resource management
arrangement processes resource information both (a) to allocate physical
resources to both (i) logical channels and (ii) logical call paths, for
establishment of the logical channels and paths, and (b) to direct
establishing of connections between the allocated physical resources, for
control of the logical call paths. Yet the control arrangement makes
subscriber function requests that terminal equipment must generate
independent of differences between the two resource management arrangement
portions, by responding to identical subscriber call function requests for
both the proxy vendor and the point-to-point calls.
Logical channels and call paths are abstract units independent of physical
resources which implement them, while physical channels and call paths are
collections of one or more physical resources that implement the logical
channels and call paths. Correspondingly, logical connections are
associations between logical or physical entities whose only existence may
be in a database, while physical connections are actual physical couplings
between physical entities.
These and other advantages and features of the present invention will
become apparent from the following description of an illustrative
embodiment of the invention, taken together with the drawing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Hardware Architectue--Network Overview (FIG. 1)
Hardware Architecture--Remote and Central Nodes (FIG. 2)
Call Processing Model--Overview (FIG. 3)
Control Architecture--Subscriber to Central Node Signaling Interface
(Appendix A)
Control Software--Subscriber Interface
Control Software--Node Control Complex (FIG. 4)
Operating System
Database Management
Resource Management
Call Processing
Maintenance and Administration
Call Processing Architecture (FIG. 5)
Message Router (FIG. 6)
Point-to-Point Cal | | |
