A network architecture is provided for enhanced support of network services. The architecture includes an operations gateway defined by a number of agents that take responsibility for accomplishing support system related functions including financial transaction functions. Messages are conveyed to the agents that have informational elements containing data or other information useful in accomplishing the necessary functions. Preferably, the network is defined to comprise one or more layers including a service layer, a service instance layer, a connection layer and a connection instance layer. Each layer has associated with it one or more management, fulfillment, charging and booking agents. The operations gateway enables service providers to rapidly introduce new services while optimizing the interchangeability of system components or equipment that are useful in supporting the network services.
The invention concerns a method of operating a communications network of a network operator (OPA), which is interconnected with one or more further communications networks of one or more further network operators (OPB to OPZ) via one or more gateways respectively, as well as such a communications network and an interworking facility (GATECEN) for such a communications network. For each gateway, a gateway switching center (GATE.sub.-- EX) exchanges information-bearing data with a switching facility (GATE) of the respective further communications network via at least one bearer channel. Furthermore the interworking functions (STP, KDE, TAR, FUNC1 to FUNC3) are performed for all connections via the one or more bearer channel(s) which support the interconnection of the communications network via the respective gateway with the respective further communications network of the respective other network operator (OPB to OPZ). The interworking functions (STP, KDE, TAR, FUNC1 to FUNC3) for all connections of two or more spatially distributed gateway switching centers (GATE.sub.-- EX) to at least one of the other communications networks (KN2 to KN3) are provided hereby in a common interworking facility (GATECEN).
A customer (80) can request and receive a financial service through any of a number of channels (82,83,84,85,86,87), each connected to channel-specific hardware, respectively a digital telephone (92), an ATM (93), a branch office (94), a branch sales office (99), a self service sales terminal (95), a home banking PC (96) and an interactive television (97). Each service channel is connected through an integrated channel manager (100) to business operations means including a transaction processing host computer (112), a cheque processor (113), a relationship database manager (114), a financial call center (115), and an external financial database (111). The ICM 100 provides interfaces for each channel and each business operation means so far as the channel-specific and business operation-specific aspects are concerned, and also runs a number of business application services (142, 144, 146, 148), such as a balance inquiry service, which can interface with any channel and any business operation means independently of any channel-specific or operation-specific requirements.
A customer (80) can request and receive a financial service through any of a number of channels (82,83,84,85,86,87), each connected to channel-specific hardware, respectively a digital telephone (92), an ATM (93), a branch office (94), a branch sales office (99), a self service sales terminal (95), a home banking PC (96) and an interactive television (97). Each service channel is connected through an integrated channel manager (100) to business operations means including a transaction processing host computer (112), a cheque processor (113), a relationship database manager (114), a financial call center (115), and an external financial database (111). The ICM 100 provides interfaces for each channel and each business operation means so far as the channel-specific and business operation-specific aspects are concerned, and also runs a number of business application services (142, 144, 146, 148), such as a balance inquiry service, which can interface with any channel and any business operation means independently of any channel-specific or operation-specific requirements.
A system and method for a first user to communicate in an Internet Protocol (IP) centric distributed network is described. The method can include a plurality of service layers including a network service function layer, a local service function layer, and an access service function layer providing a plurality of functions associated with each of the service layers. The method can also include accessing the network to establish a point of presence at an access management layer and a core portion of the network and to designate a default amount of bandwidth and plurality of default setup parameters; invocating service through an application server on the network to establish an amount of network resources requested by the first user; establishing a transport session to create and manage a connection from the first user to a destination address; and accounting for a service session within the IP centric distributed network.
A standard SNMP management station is replaced by a client computer having a standard Web browser while utilizing the services of a Web/SNMP proxy agent in accordance with the present invention. The Internet locations of the ASN.1 specifications for various MIB modules, as well as other information resources associated with those MIB modules, are stored in resource records in a section of the DNS established for storing such information. The Web/SNMP proxy agent automatically locates the ASN.1 specification for each MIB module of any identified SNMP agent, by looking up the location in the DNS. The Web/SNMP proxy agent then compiles the ASN.1 MIB module specifications into HTML documents for viewing on the client computer. User requests for retrieving data from specified MIB objects and/or for sending data values to specified MIB objects are communicated from the client computer to the Web/SNMP proxy agent using standard HTTUP communications. When the specified SNMP agent is remotely located from the Web/SNMP proxy agent, the Web/SNMP proxy agent converts the user requests into SNMP packets that are communicated to the specified SNMP agent. SNMP reply packets are converted into HTML documents, generally by inserting the information in the reply packets into previously generated HTML MIB specification documents, that are then communicated back to the user's client computer.
