Granted Patent B2

US 7,277,535 · App. 10/151,318 · Granted Oct 2, 2007

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A method of controlling processing of a connection in a telecommunication network, the method comprising:

forming at least one processing instance for the connection by means of which event processing of the connection is controlled, the processing instance being associated with a functional connection to at least one control function of the telecommunication network, the control function giving instructions for processing the connection in response to requesting instructions;

defining in the processing instance at least one interactive event of a delayed request in which instructions are requested from the control function and, after requesting, the processing of the connection is continued without waiting for the instructions; and

defining in the processing instance at least one interactive event of a delayed response in which the instructions requested from the control function in the interactive event of the delayed request are processed.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the instructions before the interactive event of the delayed response; and

buffering the instructions.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

encountering the interactive event of the delayed response;

checking whether the instructions have been received, and

if so, processing the instructions;

if not, waiting for the instructions.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modelling the processing instance by a state model that comprises detection points for interactive events, in which detection points it is possible to contact the control function and in which detection points interaction with the control function is based on triggering information available to the processing instance.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each detection point of the interactive event of the delayed response is a later detection point than a detection point of an interactive event of a corresponding delayed request.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein if the interactive event is the interactive event of the delayed request or the delayed response, this is indicated in the triggering information of the detection point.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telecommunication system utilizes an intelligent network, the processing instance is the processing instance of the service switching function of the intelligent network and the control function is the service control function of the intelligent network.

8. A telecommunication system comprising

at least one control function that gives instructions related to processing a connection;

at least one network node for processing the connection, the network node being arranged to form for the connection at least one processing instance that comprises at least two interactive events wherein the network node can interact with the control function,

wherein at least one of the interactive events of the processing instance is the interactive event of a delayed request, and encountering the interactive event of the delayed request results in requesting instructions from the control function, and at least one of the interactive events of the processing instance is the interactive event of a delayed response, and encountering the interactive event of the delayed response results in processing the requested instructions in the interactive event of the delayed request, and

the network node is arranged, in response to encountering the interactive event of the delayed request, to request instructions from the control function and, after requesting, to continue processing the connection without waiting for the instructions.

9. The telecommunication system of claim 8 , wherein

the control function is arranged, in response to requesting instructions, to analyze the request and transmit the instructions to the network node; and

the network node is arranged, in response to receiving instructions, to buffer the instructions if the interactive event of the delayed request has not been encountered.

10. The telecommunication system of claim 8 , wherein the network node is arranged, in response to encountering the interactive event of the delayed request, to wait for instructions if no instructions have been received from the control function.

11. The telecommunication system of claim 8 , wherein

the network node is arranged to indicate to the control function that the request for instructions is a delayed request, and in response to encountering the interactive event of the delayed response, to transmit a call for instructions to the control function, and

the control function is arranged, in response to the delayed request, to buffer the request and in response to the call for instructions, to analyze the request and transmit the instructions to the network node.

12. The telecommunication system of claim 8 , wherein

the network node is arranged to indicate to the control function that the request for instructions is a delayed request, and in response to encountering the interactive event of the delayed response, to transmit a call for instructions to the control function, and

the control function is arranged, in response to the delayed request, to analyze the request and buffer the instructions, and in response to the call for instructions, to transmit the instructions to the network node.

13. The telecommunication system of claim 8 , wherein the telecommunication system is arranged to utilize the control principles of the intelligent network between the network node and the control function.

14. The telecommunication system of claim 13 , wherein the control function corresponds to a service control function of the intelligent network and the network node corresponds to a service switching function of the intelligent network.

15. A network node of a telecommunication system, the network node being responsible for processing a connection and being arranged to have a functional connection to a control function that gives instructions associated with processing the connection,

the network node being arranged to form for the connection at least one processing instance such that at least one of the events of the processing instance is defined as an interactive event of a delayed request, and encountering the interactive event of the delayed request results in transmitting a request for instructions to the control function and, after transmitting the request, continuing to process the connection without waiting for the instructions, and that at least one of the events of the processing instance is defined an interactive event of a delayed response, and encountering the interactive event of the delayed response results in processing the requested instructions in the interactive event of the delayed request.

16. The network node of claim 15 , being further arranged to buffer the instructions in response to receiving the instructions if the interactive event of the delayed request has not been encountered.

17. The network node of claim 15 , being further arranged, in response to encountering the interactive event of the delayed request, to wait for instructions if no instructions have been received from the control function.

18. The network node of claim 15 , being further arranged to model the processing instance by a state model which comprises detection points, at which detection points it is possible to interact with the control function and in which detection points interaction with the control function is based on triggering information available to the processing instance.

19. The network node of claim 18 , wherein the interactive event of the delayed request is the trigger of a first detection point and the interactive event of the delayed response is the trigger of a second detection point.

Assignments (12)