Patent ID: 6381252
Filing Date: 2002-04-30
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A method for managing a plurality of network communication resources for connecting to a plurality of service providers, comprising the steps of:maintaining, for each service provider, a first list of network communication resources identifying one or more signaling channels, each signaling channel controlling one or more bearing channels leading to the corresponding service provider; maintaining, for each signaling channel in the first list, a second list of bearing channels controlled by the signaling channel; determining, from a call set up request, a destination service provider; retrieving the first list associated with the destination service provider; selecting a signaling channel from the first list, wherein selecting a signaling channel is performed by identifying a signaling channel based on a value of a signaling channel pointer; incrementing the signaling channel pointer after the step of selecting; retrieving the second list of bearing channels for the selected signaling channel; selecting a bearing channel from the second list based upon status and availability; and establishing a call using the selected signaling channel and the selected bearing channel.