Patent ID: 6958979
Filing Date: 2005-10-25
Classification: H04Q

Abstract:
1. A system for planning a Signaling System 7 (SS7) network for a sequence of study periods, the SS7 network comprising a plurality of signal transfer points (STPs) interconnected by links to form a core network, each STP having at least one element from a set comprising signal switching points (SSPs), points-of-presence (POPs), and network databases (DBs), the system comprising: at least one planning database comprising information on network traffic, network component locations, and network component connectivity; a load module in communication with each of the at least one planning database, the load module operable to determine peak loads for each STP in the core network based on network traffic, component locations, and component connectivity and operative to store the determined peak loads in one of the at least one planning database; a forecast module in communication with the at least one planning database, the forecast module operative to determine equipment capacity exhaustion for each STP, network DB, and core network link during each study period and to determine network costs based on determined peak loads and an alternative network design provided by a user; and a graphical user interface in communication with the forecast module and at least one of the at least one planning database, the graphical user interface operable to guide the user through a sequence of design steps, each step having to be correctly completed before the next step in the sequence can be started, thereby producing the alternative network design.