Patent ID: 6363074
Filing Date: 2002-03-26
Classification: H04J,H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A method of establishing a connection for a call in a communications network, comprising:establishing an inter-machine trunk through a cell-based network between first and second network switches having respective telephony interfaces to respective sets of users, the inter-machine trunk including a plurality of virtual connections each capable of carrying at least one call through the cell-based network, each virtual connection including a plurality of cell slots respectively allocable for carrying different calls through the cell-based network, each cell slot being the location of a corresponding octet in each of a stream of cells, the number of virtual connections in the inter-machine trunk being established based on provisioning information generated by an operator communicatively coupled to at least one of the network switches; upon the receipt at the first switch of a call request from a calling user seeking to establish a call with a called user in the network, determining whether the call should be routed via the second switch, and if so then: (i) selecting, at the first switch, one of the virtual connections of the inter-machine trunk and one of the cell slots of the selected virtual connection to carry the call; (ii) forwarding a call request message from the first switch to the second switch, the call request message identifying the called user and the virtual connection and cell slot selected to carry the call; (iii) establishing, at the first switch, a connection between the selected virtual connection and cell slot and a telephony interface circuit for the calling user; and (iv) establishing, at the second switch, a connection between the selected virtual connection and cell slot and a telephony interface circuit for the called user.