Patent ID: 6625420
Filing Date: 2003-09-23
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
A method of providing fault management in a mobile communications network having at least one base station subsystem (BS), at least one mobile station (MS), at least one mobile switching center (MSC), and at least one switch in communication with at least one of the base station subsystems and at least one of the MSCs, the method comprising the acts of:the switch providing a forward sequence number counter (FSN) and a backward sequence number counter (BSN) for communication with the MSC; the switch providing a forward sequence number counter (FSN) and a backward sequence number counter (BSN) for communication with the BS; the switch receiving messages from the MSC and the BS and maintaining the corresponding pair of FSN and BSN in accordance with the messages; the switch detecting whether a received message is a change over order message (COO) from one of the MSC and BS, indicating a break in a first signaling link between the switch and the one of the MSC and BS; the switch forcing a break in a second signaling link between the switch and the other of the MSC and BS, wherein the second signaling link is configured to correspond to the first signaling link; the switch generating and sending a new COO message to the other of the MSC and BS; the switch receiving a change over acknowledge (COA) message from the other of the MSC and BS; and the switch generating and sending a new COA message to the one of the MSC and BS in which the new COA message contains the BSN maintained by the switch for communication with the one of the MSC and BS.