Patent ID: 6728352
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A network information management system, comprising:a traffic reporting system comprising a database holding traffic-related data collected from a digital telecommunications network switch; a switch shell comprising a higher layer generic interface protocol defining common switch interaction functions with a set of query and response subsets, said common switch interaction functions being common among multiple switch types, a middle layer comprising respective code portions uniquely compatible with communications protocols of corresponding ones of said multiple switch types, and a lower layer for interfacing said switch shell with a local area network linking plural digital telecommunications switches; and a scheduling mechanism scheduling switch interactions between said traffic reporting system and said switch shell; said query and response subsets comprising a query and response subset for submitting inventory requests to said switch and for receiving, in response to said submitted inventory requests, inventory information from said switch, said inventory information comprising a unique identifier of a network resource, and a number of members provided as part of said network resource.