A COMMUNICATIONS DATA STORAGE ARRANGEMENT

Abstract: This invention relates to switching and operational support systems in the area of general communications, and more particularly, to a new type of communications data storage arrangement. With the help of a solution according to the invention the decision support systems can efficiently analyze the facts in combination with the relationship between these facts.

Description: A COMMUNICATIONS DATA STORAGE ARRANGEMENT This invention relates to switching and operational support systems in the area of general communications, and more particularly, to a new type of telecommunications or datacommunications data storage arrangement. Today many telecommunication operators have storage databases that they use to record customer and call and service related data. This data collected in storage database is then used to analyze for example different services or customer behaviour. By analyzing it is possible to discover which services to offer to which customers as well as differentiate between different customers, detect fraud and predict customer churn. This information helps the operator to provide better service to the customers. In a communications network, a network element e.g. a telephony switch, is used to switch speech and data signals coming from another part of network. While performing this function the network element also generates a lot of data, which is then used for different purposes e.g. billing the customer for the phone call, billing another operator for the use of the network, or statistical data handling. In an ordinary network element this data is combined to form several different data streams to come out of the network element. Each stream consists of a different subset information of the total traffic information. Such data streams are for instance customer billing information data stream, statistical information data stream, operational and maintenance information data stream, customer complaint audit data stream and inter-operator billing information data stream. In current communications networks the traffic information is stored in the database as call related data and as service related data. The information that is stored can be for example call related billing data or usage related service data. In the following, the prior art solutions will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying figure 1 which is a block diagram of a communications data storage arrangement according to prior art. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a communications data storage arrangement according to prior art. All the call data records are stored in call data storage 1. Likewise all service data records are stored in service data storage 2. The dimensional data such as e.g. customer data or product data is stored in a separate dimensional data storage 3. The telecommunication operators then use the data stored in the data storages 1, 2, 3 in different operational support systems. These operational support systems perform queries by reading the data storages 1, 2 several times . For example when performing a query on how a certain group of customers have used a specific service operator first has to determine the group of customers from a dimensional data storage 3 determines and the service from another dimensional data storage 3. Operator then reads through the call data storage 1 and finds out the calls made by this group of customers. Finally the operator reads through the service data storage 2 for each found customer call and tries to determine whether the specified service was used. In the area of communications the traffic events, such as calls and services, are stored in databases as facts. The output from communication networks is still typically tailored for traditional applications such as billing, accounting, statistics, etc. These applications have in common that they do not require a thorough understanding of the relationships between the facts. The existing decision support systems in the communications area are generally based upon the output that was originally intended for other applications, they do not determine nor store a complete set of relationships between the facts . As the operational support systems have developed, there has also arisen a need to understand the relationships between the traffic events such as calls and services. However, existing databases are not equipped to store information regarding such relationships. There are some prior art support systems in which first the call data records are stored in call data storage 1 and service data records are stored in service data storage 2. After the records are stored the relationships between calls and services is determined. These prior art support systems require a great deal of domain knowledge by the end-user system. Also the query performance is reasonably poor since the relationships are not readily available but have to be computed based on complex queries . These queries may need to be run frequently. In the view of the prior art there is a clear need for a new type of communications data storage arrangement that would provide a detailed picture of calls, services and their relationships. Lack of such a solution has already for a quite some time been a stumbling block for the further development of the current operational support systems as well as for the introduction of new analysis applications . The aim of this invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art solutions and to provide a new type of communications data storage arrangement. According to the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a communications data storage arrangement in which the call data records are stored in call data storage, service data records are stored in service data storage, and dimensional data records are stored in dimensional data storage, which arrangement is characterized by that also the relationships between call data and service data, as well as the characteristics of these relationships, are stored as attributes in a relationship data storage. A more complete understanding of the method and the arrangement of the present invention may be obtained by the preferred embodiments that follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a communications data storage arrangement according to prior art, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention. The prior art solutions have been described in drawing 1. In the following, the solution according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing 2. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention. As in the prior art arrangements all the call data records are stored in call data storage 1. Likewise as in the prior art arrangements all service data records are stored in service data storage 2. The dimensional data such as e.g. customer data or product data is stored in a separate dimensional data storage 3. In a communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention also the relationships between call data and service data, as well as the characteristics of these relationships, are stored as attributes in a relationship data storage 4. The telecommunication operators then use both the data stored in the data storages 1, 2, 3 as well as the relationship data stored in the data storages 4 in different operational support systems. For example, when performing a query on how a certain group of customers have used a specific service, operator can first determine the group of customers from a dimensional data storage 3 determines and the service from another dimensional data storage 3. Operator can then read through the call data storage 1 and find out the calls made by this group of customers. Then the operator can read out the services relating to these calls directly from the relationship data storage 4. Optionally the operator can start the query directly from the relationship data storage 4 and then read the relating call and service records. In a communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention the call data storage 1, the service data storage 2 and the relationship data storage 4 can be located in a same physical memory or in separate physical memories. The data storages 1, 2, 3, 4 can for example be utilized in data warehouse arrangements. The communications data storage arrangement according to the invention can be used in any communications network including circuit switched and packet switched networks. The communications data storage arrangement according to the invention can be used with any communications services including telephony calls, Voice over IP calls (IP, Internet Protocol) , Internet services, IP interconnection, etc . The communications data storage arrangement according to the invention can be used to store data collected from multiple different network elements, including telephony switches, network nodes, routers, media gateways, proxy servers, AAA-servers, etc. With the help of a solution according to the invention the decision support systems can efficiently analyze the facts in combination with the relationship between these facts. For a decision support system that stores detailed information about facts in fact tables, storing the relationships between these facts in the underlying database has a significant added value. An example of the communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention can be the CCBS-service (CCBS, Call Completion on Busy Subscribers) . In CCBS- service the subscriber attempts to make a call but encounters busy tone . Next the subscriber orders the network to make another attempt when the line of the called subscriber becomes available. When the line becomes available, the network sets up the ordered call. If only the facts had been stored, then the fact that the second call was attempted on account of the CCBS-service could not easily be determined. By additionally storing this relationship, more information can be extracted from the database. Determining the relationships at the time of loading can be done more efficiently than after the data has been loaded, because only relationships that involve the newly loaded facts have to be considered. In a communications data storage arrangement according to the present invention more information can be extracted from the database in an efficient manner, because the relationships are readily stored in the form of objects that can be queried directly. Less domain knowledge by the end-user or end-user system is required in order to be able to analyze relationships between facts .

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A communications data storage arrangement, in which the call data records are stored in call data storage (1) , service data records are stored in service data storage (2), and dimensional data records are stored in dimensional data storage (3) , the arrangement being characterized in that also the relationships between call data and service data, as well as the characteristics of these relationships, are stored as attributes in a relationship data storage (4) . 2. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1, characterized in that the data storages (1), (2), (4) are utilized in a data warehouse arrangement. 3. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 , characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used in a circuit switched network. 4. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used in a packet switched network. 5. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 , characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used with telephony calls. 6. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used with "Voice over IP" services. 7. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used with internet services. 8. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 , characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used with "IP interconnection" services. 9. A communications data storage arrangement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the data storage arrangement is used to store data collected from multiple different network elements. 10. A communications data storage arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the call data storage (1) , the service data storage (2) and the relationship data storage (4) are located in a same physical memory. 11. A communications data storage arrangement according to any of the preceding claims 1-9, characterized in that the call data storage (1), the service data storage (2) and the relationship data storage (4) are located in separate physical memories.

Inventors: BURGERS ROB, LEWIS PETER, VAN DARTEL KOEN, BURGERS, ROB, LEWIS, PETER, VAN DARTEL, KOEN
Applicants: BURGERS ROB, DARTEL KOEN VAN, ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M, LEWIS PETER, BURGERS, ROB, LEWIS, PETER, TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL), VAN DARTEL, KOEN
Application year: 2000
Main classification: H04M15
IPC codes: H04M3, H04M15