SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT WITHIN AN INTERWORKING SWITCHING SYSTEM

Abstract: A telecommunication system and method is disclosed for enabling an exchange (20) to automatically read the identification (or address) of an Interworking Equipment (IWU) (50) physical circuit (60) over the physical circuit itself (40). When an IWU is connected to the exchange over a physical circuit, the exchange detects the presence of the IWU when the physical circuit becomes synchronized. Thereafter, the exchange sends a request (85) for identification of the connection to the IWU over the physical circuit. The IWU responds with the identification (80), which is saved in a data record assigned to the physical circuit in the exchange. The exchange uses this identification when communicating with the IWU.

Description: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT WITHIN AN INTERWORKING SWITCHING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and methods for transmitting data between exchanges through interworking equipment, and specifically to identification of interworking equipment for transmission of the data between an exchange and the interworking equipment. Background and Objects of the Present Invention Today's telecommunications industry has changed dramatically. Data communications and voice networking have merged to provide a variety of new services. In order to support the variety of new services, such as the transmission of voice and/or data through the Internet, seamless interworking between networks must be provided. End users operating terminals (computers or telephones) communicate with each other through a communications channel called a physical circuit. These physical circuits are also known as channels, links, lines and trunks. Within a network, the physical circuits are terminated at intermediate points at exchanges that provide relay services on to another circuit. These exchanges are commonly known as switches, routers, bridges and gateways. With reference now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, in today's network, the association between two exchanges 20a and 20b is "simple", in that the far end of a link 40 is another exchange 20a or 20b. However, with the emergence of flexible network systems and Internet access, the fixed ties between circuit switching nodes 20a and 20b are disappearing. With reference now to FIGURE 2 of the drawings, in tomorrow's network, the other side of the link 40 from an exchange 20a is an Interworking Equipment Unit (IWU) 50a that routes the connection to the far exchange 20b by converting the voice and/or data into packets of a different protocol, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) or Internet Protocol (IP), in order to transport the voice and/or data over a transport network 30, such as an ATM or Internet transport network, to another IWU 50b. The IWUs 50a and 50b provide the access to this transport network 30 for circuit connections. The introduction of the IWUs 50 adds a level of complexity to the exchanges 20. When configuring an exchange 20 that interworks with and controls one or more IWUs 50, in which that exchange 20 has a number of physical circuits 40 connected to each of the IWUs 50, the configuration is typically performed manually. Thus, for each physical circuit 40, personnel must manually check the identification of the circuit 40 in the IWU 50, and correctly assign that identification to the data record associated with the physical circuit 40 in the exchange 20. Therefore, this adds an extra set of data in the exchange 20 that needs to be administered. Administration of this data has typically been labor intensive and error prone. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to enable the exchange to automatically read the IWU identification over the physical circuits. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to telecommunications systems and methods for enabling an exchange to automatically read the identification (or address) of an Interworking Equipment Unit (IWU) physical circuit over the physical circuit itself. When an IWU is connected to the exchange over a physical circuit, the exchange detects the presence of the IWU when the physical circuit becomes synchronized. Thereafter, the exchange sends a request for identification to the IWU over the physical circuit. The IWU responds with the identification, which is saved in a data record assigned to the physical circuit in the exchange. The exchange uses this equipment identification when communicating with the IWU. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show important sample embodiments of the invention and which are incorporated in the specification hereof by reference, wherein: FIGURE 1 illustrates a conventional connection between two exchanges; FIGURE 2 illustrates connection between two exchanges through Interworking Equipment Units (IWUs) and a transport network; FIGURE 3 illustrates the physical circuit and control link connections between an exchange and an IWU; FIGURE 4 illustrates the transmission of identification information from an IWU to an exchange in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention; and FIGURE 5 illustrates the steps for transmitting the identification information shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred exemplary embodiments. However, it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. Due to the increasing number of different types of transport networks, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and the Internet, Interworking Equipment units (IWUs) have been inserted into the links between exchanges and various transport networks to provide seamless transmission of voice and data. For example, as shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawings, an exchange 20 may have multiple physical circuit connections 40a-n to various equipment 55a-n within an IWU 50, in order to connect to the many different types of transport networks 30a-n. One physical circuit 40a may connect the exchange 20 to ATM equipment 55a in the IWU 50, in which the ATM equipment 55a converts the voice and/or data received from the exchange 20 over the physical circuit 40a into ATM protocol packets, and transmits this converted voice and/or data through the ATM transport network 30a. Another physical circuit 40b may connect the exchange 20 to Internet equipment 55b in the IWU 50 for conversion and transport of the voice and/or data through the Internet transport network 30b. Each end of the physical circuit 40a-n is connected to the exchange 20 or IWU 50 through a respective port 25a-n or 60a-n, which is the access point to the exchange 20 or IWU 50, respectively. Each of these physical circuits 40a-n may utilize any type of transport technology for transmitting the voice and/or data to the IWU 50. For example, the physical circuits 40a-n may use Tl or El communications protocols to digitally transmit the data to the IWU 50. Tl is used in North America, whereas El is used in Europe. Even though El is similar to Tl, El and Tl are not compatible. The maj ority of T 1 /E 1 lines digitize voice signals through pulse code modulation (PCM), and multiplex twenty-four/thirty-two digitized voice and data signals together onto one physical Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) circuit. Alternatively, the physical circuits 40a-n may transmit the data using the Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH) transport technology. The SONET/SDH communications protocol is based on digital synchronous transmission of voice and/or data over an optical fiber in a standard format called the Synchronous Transport Signal (STS). It should be understood that the transport technology used for the transmission of voice and/or data over the physical circuits 40a-n between the exchange 20 and the IWU 50 is not limited to Tl, El or SONET/SDH, but can include any transport technology available. In addition, the number of physical circuits 40a-n and the transport technology used for each of these physical circuits 40a-n can vary. Before the exchange 20 can begin to transmit the voice and/or data to the IWU 50 over one of the physical circuits 40a-n, the exchange must first establish a call connection with a destination exchange (not shown) through the IWU 50. In order to establish such a connection, a signaling message 75 is transmitted from the exchange 20 to the IWU 50 over a separate control link 70, requesting the IWU 50 to establish a call connection with a particular destination exchange through a particular transport network 30a-n. The signaling message 75 also contains an identification of the particular port 60a-n connected to the physical circuit 40a-n that the exchange 20 would like to use to transmit the voice and/or data to the IWU 50. It should be noted that a number of different signaling protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), can be used to transmit the signaling message 75 over the control link 70. As discussed above, in order for the exchange 20 to have knowledge of the particular port 60a-n identification of the IWU 50, this identification information has to be stored within a database 10 within the exchange 20. This configuration process has typically been performed manually by physical circuit personnel. The personnel must manually check the identification of the port 60a-n connected to the physical circuit 40a-n in the IWU 50 and assign this identification information to the port 25a- n connected to that physical circuit 40a-n in the exchange 20. Thus, the personnel must manually enter the IWU port 60a-n identification information associated with each exchange port 25a-n into the database 10. Thereafter, when the exchange 20 wants to establish a call connection using a particular physical circuit connection 40a- n to the IWU 50, the exchange 20 accesses the database 10, retrieves the IWU port 60a-n identification information for the desired exchange port 25a-n and sends a signaling message 75 to the IWU 50, using the port 60a-n identification information. However, as discussed above, in some cases the identification information may be entered incorrectly by the personnel, and therefore, a call connection may not be able to be established. Furthermore, the configuration process is labor intensive, which can be costly to the exchange 20 owner. Therefore, in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, the IWU 50 can provide the port 60 identification information to the exchange 20 directly, without the aid of physical circuit personnel. With reference now to FIGURE 4 of the drawings, which will be described in connection with the steps described in the signaling diagram of FIGURE 5 of the drawings, when equipment 55 in the IWU 50 is connected to the exchange 20 over a physical circuit 40 (step 500), the exchange 20 detects the presence of the equipment 55 when the physical circuit 40 becomes synchronized (step 510). Thereafter, the exchange 20 sends a request message 85 requesting identification of the new equipment 55 to the IWU 50 over the physical circuit 40 (step 520). In response to the request message 85, the IWU 20 sends identification information 80, e.g.. the address of the IWU access point (port) 60 connected to the particular physical circuit 40, to the exchange 20 over the physical circuit 40 (step 530). For example, if the physical circuit 40 is a Tl, the request message 85 and identification information 80 can be transmitted between the exchange 20 and the IWU 50 over a Facility Data Link. Alternatively, if the physical circuit 40 is an El , one or more of the spare bits in timeslot 0 can be used to transmit the request message 85 and identification information 80 between the exchange 20 and the IWU 50. For SONET/SDH, a Data Communication Channel in the section overhead can be used for sending the request message 85 and transferring the identification information 80 between the exchange 20 and the IWU 50. Once the exchange 20 receives the identification information 80, the exchange 20 saves the identification information 80 in a data record field 15 assigned to the exchange port 25 associated with the particular physical circuit 40 within the database 10 (step 540). It should be noted that the identification information 80 does not need to be checked for correctness since it is derived from the physical circuit 40 itself. Thereafter, the exchange 20 uses the identification information 80 when communicating with the IWU 50 over the control link 70 (step 550). For example, when the exchange sends a signaling message 75, the signaling message 75 includes the identification information 80, which is used to identify the particular port 60 within the IWU 50 that the message 75 is directed to. If the physical circuit 40 is disconnected and re-established, the same procedure described in FIGURES 4 and 5 above is followed. This allows for simple automatic reconfiguration of the physical circuits 40. For example, if a physical circuit 40 connected to one port 25 of the exchange 20 is pulled out from one port 60 associated with first equipment 55 in the IWU 50 and reconnected to another port (not shown) associated with second equipment (not shown) in the IWU 50, then the data record field 15 associated with the exchange port 25 in the database 10 is automatically updated with the new port identification for the second equipment, and can immediately start to use it. By letting the IWU 50 provide the identification information 80 directly to the exchange 20, the identification information 80 can be automatically stored correctly. For example, the IWU 50 can inform the exchange 20 that "this particular Tl port can be controlled using the following IP address 194.234.123.44:23." The exchange 20 then uses this IP address in all communications to the IWU 50 for the particular Tl port. As an example, if the exchange 20 desires to establish a connection with a destination exchange (not shown) through the ATM transport network 30 (shown in FIGURE 2), the exchange 20 can send a signaling message 75 to IP address 194.234.123.4:23 over the control link 70 ordering an ATM Adaption Layer 1 (AAL1) connection to be set up towards a particular address, with a particular bandwidth and particular ATM characteristics, ej*., Quality of Service (QoS). The result would be a connection from the exchange 20 to the identified Tl port 60 in the IWU 50 to the identified far end over the ATM network. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a wide range of applications . Accordingly, the scope of patented subj ect matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplary teachings discussed, but is instead defined by the following claims.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A telecommunications system for automatically providing identification information, comprising: an Interworking Equipment unit for automatically transmitting said identification information over a physical circuit when said physical circuit is connected to said Interworking Equipment unit; an exchange connected to said Interworking Equipment by said physical circuit, said exchange receiving said transmitted identification information over said physical circuit; and a database within said exchange for storing said received identification information. 2. The telecommunications system of Claim 1 , wherein said Interworking Equipment unit further comprises a first port having said identification information associated therewith, said physical circuit being connected to said Interworking Equipment unit via said port. 3. The telecommunications system of Claim 2, wherein said exchange further comprises a second port connected to said circuit. 4. The telecommunications system of Claim 3, wherein said database includes a field associated with said second port, said field including said identification information for said first port. 5. The telecommunications system of Claim 4, wherein said identification information comprises an address for said first port. 6. The telecommunications system of Claim 1, wherein said physical circuit transmits voice and data from said exchange to said Interworking Equipment unit. 7. The telecommunications system of Claim 6, wherein said voice and data are transmitted over said circuit using Tl communications protocol. 8. The telecommunications system of Claim 6, wherein said voice and data are transmitted over said circuit using El communications protocol. 9. The telecommunications system of Claim 6, wherein said voice and data are transmitted over said circuit using SONET/SDH communications protocol. 10. The telecommunications system of Claim 1, further comprising: a control link between said exchange and said Interworking Equipment unit for transmitting a signaling message from said exchange to said Interworking Equipment unit. 11. The telecommunications system of Claim 10, wherein said signaling message includes said identification information. 12. The telecommunications system of Claim 1 , further comprising: at least one transport network connected to said Interworking Equipment unit. 13. The telecommunications system of Claim 12, wherein said Interworking unit further comprises at least one equipment associated with said at least one transport network, said at least one equipment converting a first transmission received from said exchange over said circuit to a second transmission capable of being transmitted over said at least one transport network. 14. The telecommunications system of Claim 1, wherein said exchange sends a request message to said Interworking Equipment unit over said circuit when said circuit is connected. 15. The telecommunications system of Claim 14, wherein said Interworking Equipment unit sends said identification information to said exchange over said circuit in response to said request message. 16. A method for automatically providing identification information, comprising the steps of: connecting a circuit between an exchange and an Interworking Equipment unit; providing, by said Interworking Equipment unit, identification information associated with said Interworking Equipment unit to said exchange; and storing said identification information in a database within said exchange. 17. The method of Claim 16, wherein said step of connecting further comprises the step of: connecting said circuit to said Interworking Equipment unit via a first port within said Interworking Equipment unit, said first port having said identification information associated therewith. 18. The method of Claim 17, wherein said step of connecting further comprises the step of: connecting said circuit to said exchange via a second port within said exchange. 19. The method of Claim 18, wherein said step of storing further comprises the step of: storing said identification information for said first port within a field associated with said second port within said database. 20. The method of Claim 16, further comprising the step of: transmitting a signaling message including said identification information over a control link from said exchange to said Interworking Equipment unit. 21. The method of Claim 16, wherein said step of providing further comprises the steps of: detecting the connection of said circuit to equipment within said Interworking Equipment unit by said exchange; and sending a request message from said exchange to said Interworking Equipment unit over said circuit requesting said identification information. 22. The method of Claim 21, wherein said step of providing further comprises the step of: in response to said request message, sending said identification information from said Interworking Equipment unit to said exchange over said circuit. 23. A method for automatically transmitting identification information upon a connection of a physical circuit at an Interworking Equipment unit, comprising the steps of: detecting said connection of said physical circuit by an exchange, said physical circuit being connected between said exchange and said Interworking Equipment unit; requesting said identification information from said Interworking Equipment unit; transmitting said identification information over said physical circuit from said Interworking Equipment unit to said exchange; and storing said identification information in a location associated with said physical circuit. 24. The method of Claim 23, further comprising the step of: transmitting a signaling message including said identification information over a control link from said exchange to said Interworking Equipment unit. 25. The method of Claim 23, wherein said step of requesting is responsive to synchronization of said physical circuit between said exchange and said Interworking Equipment unit.

Inventors: TOVANDER LARS, TOVANDER, LARS
Applicants: ERICSSON INC, ERICSSON INC.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: H04Q11
IPC codes: H04L12, H04Q11