Abstract:
At least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a method, comprising automatically obtaining real-time measurement data for a telephone network between a transit carrier and a predetermined terminating carrier; and automatically providing the real-time measurement data via the Internet to an originating carrier associated with the transit carrier. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. This abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   In many cases, most and/or all telephone calls destined for particular country, state, political region, and/or geographical region are delivered to the called party by a single terminating carrier to which an originating carrier can connect via any of several transit carriers. Similarly, electricity, gas, fuel, steam, and/or water can be provided by a terminating carrier that connects to an end user, that terminating carrier supplied by one or more originating and/or transit carriers. 
   SUMMARY 
   At least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a method comprising automatically obtaining real-time measurement data for a telephone network between a transit carrier and a predetermined terminating carrier, and automatically providing the real-time measurement data via the Internet to an originating carrier associated with the transit carrier. 
   At least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a method comprising requesting real-time measurement data for a telephone network between a transit carrier and a predetermined terminating carrier, and automatically receiving the real-time measurement data via the Internet at an originating carrier associated with the transit carrier. 
   At least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a graphical user interface comprising a rendering of real-time measurement data for a telephone network between a transit carrier and a predetermined terminating carrier, said rendering updated via an Internet connection at a predetermined time interval. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention and its wide variety of potential embodiments will be readily understood via the following detailed description of certain exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method  1000  of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system  2000  of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an information device  3000  of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface  4000  of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface  5000  of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   According to an exemplary embodiment of a method of the present invention, one or more metrics that relate to capacity and/or traffic for telephone calls can be provided to the originating, transit, and/or terminating carrier. In certain embodiments, “real-time” measurement data can be provided. Such data can be of interest, for example, to an originating carrier in determining and/or selecting transit carriers and/or in switching traffic between various transit carriers. As another example, such data can be of interest to a carrier in determining rates. 
   In an exemplary embodiment, a request for real-time measurement data can be made by the originating carrier. This request can be entered by the originating carrier via an information device that is connected via a network to a data server, such as a web server, that provides the real-time measurement data. The request can be entered via a graphical user interface, such as a web browser, via which the originating carrier can specify the real-time measurement(s), transit carriers, terminating carriers, countries, and/or regions of interest. The graphical user interface can provide user interface elements, such as menus, pick lists, check boxes, buttons, hyperlinks, etc., that can facilitate the entry of the request. For example, the graphical user interface can provide a pick list of countries of interest. As another example, the graphical user interface can provide an array of check boxes via which the originating carrier can selected from among multiple potential real-time measurements (such as number and/or percent of links and/or circuits that are idle, available, utilized, overflowed, served by a particular technology (e.g., copper, satellite, fiber, radio, cellular, microwave, POTS, X.25, ISDN, ATM, and/or Voice-over-IP, etc.), and/or busy due to maintenance, etc.). 
     FIG. 1  is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method  1000  of the present invention. Note that although various activities are presented in a numbered sequence, and are connected with arrows to an exemplary embodiment of method  1000 , there is no general requirement that the activities be performed in any particular order or any particular number of times, or that all activities be performed. Moreover, any activity can be performed automatically and/or manually. 
   At activity  1100 , real-time measurement data for a telephone network between a transit carrier and a predetermined terminating carrier can be requested. 
   As used herein, the phrase “real-time” means within 0 to 15 minutes, inclusive of each time therebetween, such as for example, 11.2 minutes, 5 minutes, 4.6 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and/or 1.001 minutes, etc. of an occurrence of an event. As used herein, in the context of a telephone network, the term “measurement” includes a capacity condition and/or traffic performance metric. A real time measurement can represent a measurement taken at a discrete time and/or a statistic of such measurements, such as for example, a count, sum, running total, maximum, minimum, average, weighted average, moving average, sampled average, etc. As used herein, “real-time measurement data” can include a real-time measurement and/or a real-time measurement statistic; a country, state, political region, and/or geographical region to which a real-time measurement relates; an originating, transit, and/or terminating carrier and/or service provider to which a real-time measurement relates; and/or a date and/or time to which a real-time measurement relates. 
   As used herein, the term “network” can be a telephone, electricity, gas, fuel, steam, water, communications, and/or utility network. As used herein, the phrase “telephone network” can be a plain old telephone system (“POTS”) network, a private telephone network, a cellular telephone network, and/or a Voice-over-IP network, etc. Moreover, the physical layer of the telephone network can include wired, optical, microwave, cellular, radio, and/or satellite links and/or circuits, etc. As used herein, the phrase “transit carrier” means a carrier of a telephone call across a single and/or network of links and/or circuits. As used herein, the phrase “terminating carrier” means a carrier that carries a call received from a transit carrier, to potentially as far as the called party. As used herein, the phrase “originating carrier” means a carrier of a telephone call that is provided to the transit carrier, and can potentially be directly connected to the calling party. 
   The real-time measurement data can be requested by any carrier. The request can be made, for example, by selecting an identification of real-time measurement data of interest from a list of potential real-time measurement data. The real-time measurement data can be selected, for example, for a particular destination country and/or terminating carrier. The requested real-time measurement data can be requested periodically, at any customizable predetermined time interval (such as every 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and/or 1 minute), and/or aperiodically. 
   At activity  1200 , the real-time measurement data can be obtained by the transit carrier. This measurement data can be obtained from a network traffic management system, such as for example, the Worldwide Intelligent Network used by AT&amp;T Corp. The real-time measurement data can be provided to a database that can be connected to a data server, such as a web-connected data server (“web server”). The real-time measurement data can be provided to the data server in any format, including HTML, and/or can be converted to any format, including HTML, at the data server. 
   At activity  1300 , the real-time measurement data can be provided via a network, from the data server to a customer information device. The network can be a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, a local area network, the Internet, etc. The real-time measurement data can be provided, for example, via FTP over a wide-area network, using, for example, the FTP PUT command. The real-time measurement data can be provided periodically, at any customizable predetermined time interval (such as every 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and/or 1 minute), and/or aperiodically. 
   At activity  1400 , the real-time measurement data can be rendered on the customer information device. As used herein, the term “render” means to make perceptible to a human. The real-time measurement data can be rendered in any of a number of formats, including in a tabular, graphical, video, and/or audio format. For example, a graphical format can be rendered that includes dynamic, animated, and/or colored elements, and can be provided as a chart (scatter, line, bar, pie, cluster, etc.). The real-time measurement data can be rendered periodically, at any customizable predetermined time interval (such as every 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and/or 1 minute), and/or aperiodically. 
   At activity  1500 , the real-time measurement data can be monitored on the customer information device. Such monitoring can take place manually and/or automatically. For example, an originating carrier in Virginia can monitor what percentage of traffic carried by a particular transit carrier is flowing over satellite circuits to a terminating carrier serving the island of Martinique. The real-time measurement data can be monitored periodically, at any customizable predetermined time interval (such as every 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and/or 1 minute), and/or aperiodically. 
   At activity  1600 , traffic can be routed and/or diverted based on the real-time measurement data. Continuing with the previous example, if the originating carrier determines that the percentage of traffic carried by the particular transit carrier over satellite circuits to Martinique is unacceptable, the originating carrier can initiate a switch of any desired portion of the traffic to another transit carrier. Typically, such a switch would effect future calls, but in some cases could effect existing calls. 
     FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system  2000  of the present invention. As an initial matter, it suffices to say that, using the description of method  1000 , one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the functionality of method  1000  via system  2000  utilizing any of a wide variety of well-known architectures, hardware, protocols, and/or software. Thus, the following description of system  2000  can be viewed as illustrative, and unless specified otherwise, should not be construed to limit the implementation of method  1000  and/or the scope of any claims attached hereto. 
   System  2000  can comprise a traffic network management system  2100 , that can be coupled via a network  2200  to one or more databases  2300  and/or to at least one web server  2400 , which can have a connected database  2500 . Traffic network management system  2100  can obtain, process, store, and/or provide real-time measurement data automatically and/or as requested. Likewise, web server  2400  can request, obtain, process, store, and/or provide real-time measurement data automatically and/or as requested. Communications between traffic network management system  2100  and web server  2400  can be secure, encrypted, and/or validated. 
   Web server  2400  can be coupled via a network  2600 , such as the Internet, to a customer information device  2700 , which can have one or more databases  2800  connected thereto. In an exemplary embodiment, web server  2400  can utilize the Microsoft NT server technology. 
   Customer information device  2700  can request, obtain, store, process, and/or provide real-time measurement data automatically and/or as requested. To connect to network  2600  and/or web server  2400 , customer information device  2700  can provide a userID and/or password. Communications between web server  2400  and customer information device  2700  can be secure, encrypted, and/or validated. 
   Either of networks  2200 ,  2600  can have any architecture, including a direct connection, a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet, an extranet, the Internet, and/or a combination thereof, etc. Either of networks  2200 ,  2600  can be a packet-switched, a circuit-switched, a connectionless, or connection-oriented network or interconnected networks, or any combination thereof. Either of networks  2200 ,  2600  can be oriented toward voice, data, or voice and data communications. Moreover, a transmission media of either of networks  2200 ,  2600  can take any form, including wireline, satellite, wireless, or a combination thereof. 
     FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an information device  3000  of the present invention. Information device  3000  can represent any customer information device  2700 , server  2400 , and/or traffic network management system  2100 . Information device  3000  can include well-known components such as one or more communication interfaces  3100 , one or more processors  3200 , one or more memories  3300  containing instructions  3400 , and/or one or more input/output (I/O) devices  3500 , etc. 
   In one embodiment, communication interface  3100  can be a bus, a connector, a telephone line interface, a wireless network interface, a cellular network interface, a local area network interface, a broadband cable interface, a telephone, a cellular phone, a cellular modem, a telephone data modem, a fax modem, a wireless transceiver, an Ethernet card, a cable modem, a digital subscriber line interface, a bridge, a hub, a router, or other similar device. 
   Each processor  3200  can be a commercially available general-purpose microprocessor. In certain embodiments, the processor can be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that has been designed to implement in its hardware and/or firmware at least a part of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
   Memory  3300  can be coupled to processor  3200  and can comprise any device capable of storing analog or digital information, such as a hard disk, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and any combination thereof. Memory  3300  can also comprise a database, an archive, and/or any stored data and/or instructions. For example, memory  3300  can store instructions  3400  adapted to be executed by processor  3200  according to one or more activities of a method of the present invention. 
   Instructions  3400  can be embodied in software, which can take any of numerous forms that are well known in the art. Instructions  3400  can control operation of information device  3000  and/or one or more other devices, systems, or subsystems. 
   Input/output (I/O) device  3500  can be an audio and/or visual device, including, for example, a monitor, display, keyboard, keypad, touchpad, pointing device, microphone, speaker, video camera, camera, scanner, and/or printer, including a port to which an I/O device can be attached, connected, and/or coupled. 
     FIG. 4  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface  4000  of the present invention. Note that although presented as a tabular interface, graphical user interface  4000  can be rendered in any of a number of formats, including in a tabular, graphical, video, and/or audio format. Date column  4100  identifies the date that the real-time measurement data was obtained, stored, provided, and/or rendered. Similarly, time column  4200  identifies the time, such as in UTC, that the real-time measurement data was obtained, stored, provided, and/or rendered. 
   Carrier column  4300  identifies the transit carrier. Destination column  4400  identifies the destination country and/or termination carrier associated with the real-time measurement data. Real-time measurement columns  4500 – 4800  identify number of idle circuits and/or links, percent overflow, percent maintenance busy, and percent satellite, respectively. 
   The data for idle circuits can be related to an average number of circuits that are neither traffic busy or maintenance busy. The data for idle circuits can be related to an average of the toal circuits minus the occupied circuits, where the total circuits include two-way circuits and one-way outbound circuits. The data for overflow can be related to a percentage of overflowed calls with respect to total call attempts from the transit carrier to the terminating carrier. The calls considered can include inbound, outbound, international, local, transit, and/or terminating, etc. 
   The data for maintenance busy can be related to a percentage of maintenance busy circuits with respect to total circuits from the transit carrier to the terminating carrier. The data for satellite can be related to a percentage of satellite circuits with respect to total circuits from the transit carrier to the terminating carrier. 
   In certain embodiments, a user can sort by any column. In certain embodiments, if a value of any measurement is outside a predetermined value and/or range, a user can receive a notification, such as, for example, a dialog box, an alarm, a pager message, an e-mail message, a fax, and/or display of the measurement and/or measurement data in bold and/or a particular color, etc. In certain embodiments, the user can specify the parameters of the notification. 
     FIG. 5  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface  5000  of the present invention. As shown, certain data from  FIG. 4  can be presented in a chart format. Specifically, percent overflow, percent maintenance busy, and percent satellite are presented by country. Note that any chart format can be used, including scatter, line, bar, pie, cluster, high-low, combination, etc. 
   Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerous variations, modifications and additional embodiments are possible, and accordingly, all such variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as being within the spirit and scope of the invention. Also, references specifically identified and discussed herein are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.