Patent ID: 7853707

Claim:
A method for link level alignment of processor cards in a distributed processing environment, the method comprising: (a) at a first processor card within a telecommunications signaling platform, sending an alignment request message to a second processor card within a telecommunications signaling platform; (b) including, in the alignment request message, at least one link level communications protocol version supported by the first processor card; (c) at the second processor card, receiving the alignment request message, selecting a link level communications protocol version based on the version in the alignment request message and parameter values for that version; (d) sending an alignment grant message from the second processor card to the first processor card including the selected link level communications protocol version and the parameter values; (e) at the first processor card, receiving the alignment grant message, selecting link level communications parameter values based on the parameters in the alignment grant message and sending an alignment grant acknowledgement message including the selected parameter values to the second processor card; and (f) sending messages between the first and second processor cards using the selected link level communications protocol version and parameter values, sending messages between the first processor card and a third processor card using a link level communications protocol version and parameters that are different from the link level communications protocol and version used for link level communications between the first and second processor cards and wherein steps (a)-(f) are performed by SS7 link interface modules in a signal transfer point.