Patent ID: 6922413

Claim:
In a telephone system of the common channel signaling and control type having signaling network means for handling switching and control signals separate from voice signal, said signaling network means adapted to respond to and handle calls from wireless subscribers pertaining to requests for services, said signaling network means including means for providing transaction signals in response to calls to the telephone system by a wireless subscriber requesting service, said signaling network means further including message server means which includes: means for creating message signals, which are compatible with the signaling network means and service nodes, in response to said transaction signals, said means for creating message signals not being comprised by a service node of the network; message router means connected to said means for creating said message signals for routing said message signals to said service nodes; means for selecting a subset of the service nodes of the network through execution of a node reduction algorithm in response to a request for service by a subscriber of the wireless subscribers, said subset of the service nodes being limited to only those service nodes of the network which serve the subscriber's geographical area or logical telephone company area for services which the subscriber has subscribed to; means for selecting at least one service node of the subset of the service nodes to process said message signals by performing arbitration and prioritization among the nodes of the subset of service nodes in order to provide service responsive to the subscriber's request for service; and node interface means for connecting the at least one service node to the message server means in order to provide service responsive to the subscriber's request for service, said node interface means adapted to assemble responses from applications provided by the service nodes, said node interface means further adapted to use said assembled responses to construct service lists for delivery to the message service means for performing said arbitration.