Patent ID: 7706802

Claim:
A method for routing calls in a distributed mobile switching center environment, the method comprising: receiving a call to be routed from a first switching node to a second switching node; identifying an inter-switch route for the call from the first switching node to the second switching node, the inter-switch route including an intermediate switching node, wherein the intermediate switching node includes a plurality of media gateways; selecting an intra-switch route within the intermediate switching node from a plurality of intra-switch routes within the intermediate switching node for establishing the inter-switch route, each of the plurality of intra-switch routes including at least one interconnection between media gateways; and connecting the call using the identified inter-switch route and the selected intra-switch route; wherein the first switching node comprises an origination switching node for the call connection destined for a third switching node, the first switching node operable to select an inter-switch route from a list of routes for routing call connections from the first switching node to the third switching node, the selected inter-switch route including the second switching node.