Patent ID: 7391722

Claim:
A congestion method for determining a congestion level for a buffer associated with an SS7 link according to congestion status rules other than the National Technique with multiple congestion levels and multiple congestion priorities as defined in ITU Q. 704 comprising: receiving, at a first computer program in a link processor, an abatement level and an onset level for the buffer; generating by the first computer program, based on the received abatement level and the received onset level, nine threshold levels for use by a second computer program to determine a congestion level for the buffer, the nine threshold levels including: first, second, and third onset thresholds, wherein the third onset threshold is greater than the second onset threshold and the second onset threshold is greater than the first onset threshold; first, second, and third abatement thresholds, wherein the third abatement threshold is greater than the second abatement threshold and the second abatement threshold is greater than the first abatement threshold; first, second, and third discard thresholds, wherein the third discard threshold is greater than the second discard threshold and the second discard threshold is greater than the, first discard threshold; providing the nine threshold levels to the second computer program; generating, by the second computer program, a congestion level for the buffer based on the nine threshold levels and usage of the buffer according to congestion status rules specified by National Technique with multiple congestion levels and multiple congestion priorities and providing the generated congestion level to the first computer program; and converting, by the first computer program, the generated congestion level into a converted congestion level, the converted congestion level being the congestion level arising from usage of the buffer, the received abatement level, and the received onset level that is specified by a set of rules selected from the group consisting of the National Technique with multiple congestion levels without congestion priority, as defined by ITU Q. 704 and the International Technique, as defined by ITU Q. 704.