Patent ID: 7486676

Claim:
A signaling network node configured for routing a received signaling message having message information, the signaling network node comprising: a routing table configured for storing message class entries identifying respective message classes, each message class entry specifying at least one destination link identifier for a corresponding destination link assigned to the corresponding message class; and a processor configured for selecting one of the destination links based on the processor classifying the received signaling message as assigned to a specific message class based on prescribed message class selection criteria, the processor configured for selecting one of the message class entries based on determining the corresponding identified message class matches the specific message class of the received signaling message, the one message class entry specifying the corresponding destination link identifier for the one destination link; wherein the destination links are grouped in prescribed linksets having respective linkset identifiers, the routing table further including linkset entries including destination point code entries and the respective assigned linkset identifiers, the processor configured for selecting the one message class entry based on determining a match between a destination point code value in the received signaling message and the destination point code entry of one of the linkset entries, and matching the received signaling message to the one message class entry specifying the at least one destination link within the one linkset identified by the one linkset entry.