Patent ID: 8571043

Claim:
A signaling gateway using a single point code to represent multiple switching devices, the signaling gateway being serially connected between a first switch and a PSTN, the signaling gateway comprising: a first software node assigned the single point code, the first software node appearing to the PSTN as an endpoint to the PSTN; a second software node connected to the first switch; a software process module connected to the first software node and the second software node; and a multiplexer that: receives, via the first software node, signaling data associated with a circuit and comprising the single point code; assigns, via the software process module, a first internal point code to the first software node and a second internal point code to the second software node determines, via the software process module, whether the first switch or a second switch is associated with the circuit; and routes the signaling data from the software process module to (i) the second software node using the second internal point code, the second software node appearing to the first switch as a first signal transfer point of the PSTN, if the first switch is associated with the circuit or (ii) the second switch, assigned the single point code and connected to the multiplexer, if the second switch is associated with the circuit.