KR20040055284A - Apparatus for providing intelligence network service using API - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An intelligent network service providing apparatus using an API(Application Programming Interface) is provided to increase network utilization by adopting an open service API on the basis of intelligent network of existing network providers. CONSTITUTION: An interface object control module(121) processes IpCallControManager and IpCall object, and IpUIManager and IpUICall service interface object. A message conversion module(122) converts a message into an INAP(Intelligent Network Application Protocol) message recognizable by an SSP(Service Switching Point)(101) of an intelligent network when the object control module(121) transmits the message to an intelligent network system. A message matching module(123) receives the INAP message and matches it to an intelligent network message for physically controlling a call. A service instant call control module(124) manages state and information of a service instant call and manages the three modules.

Description

Apparatus for providing intelligence network service using API

The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing an intelligent network service using an AP, and more particularly, to an apparatus capable of providing an intelligent network service by a third service provider outside the intelligent network.

The next generation network is evolving into a network suitable for providing integrated services as well as wired and wireless. Although the expectation of new services is increasing due to the opening of telecommunications networks, telecommunications services with distinct revenue models have not yet emerged.

In the early stages of increasing the utilization of network resources and creating new services, an open service provision environment should be established by approaching the intelligent network service area. In other words, it is necessary to enable third-party service providers outside the network to provide intelligent network services that have been provided in a closed and dependent structure.

Therefore, the necessity of opening up the intelligent network service provided by the existing network provider almost exclusively for the environmental factors such as the opening of the communication market and the market factor requiring the prompt provision of new services is increasing. As part of the opening of intelligent network services, standardization of open service APIs is underway to allow third-party service providers to provide intelligent network services in addition to network providers that provide existing communication services.

Since the intelligent network service has been limited to the network provider area until now, it has been provided depending on the specific network and has a structure that cannot be accessed and used in the external network. Wireless networks and the Internet are rapidly expanding, and convergence and openness are centered around packet networks, but the profit model is based on existing telephone services. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new intelligent network service that can increase the added value in accordance with the development trend of the network. To this end, it is necessary to create and apply a new service, but it is impossible in the current closed structure.

Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve such a situation, and an object and technical problem of the present invention can provide an existing intelligent network service provided exclusively by a network service provider to third service providers using an open service API. It is to provide a device.

1 is a structural diagram of a communication network in which the present invention can be implemented.

2A is a class relationship diagram of a call control API.

2B is a class relationship diagram of the user interaction API.

3 is a configuration diagram of a service gateway.

4A illustrates a message processing flow between nodes of an application server, a service gateway, and an intelligent network.

4b continuously illustrates the flow of the message shown in FIG. 4a.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: intelligent network 11: application server 12: service gateway

121: interface object control module 122: message conversion module

123: message matching module 124: service instance call control module

In order to achieve the above object and technical problem, an apparatus for providing an intelligent network service using an API provided by the present invention includes an application server and a service gateway belonging to a third service provider area outside the intelligent network, and the application server and the service. Gateways are characterized by communicating with each other using APIs.

Preferably, the API is implemented by being distributed to the application server and the service gateway in the form of a predetermined object, and performing a call control function such as call creation / connection; And a user interaction API that transmits an announcement to a service user or performs user data processing such as an additional information collection function.

Advantageously, the object of call control API comprises: IpCallControlManager for controlling / managing a call control service; And IpCall, which performs routing, setup, monitoring and recovery, and charging processing for the call.

Preferably, the object of the user interaction API, IpUICall responsible for transmitting the announcement associated with the call or collect the necessary information from the user; And an IpUIManager managing the IpUICall object.

Preferably, the service gateway includes an interface object control module for processing the IpCallControlManager object, IpCall object, IpUIManager object and IpUICall object; A message conversion module for converting the message into the INAP protocol message that can be recognized by the SSP of the intelligent network when the interface object control module transfers the message to the intelligent network; A message matching module which receives an INAP protocol message from the message conversion module and processes the intelligent network message for physical call control such as control and event related to SSP and call of the intelligent network; And a service instance call control module having a status and information management function for the entire service instance call and a function for managing the three modules.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereinafter, the configuration, operation, and optimal embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. It is noted that in the description of the drawings, components of other drawings may be cited if necessary.

For convenience of understanding, the present invention will be described in general.

The present invention proposes a method for providing an intelligent network service to third service providers outside the intelligent network by applying an open service API in which standardization is in progress. In particular, the present invention proposes a method for applying an API without changing the existing intelligent network structure. In this method, an interface object design and a configuration of a service gateway are presented, and a message processing method for interworking an API and an intelligent network protocol is presented. To present.

1 shows a structural diagram of a communication network in which the present invention can be implemented.

Third service providers outside the intelligent network 10 may access the intelligent network 10 through the application server 11 and the service gateway 12 to use each functional entity of the intelligent network 10.

The application server 11 exists in the third service provider area and has its own intelligent network service logic and data and subscriber information necessary for providing a service. The third service provider may perform the service for the general user through the application server 11, such as introducing or modifying a new service.

In order to execute the service logic mounted on the application server 11, the service gateway 12, which is a key element for interworking the existing intelligent network 10 and the application server 11, is required. The key to the present invention is to define the configuration and operation of this service gateway 12.

The service gateway 12 works in conjunction with the SSP (Service Switching Point) 101 of the intelligent network 10 to serve as a gateway for signal processing and network resource required for service execution. At this time, the communication between the application server 11 and the service gateway 12 is made through an open service API.

An API (Application Program Interface) is an interface means originally used in computer technology, and is a special method predetermined by the computer operating system or another application to request processing from the operating system or another application. An API is an interface to an operating system or program that differs from a graphical user interface or an imperative interface that directly interacts with the user.

An API is also the language or message format used when an application communicates with a system program such as an operating system or database management system. The API is implemented by calling a function that provides a link to a specific subroutine for execution within the program. . Thus, an API has several program modules or routines that must already exist or be linked to perform the work requested by the function call. In the present invention, the principle of the API is applied to the communication between the application server 11 and the service gateway 12. Details of the API applied to the present invention will be described later.

SSP (101) is a physical node in charge of the exchange function of the intelligent network (10), and provides control processing and signal processing functions such as call establishment / connection / termination and service gateway 12 to SCP (Service Control Point, 103). Process the message in the same way as before. IP (Intelligent peripheral, 102) receives ISUP (ISDN User Part) protocol message from S SP 101 and provides intelligent network service to physical node in charge of announcement broadcasting / user information collection / voice recording / recognition in intelligent network 10 It acts as an interaction with various users 13 in the city.

2A and 2B are open service APIs for implementing the present invention. FIG. 2A shows a class relationship diagram of a call control API and FIG. 2B shows a class relationship diagram of a user interaction API.

The objects in FIG. 2A are in charge of basic call control services and perform functions such as call creation / connection / event handling. The objects of FIG. 2B perform functions for processing user data such as transmitting announcements to service users or collecting additional information.

The API consists of objects and methods in the relationship as shown in Figs. 2A and 2B. The objects and methods are distributed and implemented in the application server 11 and the service gateway 12, and are implemented using Java Remote Method Invocation (Java RMI) or CORBA (Common Object). You can implement the connection between objects through middleware such as Request Broker Architecture. The service gateway 12 maps an open service API to an intelligent network application protocol (INAP), which is a corresponding intelligent network protocol, in order to interwork with the SSP 101 node of the intelligent network 10.

The event or processing result generated in the intelligent network 10 is transferred from the SSP 121 to the service gateway 12 through SS No. 7 (Signaling System No. 7) to open a call-back open service API. The call is sent to the application server 11 to inform the service logic.

The object of the call control API of FIG. 2A and the object of the user interaction API of FIG. 2B for user interaction are distributed and implemented in the application server 11 and the service gateway 12, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4A, the service gateway 12 implements IpCallControlManager and IpCall objects, IpUIManager and IpUICall inherited from IpService, and the application server 11 implements corresponding IpAppCallControlManager and IpAppCall objects and IpAppUICall objects.

IpCallControlManager plays the role of administrator for basic call control service. IpCall performs call routing, setup, monitoring and recovery, and billing processing. There are objects as many as the number of created calls. IpUICall plays a role of transmitting announcement related to call or collecting necessary information from user. IpUIManager is an object that manages these IpUICall objects.

3 is a block diagram of a service gateway which is the core of the present invention.

The service gateway 12 includes four modules: an interface object control module 121, a message translation module 122, an SSP message matching module 123, and a call control module 124 for a service instance.

The interface object control module 121 processes the IpCallControlManager and IpCall objects, the IpUIManager and IpUICall service interface objects of FIGS. 2A and 2B. That is, the application server 11 is matched with the intelligent network 10 in charge of processing a request such as an object creation request, a message reception, or a call back response from the application server 11.

When the message conversion module 122 transfers a message from the interface object control module 121 to the intelligent network system, the message conversion module 122 converts the message into an INAP protocol message that can be recognized by the SSP 101 of the intelligent network 10. The message requested by each object is converted into an INAP protocol message and delivered to the SSP message matching module 123. The event or call related message generated in the intelligent network is converted into an interface method and transmitted to the interface object control module 121.

The message matching module 123 receives an INAP protocol message from the message conversion module 122 and matches it with an SSP 101 of the intelligent network 10 and an intelligent network message for physical call control such as a call control and an event. to be.

The service instance call control module 124 is a module having a state and information management function for the overall service instance call and a function of managing the three modules, and also has some functions of the SCP 103 of the existing intelligent network 10. Gateway 12 is recognized as SCP 103, allowing messages to be processed in the same manner as before.

4A and 4B are application servers to explain the interworking of the open service API and the intelligent network 10 by taking an example of a personal number service which is one of the intelligent network services that can contact a user with a single number regardless of the physical location of the user. (11) and the method of constructing the API object of the service gateway 12, the message processing flow between each node how it is processed in the intelligent network system via the service gateway 12 when performing the service logic of the application server. 4B is a sequential content of FIG. 4A.

Personal number service is an intelligent network service that connects to subscribers by providing a 'follow-me' service function that allows an individual to receive a single number and register / change two or more destinations for life. When the caller enters a personal number together with a specific service code, the intelligent network 10 notifies the application server 11 and the personal number service logic mounted on the application server 11 is translated into the personal number and the incoming call number It finds and delivers it to intelligent network system to receive a call. Before setting up a call, the current location of the individual number subscriber is identified and the caller sends the announcement about the fee or call type.

When providing an individual number service by applying an open service API in a network of FIG. 1, a processing flow between each network node and each interface object will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

401: The personal number service logic of the application server 11 creates an IpAppCallControlManager interface object. This occurs once at the start of service provision.

402: Request the service gateway 12 to notify the call generated by the personal number service identification code to create an IpCallControlManager interface object.

403: The SSP recognizes that the incoming call to the intelligent network 10 is the registered personal number service call through step 402, and notifies the call occurrence to the IpCallControlManager of the service gateway 12.

404: Notifies the corresponding IpAppCallControlManager of the application server 11 of the occurrence of the registered call in step 402.

405: IpAppCallControlManager creates an IpCall object to handle the call.

406: IpCall requests and arm the SSP with the required BCSM events for the call.

407: Request the necessary information about the call.

408: IpAppCallControlManager notifies the service logic of the occurrence of the personal number service call.

409: The personal number service logic creates an IpAppUICall interface object to determine the type of call and to broadcast announcements.

410: The personal number service logic requests the UI call generation to process the conversation procedure with the calling subscriber to the IpUIManager of the service gateway 12 for the announcement request.

411: IpUIManager creates a new IpUICall object.

412: IpUICall requests an announcement broadcast resource connection to the SSP.

413 to 415: The SSP requests an ISUP message to connect to a broadcast resource over IP.

416: The IP notifies the IpUICall that the announcement resource is connected.

417: The personal number service logic requests the announcement of the announcement to IpUICall with the corresponding announcement information.

418: IpUICall requests to broadcast the announcement to IP.

419: The IP notifies the caller that the announcement has been sent to IpUICall after the announcement of the call type.

420: The announcement broadcast result is delivered to IpAppUICall of the application server 11,

421: Passed to personal number service logic.

422: The service logic requests IpUICall to release the resource to terminate the UI call.

423: IpUICall is requested to release the resource to request the connection to the IP to the SSP of the intelligent network,

424: The SSP disconnects from the IP.

425: The personal number service logic requests IpCall to establish a call to the subscriber's called party number.

426: IpCall requests an incoming call to the SSP.

427: When the called party answers, IPCall is notified of the call setup result.

428: Also notify the IpAppCall of the application server 11.

429: The call setup result is also passed to the service logic to make a call and start charging in the service logic.

430: IpCall sends the call setup result through IpAppCall

431: Notify with service logic. From this point, the service logic starts generating the necessary billing information.

432: Upon recovery of the caller or called party, the SSP notifies the IpCall of the service gateway.

433: A message informing that the call is terminated is delivered to IpAppCall of the application server 11.

434: The personalization service logic also communicates the termination of the call.

435: The service logic notifies the service gateway to release all resources of the call and terminates the call processing.

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

The present invention helps third-party service providers who do not have a public network to increase network utilization by providing an intelligent network service providing device applying an open service API based on the intelligent network of existing network operators and to find profit models by creating various new services. Will give.

Claims (5)

An application server belonging to a third service provider area outside the intelligent network; And And a service gateway for interworking the application server with the intelligent network, wherein the communication between the application server and the service gateway is performed using an open API. The method of claim 1, wherein the API is implemented by being distributed to the application server and the service gateway in the form of a predetermined object, Call control API that performs call control functions such as call creation / connection; And Apparatus for providing an intelligent network service using an API, characterized in that it comprises a user interaction API that transmits an announcement to a service user or performs user data processing such as an additional information collection function. The method of claim 2, wherein the object of the call control API is IpCallControlManager to control / manage the call control service; And Apparatus for providing an intelligent network service using apia, including IpCall for routing, setting up, monitoring and restoring a call, and charging. The method of claim 2, wherein the object of the user interaction API is IpUICall responsible for transmitting announcements related to calls or collecting necessary information from users; And Apparatus for providing an intelligent network service using an api, characterized in that it comprises an IpUIManager managing the IpUICall object. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the service gateway is An interface object control module which processes the IpCallControlManager object, IpCall object, IpUIManager object and IpUICall object; A message conversion module for converting the message into the INAP protocol message that can be recognized by the SSP of the intelligent network when the interface object control module transfers the message to the intelligent network; A message matching module for receiving an INAP protocol message from the message conversion module and matching the INAP protocol message with an intelligent network message for physical call control such as control and event related to SSP and call of the intelligent network; And And a service instance call control module having a state and information management function for a service instance call and a function for managing the three modules.