JPH08251282A - Highly reliable access method to service data function from service control function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an improved access method which is applied between a service control function SCF and a service data function SDF in an intelligent network. CONSTITUTION: When an SCF has an access to a master SDF, the identifier of the master SDF is stored. Then the identifier of a backup SDF is stored when the SCF has an access to the backup sup. When the SCF operates again the same data during the service control given to the same call, the direct accesses are given to those stored SDF. If the master SDF has a fault, an initial access SDF switches the access destination SDF to the backup SDF. Then the backup SDF can switch again the access destination SDF to the master SDF after the fault of the master SDF is recovered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for accessing a service data function (SDF) from a service control function (SCF) in an intelligent network, and more particularly, when the SDF has a backup SDF.
Relates to a method of accessing the SDF.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional intelligent network, a service control device that issues a control instruction to a transfer node that controls connection of a call executes a service logic program and service data in the same service control node (SCP). It is configured to manage, SC
When P failed, it was impossible to take over the contents of the data and continue the processing.

With the sophistication and customization of communication services, more complex functions are required for service control in intelligent networks, and at the same time, increasingly large processing capabilities are required. In order to flexibly respond to a request for changing a function or a processing capacity, a method of performing service control by a plurality of independent constituent elements for each function has been considered.

It is effective to redundantly arrange each functional element in order to increase the reliability of service control. However, regarding the service data function, the data contents to be managed are sequentially updated by the service control function, so that redundant arrangement is carried out. It is necessary to update synchronously between multiple service data functions to prepare for alternative processing when the master service data function fails. This synchronous update processing method is described in detail in "Highly Reliable Realization Method of Service Control Layer in Intelligent Network" (Technical Report SSE93-37, July 1993).

In the service control node configured as described above, in the distributed system in which the access destination SDF is hidden from the access source SCF, when the same data is accessed in one transaction, new data is acquired. Needed access for.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to acquire new data when accessing the same data in one transaction in a distributed system in which the access destination SDF is hidden from the access source SCF. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved access method from the SCF to the SDF, which does not require access to the SDF and can continue the processing by taking over the contents of the data even when the SDF fails.

[0007]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention stores the identifier of the master SDF when the SCF accesses the master SDF, and stores the backup SDF when the backup SDF is accessed. The method is characterized in that the identifier is stored, and when the SCF operates the same data again in the process of service control for the same call, the stored SDF is directly accessed.

The present invention further provides that the initial access SDF is
When a failure occurs in the master SDF, the access destination SDF may be switched to the backup SDF, and when the backup SDF recovers from the failure of the master SDF, the access destination SDF may be switched to the master SDF again.

According to the present invention, the SDF manages the status data and management data instruction directories related to the SDFs in the SCP, or manages the status data and management data instruction directories related to all SDFs of all SCPs. Good. Further, communication between SCPs may be performed via the control device in the SCP.

The present invention is applied when service control is performed by an SCF that executes a service logic program and an SDF that manages data necessary for executing the service logic program. First, a method of accessing the SDF from the SCF will be described with reference to FIG.

The location of the data managed in the SDF is hidden from the SCF, and as shown in (1), the SCF
SDF arbitrarily accessed by SDF (initial access SDF)
SDF that manages the requested data (execution SDF =
Search for the directory that represents the master SDF (2), then S
The DF status management table is referenced (3), the transfer destination SDF is determined (4), the request is transferred to the executing SDF based on the result (5), the processing is executed by the executing SDF (6), and the response is sent to the SCF. Send (7).

Here, from the initial access SDF to the execution SD
As a transfer method to F, the initial access SDF is executed S
Any of a method of notifying the DF to the SCF and the SCF accessing again based on the method, and a method of transferring the request directly to the executing SDF by the initial access SDF as shown in FIG. 1 are used.

In order to guarantee the high reliability of the service,
The SDF has a backup configuration including a master SDF that should originally perform processing on one piece of data, and a backup SDF that performs alternative processing when a failure occurs in the master SDF. In this case, it is important that the master SDF and the backup SDF cooperate with each other to ensure data consistency, and as a concrete method for this, the above-mentioned method is used. Such known methods can be used.

When the SDF has such a backup configuration, in order to transfer the SCF request from the initial SDF to the execution SDF, the identifier of the backup SDF is added to the SDF management data instruction directory, and at the same time the transfer destination status is set. A method of managing (normal or failure) and switching the transfer destination according to the state of the transfer destination can be used.

In the above cases, in order to make the access from the SCF to the execution SDF more efficient, when the same data is accessed more than once in one call, the SCF makes the first access. By storing the execution SDF, it is possible to directly access the execution SDF after the second time.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the first execution S
If the DF (Master SDF) fails, the backup SDF needs to be accessed a second time to process the request and continue the call. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the master SDF is restored when the SCF makes a third request for the same data, the backup SDF stores the second execution SDF because the SCF stores the second execution SDF.
Access to SCF, but request from SCF again master S
Need to transfer to DF.

Access destination SD from the second time to the third time
The switching of F also applies when the master SDF is in a failure state at the time of the first SDF access and the first execution SDF is the backup SDF, and when the master SDF is restored at the time of the second access.

Here, from the initial access SDF to the execution SDF
As a method of transferring a request to the SCF, there is a method in which the SCF re-accesses based on the notification from the initial access SDF as described above and a method in which the initial access SDF transfers the request directly to the executing SDF. Good.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the service control device is constituted by the SCF which has the service logic program in which the control instruction for the transmission node is written and which executes this program, and the SDF which manages the service data necessary for the execution of this program. In addition, the independent development of both the SCF and the SDF in which the location of the data is hidden is facilitated.

Further, according to the present invention, the SDF has a backup configuration, and when the data is first accessed in one call, the SDF in which the data exists is stored and the same data is accessed multiple times. In this case, the stored SDF can be directly accessed to secure the real-time property which is important in the exchange system.

Further, according to the present invention, when a failure occurs in the master SDF that manages the data required by the service logic program while continuing the call processing, the access destination of the SCF is switched to the backup SDF. As a result, the call processing can be continued. Also,
If the master SDF also recovers while the call processing continues, the call processing can be continued by returning the access destination of the SCF to the master SDF again.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 4 shows an SC according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows only the part relevant to the access from SCF to SDF about the structural example of SCP which uses the reliable access method from F to SDF. SCP is multiple SCF
It is composed of a module and a plurality of SDF modules.

Each of these modules manages data as shown in FIG. The SDF status data in the SCP manages the status of all SDFs in the same SCP.
Alternatively, it is used to send a request to the SDF where the SDF is normal. In the figure, id represents an identifier. The SDF management data instruction directory in the SCP is a directory indicating which data exists in which SDF within the same SCP, and is used when the initial access SDF specifies the execution SDF.

Next, an example of how the SCF accesses desired data using the above data will be shown. First S
Any SDF whose CF is normal (initial access SDF)
Send a request to. Upon receiving it, the initial access SDF searches the SDF management data instruction directory in the SCP and manages the requested data. Master SDF id
And backup SDFid are acquired, and SD in SCP is further
It is determined from the F state data whether the master SDF is normal, and if it is normal, the request is transferred to the master SDF.

Next, a case where the same data is accessed for the second time and thereafter in one call will be described.
When the SCF tries to access the same data a second time in one call, the first access destination is the master S
If it is a DF, as shown in FIG.
Referring to the F state, if the master SDF is in the fault state,
The request is transmitted to the normal SDF (initial access SDF) in the same procedure as the first SDF access.

In the initial access SDF, as shown in FIG. 7, after receiving the request from the SCF, the SDF management data instruction directory in the SCP is searched, and the master S is searched from the search result.
Although the DFid and the backup SDFid are obtained, the master SDF is in a failure state, and after confirming that the backup SDF is normal, the request is transferred to the backup SDF. The backup SDF that has received the request from the initial access SDF executes the processing of the request and sends a response to the SCF, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the SCF receives the response from the backup SDF and stores the backup SDFid as the next direct access destination.

When the SDF accesses the same data again with the execution of the SLP, the SCF refers to the state of the backup SDF and confirms that the backup SDF is normal, as shown in FIG. Send the third request to the backup SDF. As shown in FIG. 10, the backup SDF is data that the requested data manages as a backup after receiving the request from the SCF, and if the master SDF is normal,
Forward this request to the master SDF.

Upon receiving the request from the backup SDF, the master SDF sends a response to the SCF after executing the processing of the request, as shown in FIG. SCF that received the response
Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the master SDFid is stored as the next direct access destination. After that, by going through the same procedure, the SCF can operate the data managed in the SDF regardless of the SDF failure and the recovery from the failure.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 12 shows only the part related to the access from the SCF to the SDF in the configuration example of the SCP using the reliable access method from the SCF to the SDF according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. In FIG. 12, a plurality of SCPs are composed of a plurality of SCF modules and a plurality of SDF modules.

When the SCP is configured as shown in FIG. 12, the data requested by the SCF is the SDF outside the SCP.
SDF status data and SC in the SCP shown in FIG. 5 of [Embodiment 1] in the SDF.
The range of the SDF management data instruction directory in P is shown in FIG.
It is necessary to extend to all SDFs of all SCPs as shown in FIG. The method of the present invention can be applied in the same manner as in [Example 1], except that the range of data to be managed is the entire SDF as described above.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 14 shows only the part related to the access from the SCF to the SDF in the configuration example of the SCP using the reliable access method from the SCF to the SDF according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. In FIG. 14, a plurality of SCPs are composed of a plurality of SCF modules and a plurality of SDF modules.

The embodiment of FIG. 14 is different from [embodiment 2] in that the SCP for managing the state of the SDF in the SCP is in the SCP.
An internal control device is installed, and communication between SCPs must be done using this SCP.
This is a point that is performed via the internal control device. This allows
When the SCF makes a request for the data managed by the SDF outside the own SCP, the control device in the SCP of the other SCP is S
It becomes possible to switch the transfer destination of the request instead of the CF, and at the same time, in the SCF and SDF, the S in another SCP
The method of the present invention can be applied without managing the DF state.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
SD composed of multiple SCFs and multiple SDFs
In the SCP in the intelligent network in which the location of the data managed by F is hidden from the SCF, the SDF is composed of a master and a backup, and SC
When F stores the access destination SDF and accesses the same data in one call, it directly accesses the stored previous access destination SDF and switches the data acquisition destination SDF without interruption in the event of a failure. , A plurality of SDFs are guaranteed not to operate the same data at the same time, and a highly reliable access method from SCF to SDF can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an access method from an SCF to an SDF that manages desired data in the SCP that is the premise of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining switching of an access destination SDF when a direct access destination SDF is in a failure state.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating switching of an access destination SDF when a master SDF in a failure state is restored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an SCP for an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing data managed by SCF and SDF in the configuration example of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an SCF when the master SDF is in a failure state.
3 is a flowchart showing the processing in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing in the initial access SDF when the master SDF is in a failure state.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing in the backup SDF when the master SDF is in a failure state.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing in the SCF when the master SDF recovers from the failure state.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing in the backup SDF when the master SDF recovers from the failure state.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing in the master SDF when the master SDF recovers from a failure state.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an SCP for another embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a diagram showing data managed by SCF and SDF in the configuration example of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an SCP for further another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 SCF service control function SDF service data function SCP service control node id identifier

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A service control node comprising a transfer node having a call connection function and a service control node, wherein the service control node executes a service logic program describing a procedure of a call connection instruction to the transfer node, and a service. Access the service data function from the service control function of the intelligent network that includes the data required to execute the logical program, and multiple service data functions that hide the management destination of each data related to service control from the service control function In this method, the service data function (master service data function) that should be originally processed and the other service data function (backup service data function) that is the backup destination for the data are the data updated in one service data function. Was Performs a synchronization process to the updated content is reflected in the other service data function, when the service control function accesses the master service data function stores an identifier of the master service data function,
When accessing the backup service data function of the data, the backup service function identifier is stored, and when the service control function operates the same data again in the process of service control for the same call, the stored service data A reliable access method from a service control function to a service data function, which is characterized by directly accessing the function. 2. The initial access service data function accessed first by the service control function switches the service data function to be accessed to the backup service data function when the master service data function fails, and the backup service data function The method for reliable access from a service control function to a service data function according to claim 1, wherein the service data function to be accessed again is switched to the master service data function when the failure of the master service data function is recovered. . 3. The service control function to service data function according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the service data function manages status data and a management data instruction directory relating to the service data function in the service control node. Reliable access method. 4. The service control function to the service data function according to claim 1, wherein the service data function manages status data and a management data instruction directory relating to all service data functions of all service control nodes. Reliable access method. 5. The service control function to the service data function according to claim 1, wherein communication between the service control nodes is performed via the control device in the service control node. Reliable access method.