MXPA00006269A - Bidding for telecommunications traffic over route segments - Google Patents

Abstract

Telecommunications switches (S1-Sn, 3) route calls in accordance with economic incentives (e.g., least cost routing) resulting from an auction process between participating telecommunications carriers (C1-Cn, 2) by operation of a central moderator processor (1). Each of the carriers (C1-Cn, 2) informs the moderator (1) of the rate it is willing to charge for service at a particular time between two switching points defining a route segment. The moderator (1) collects bid information from all the carriers (C1-Cn, 2) processing the bid information, transmits bid information to participating carriers'(C1-Cn, 2), network management centers, and transmits carrier selection data to the subscribing switches (S1-Sn-3). The carriers (C1-Cn, 2) may change their bids as often as they like. A subscribing switch (S1-Sn, 3) can route traffic to those carriers (C1-Cn, 2) offering the best economic incentives and can change such routing decisions at any time.

Description

TENDER FOR TELECOMMUNICATION TRAFFIC THROUGH ROAD SEGMENTS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention is in the field of control of telecommunications networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many locally managed telecommunications systems such as Small Private Centrals (PBX) empl} ean the set of computer programs (software) of "routing of the lowest cost", to reduce the costs of telecommunications. The system administrator agrees with more than one company between exchanges, transmitting system traffic, from the local network to which it is connected, to other exchanges. The administrator follows up the collections made by each company and introduces the routing table to the "lowest cost routing" software. Charges can be charges regularly based on the subscriber's main carrier rates or contracted charges offered by an alternative carrier, for a volume discount or for discounted traffic during a specific period of time during the day. The "lowest cost routing" software will examine each call attempt and automatically decide which company is the best economic choice for that call. If the call attempt fails, the software usually by default sends the call attempt to the subscriber's main carrier. The telecommunications companies undertake, in wholesale contractual agreements, with other companies, to use part or all of the company's telecommunications networks, for example, to make calls to geographic regions to which the first company does not service , or to provide additional capacity in the routes or portions of routes for which the first company may have little or no available capacity in its own facilities of the network, at that time. Recently there has been a great competition among telecommunications companies. This has been stimulated by both legal and technological changes. As telecommunications become more and more a commodity, it would be of great benefit to consumers, stimulate this competition and facilitate the ability, both of the company and of a consumer, to make economic choices between telecommunications companies. In the method and system of the invention described in U.S. Patent No. 5,606,602, telecommunication switches route calls in accordance with economic incentives (e.g., routing of the lowest cost) resulting from a bidding process among telecommunications companies participants (the "Companies"), managed by a bidding service provider through the operation of a central processor, a computer that is referred to as the bidding moderator ("the Moderator"). In this arrangement, each of the Companies transmits to the Moderator the rate they wish to charge (or any other economic incentive they wish to offer) for the service between two specific points, from a point of origin to a final point, at a certain time in particular. The Moderator collects this bidding information from all the Companies, classifies it among the points of origin and transmits it to each appropriate switching location and to the network administration centers of the participating Companies. Each subscription switch (a "Subscriber") obtains that Moderator information for all "point-to-point routes" that originate in the subscriber's urban network. The Moderator provides each Company with the bidding information of the Bidding Companies, for all the point-to-point routes for which a Company has submitted a bid (for example, from an NPA-NXX to any other NPA-NXX or destination of telecommunications networks defined in another way, in the world). Companies that receive this information will subsequently have the opportunity to submit a lower or higher bid, for any point-to-point routes in which they wish, respectively, to stimulate or discourage additional traffic. Through this bidding process, Companies can compete for traffic on selected routes or can compete for traffic that originates through selected points in telecommunications networks. They can also manage their traffic on the networks, adjusting their bids from time to time, depending on the traffic information on the networks or other information on the networks. The specification in the patent No. 5,606,602 (beginning in column 4, lines 63 thereof) describes in part the following: The economic choices presented to users of the telecommunications service, according to this invention, depend on bids submitted by the Companies for the telecommunications traffic through the routes in which they provide service. Each route is defined by the switch of the local network, which serves its point of origin and the switchboard of the urban exchange that serves its end point. Each, local network switch is identified in the North American Numbering Program by a unique code NPA-NXX, where the NPA is a three-digit number area identifier (for example, area code 201 identifies New Jersey del Norte) and NXX is a three-digit code that identifies a particular local network switch within the area of the numbering program .... The subscription switch may also have dedicated direct links, with one or more points of presence of the company. If that company is selected, the subscription switch would route the call attempt directly to that link. Although the commonly dominant numbering scheme for the switching endpoints in the network is the North American Numbering Program, other numbering schemes are possible that identify the origin and endpoints of the routes, and can be used as Telecommunications technology is developed. In the described architecture, a "route" is defined by the endpoint of commutation in the network, which serves the origin point of that route and the endpoint of commutation in the network, which serves the endpoint of that route. The switching endpoints in the network can be referred to as local network switches. A local network switch (or equivalent local switching node) is generally considered as (i) the switching point in a telecommunications network serving as the most immediate switching interface between the calling user and the telecommunications network, as well as (ii) the switching point in a telecommunications network (which may, although not necessarily, belong to or be handled by the same Company that owns or manages the originating switching point) that serves as the switching interface more immediately between the called user and the telecommunications network, regardless of whether those telecommunications networks use circuit switching, frame relays, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data, TCP / IP protocols or other common telecommunications technologies or in development. Local network switches (or local switching or equivalent nodes) may include the switches of the local telephone offices of the Telephone Companies, the local access nodes of the private telecommunications networks and the local access switches of the providers of Internet service, whether they are represented by a server, route router or other switching device (which may be defined in hardware or software), but in each case provides access to the respective telecommunications network. These switching endpoints in the network define a "route" for which the Companies can submit bids to the Moderator, as described in Patent No. 5,606,602, in order to compete to provide service to end users who attempt to make calls through those routes. Patent No. 5,606,602 further discloses that a subscription switch (e.g., a PBX) may also have direct links dedicated to one or more points of presence of the Company, and, if that Company is selected to transmit a specific call, the Subscription switch would trigger the call attempt directly to that direct, dedicated link (for example, without being manipulated by the local network switch, which can otherwise service that subscription switch.) Companies can submit bids for routes, to the Moderator, for different types of telecommunication networks (eg, circuit switching, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data networks such as the Internet, etc.), and for different classes of telecommunications services. communications provided by these networks (for example, the transmission of voice, data, video, etc.) Access to these networks or facilities telecommunications, by end users, or by other telecommunications companies or service providers, can be, for example, through the public switched telephone network, dedicated facilities, private lines, wireless installations, coaxial cable, lines of electrical power for auxiliary services, Ethernet or other connections of local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide area network (WAN).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The provision of telecommunications services is currently dominated by fixed contractual relationships between service providers, on a wholesale basis, and between users and service providers, on a retail basis. However, due to technological and regulatory changes, the telecommunications service becomes more and more a commodity, with competition among the service providers for that traffic. The invention described herein stimulates this competition and facilitates the ability of the service provider and the consumer to make economic choices among the Telecommunications Companies. In this method and system, telecommunication switches process calls in accordance with economic incentives (for example, the lowest cost route) resulting from a bidding process among the participating telecommunications companies, managed by a bidding service provider. , through the operation of a central processor, and a computer that is referred to as a Bidding Moderator. The invention described herein offers telecommunications companies the opportunity to compete in the provision of service through portions of a route when the service between a point of origin and end point, passes through switching points in a or more telecommunications networks remaining between the switching endpoints in the network (eg, local network switches or presence endpoints) serving the origin and end points, respectively, of a call. In this arrangement, each of the Companies transmits to the Moderator, the tariff they wish to charge (or any other economic incentive they wish to offer) for the service between two specific switching points in one or more telecommunications networks, at a certain time in particular. This "bidding" rate can be for a route or for a route segment. In order to differentiate in this document, a route and a route segment, a "route" is the service from the "originating switching point", that is, the switching point in a telecommunications network that serves as the The most immediate switching interface between the calling user and the telecommunications network (for example, a local network switch or equivalent local switching node, whether it is defined on the basis of hardware or based on software, providing access to that network), up to the point of final commutation ", that is, the switching point in a telecommunications network (which may be, although not necessarily, owned or operated by the same Company that owns or manages the switching point of origin) that serves as the most immediate communication interface, between the called user and that telecommunications network (for example, a local network switch or equivalent local switching node, and be defined based on hardware or based on software, providing access to that network). A "route segment" is any and all of the following: (i) the service from a point of originating switching, in a telecommunications network, to an "intermediate switching point" in the same telecommunication networks or in different networks, and all those "intermediate switching points" are switching points in one or more telecommunication networks, which do not serve as the most immediate switching interface, between the calling user and a telecommunication network, or the interphase interface. more immediate switching, between the called user and a telecommunications network, but serve as switching points in any part of the telecommunications network or networks, through which a call attempt can be routed (for example, a serial switch, a high-speed router or some other intermediate switching node defined based on hardware or software in a telecommunications network); (ii) the service from an intermediate switching point, in a telecommunications network, to another intermediate switching point, in the same telecommunications networks or in different networks; and (iii) the service from an intermediate switching point, in a telecommunications network, to a final switching point in the same telecommunications networks or in different networks. Companies can submit bids for route segments, to the Moderator, for different types of telecommunications networks (eg, circuit switching, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data networks such as the Internet, etc.) , and for different classes of telecommunications services provided by these networks (for example, voice, data, video transmission, etc.). Access to these networks or telecommunications facilities by end users or by other companies or service providers, telecommunications, can be, for example, through the switched telephone network, dedicated facilities, private lines, facilities wireless, coaxial cable, power lines for auxiliary services, Ethernet or other local area network (LAN) connections, metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide area network (WAN). The bidding rate may be lower than the rate established by the Company, for several reasons (for example, the Company has excess capacity in a particular route segment at that time.) The Company may also decide, for example, for capacity reasons. or competitive, placing the same tender (i) on all traffic that has the same point of originating switching, regardless of the intermediate switching points through which that traffic can pass, or (ii) in all traffic that has the same final switching point, regardless of the intermediate switching points through which that traffic can pass.The Company may change its bids as often as it pleases, during the day, as traffic patterns change. bidding information from the Companies, classifies it among the switching points and can process this information in addition n tender, for example, to select companies to individual segments or path for individual calls. This company selection information may include a prioritization of the selection, in accordance with the Company's tenders for each route segment. The Moderator then transmits selected portions of this information to each appropriate subscription switch location and to the network administration centers of the participating Companies. Each subscription switching point ("a Subscriber") obtains tariff information or company selection information, from the Moderator, for all "point-to-point" route segments, for subscriber service to all others switching points. The Moderator provides each Company with the bidding information of the other Companies, for at least a portion of all "point-to-point" route segments for which a Company has submitted a bid (for example, of some NPA-NXX of origin to some intermediate switching point in the public switched telephone network, in the world). A route segment can be contained entirely within a single local network. From the list of all the Companies that provide bidding information to the Moderator, each subscriber can select those Companies that want their calls to be processed and can change that selection at any time. The subscriber extracts the bidding information and / or the selection information of companies of the selected Companies, to the routing tables that are in his switch. After a Company submits each new tender, and is processed by the Moderator, the rate and / or company selection information will be distributed to the relevant subscribers and the rate information will be distributed to other Companies.

The Companies that receive the information will have the opportunity, afterwards, to present a lower or higher bid for any segment of route from point to point, in which they wish, respectively, to stimulate or discourage additional traffic. Through this bidding process, the Companies can compete for traffic in selected route segments, in telecommunications networks. They can also manage their traffic on the networks, adjusting their bids from time to time, depending on the traffic information on the network or other information on the network. And users, as well as other telecommunications service providers (who may wish, for example, to use the bidding process to obtain a lower rate to resell it to customers) can easily make economic choices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, showing dedicated communications lines, from each Company to the Moderator, from the Moderator to each of the subscription switches, and a common data link, from the Moderator to each one of the Companies. Figure 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, showing the Companies using a shared data link to provide information to the Moderator. Figure 3 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, showing the switched access of the Moderator to each of the subscription switches, and to each Company. Figure 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, showing the use of a shared data facility, such as a local area network, for Moderator communication to each of the subscription switches and to each Company . Figure 5 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of the invention, showing the transmission of the bidding information, from the Moderator to the subscription switches. Figure 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, in which the Moderator transmits data directly to its switches. Figure 7 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the invention, in which the Moderator transmits data to a computer associated with a plurality of switches. Figure 8 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of the invention, in which the Moderator generates company selection data for the subscription switches. Figure 9 is a schematic view of an exemplary network architecture, in which routing decisions, can be made at originating and intermediate switching points, to select different route segments, for call attempts presented at those points of switching, based on the data received from the Moderator. Figure 10 is a schematic view of an exemplary network architecture, in which a Moderator transmits data to a dedicated installation switch. Figure 11 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of the invention, including billing capability.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows an exemplary system for carrying out the bidding process described herein, for telecommunications services, in which a Moderator 1 manages the collection and dissemination of bidding information. Moderator 1 includes a computer with a processor and memory, together with input and output devices to communicate with the Company's network management computers 2, which are the source of the bidding information, and subscription switches 3 ( Subscribers), which are the end users of the information. The Companies are, mainly, Companies that transmit telecommunications traffic between switching points located in telecommunications networks. Through the system of Figure 1, for example, Companies bid for traffic from subscription switches 3, associated with a switching point in a telecommunications network, to other switching points located in the same telecommunications networks or in different networks. Some circumstances may result in the bidding process controlling the transmission of a call through route segments that are within a single local network area. The Companies transmit their bids from their network management computers 2, through the data links 7, which can be analog (using modulators-demodulators) or digital. However, the information is usually transmitted in digital form for entry to Moderator 1. Each company has a network administrator who enters the network administration instructions, on each computer 2 of the network administration, through the port. of entry 6, for example by means of a keyboard or a data link from a distant site or from a local computer. Moderator 1 receives the bids, processes them in its processor, to produce company selection data, and introduces both in a database located in its memory, through the data busbars and register components located inside a computer. The company selection data, applicable to each Subscriber 3, is transmitted to that switch '3, perhaps via a computer 4 attached to the switch 3 via a data link 8. The data link 8 is illustrated as an installation of dedicated transmission, between Moderator 1 and each switch 3. However, any other transmission technology that offers a selective way to transmit data from Moderator 1 to the switch can be used. (A "transmission facility" is a telecommunications route or channel, for example, a wired link, a radio channel in a wireless system, or a time segment in an optical transmission system, digitally multiplexed). The inputs and outputs of the Moderator 1 data, the network management computers 2, the attached computers 4, and the switches 3 are implemented by those devices, such as interfaces, registers and modulator-demodulators, which are well known in the technique. As illustrated in Figure 6, Moderator 1 processes bids to rank them by priority in each route segment, producing derived data, including company selection data. These data may reflect, for example, the designation of a selected company and alternative companies, based on the Company's tenders, for each segment of the route. Moderator 1 transmits the applicable bids and / or the derived data to the switch 3. Moderator 1 or switch 3 can also designate a default company, in the event that a call can not be made through a selected company through the bidding process. The switch 3 may also be equipped to override the Moderator selection, according to decision rules from the switch manager 5. An attached computer is known in the art as a computer closely associated with a switch that provides the additional data or operating logic of the switch operating programs, to provide the switch with an additional operational capability in the architecture described in FIG. present, although the primary processing of the bidding data, to produce company selection data, is done in the Moderator, as illustrated in Figure 1, the attached computer 4 can be used to enter the company selection data, received from Moderator 1, to a database located in its memory, and receive through port of entry 5, the decision rules from the switch manager. The computer programs found in the processor of the attached computer, can then access the data that is in the memory and can apply the decision rule to the company selection data, producing the data required to fill the tables of the lowest cost routing software, in the switch 3. The attached computer 4 communicates with the switch 3 via a digital data link or a data bus 11. If the switch 3 has sufficient processing power, the function of the attached computer 4 can be incorporated into the processor and memory of the switch, and the function is implemented in the processor, using the appropriate software. In this case, the switch must also provide input ports to receive the transmission link 8 and the input 5 of the switch manager. Each switch 3 receives call attempts through the input lines 12. Each call attempt includes routing data identifying the destination of the call. The routing software of the lowest cost, of the switch, then selects the Company to which the call attempt should be routed, through the line of exit 13. In the implementation. illustrated in Figure 7, an attached computer 71 that perhaps belongs to a local network company, receives the company selection data from Moderator 1, further processes the data and controls the selection of companies in the switches 73 under its control. The routing tables found in the switches 73 can be periodically filled with the data from the attached computer 71 or the switch 73 can interrogate the attached computer 73 when each call attempt is presented. The attached computer 71 may receive selection rules and other administrative instructions from a local business administrator 70. An alternative that the end users have to make use of a PBX, a private switch, is the subscription to a Centrex service, in which the point of origin switching of the end users is a defined portion in software, of the switch of the local central office, telephone company with local network. With data links between the attached computer 4 and the local central office switch, the end-user switch manager can manage the end-user portion of the bidding process in a fairly similar manner as if it were. administering a PBX. In addition, instead of using a PBX or subscribing to a Centrex service, a residential or business customer, you could subscribe to a "lower cost routing" feature offered by the Telephone Company with local network, as part of its enhanced services. for calls (which commonly include call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, speed dialing, etc.). As with the Centrex service, the end-user switch, which enables these enhanced call features, is a software-defined portion of the local central office switch. Moderator 1 also transmits the received bids, to the network administration computers 2 of the Companies, through the data link 9, 10. The exemplary architecture of Figure 1 shows a combination of a single data link. of exit 9 and the entrance links 10 of an individual Company, for the bidding data of the Moderator to the Companies, indicating that Moderator 1 can send the same data to all the Companies. There are many alternative transmission technologies, available to disseminate this bidding data, to all Companies, including dedicated bidirectional links, between Moderator 1 and each Company, combining the functions of links 7, 9, and 10. Depending on the particular implementation, it may be appropriate to transmit all tenders received, to all the Companies. However, each of the Companies' tenders does not need to be transmitted again to the bidding Company and there may be Companies with limited service areas that are not interested in receiving bids from Companies that are out of the area. In any case, at least a portion of the bids is transmitted to at least a portion of the Companies, in order to implement an auction. Figure 2 illustrates an alternative network architecture, in which data links 14 from the individual Company to the Moderator share a common data entry line 15 in Moderator 1. This can be done, for example, by optical fiber, using the SONET transmission protocol and ATM technology. This would require an ATM switching module at each connection 16 between the links 10,14 of the individual Company and the common input and output links 9, 15 of the Moderator. Figure 3 illustrates an architecture that incorporates the switched access of the Moderator 1 to the switches 3. In this architecture a single output link 17 of the Moderator transmits the bidding data to each of the subscription switches, to a switch 18, which can be a dedicated switch or part of a public switched network. The bidding information, appropriate for each subscription switch 3, is switched to each data link 8 of each individual switch. Figure 4 illustrates the use of shared facilities between Moderator 1 and each of the switches 3 and the network management computers 2 of the Companies. This could be achieved, for example, through many known technologies of local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN). The economic elections presented to the users of the telecommunications service, under this invention, depend on the bids presented by the Companies, for the telecommunications traffic through the route segments in which they provide service. A "route segment" is any and all of the following: (i) the service from a point of originating switching, in a telecommunications network, to an "intermediate switching point" in the same telecommunications network or networks different, where those "intermediate switching points" are all the switching points in one or more of the telecommunications networks, which do not serve as the most immediate switching interface, between the calling user and a telecommunications network or the more immediate switching interface, between the called user and a telecommunications network, but serve as switching points anywhere in the network or telecommunications networks, on which (s) the attempt can be routed call (for example, a serial switch, a high-speed router or some other intermediate switching node defined in hardware or software, in a telecommunications network); (ii) the service from an intermediate switching point, in a telecommunications network, to another intermediate switching point, in the same telecommunications networks or in different networks; and (iii) the service from an intermediate switching point, in a telecommunications network, to a final switching point, in the same telecommunications networks or in different networks. A route segment can also be fully contained within a local network. For example, to identify the originating and final switching points, for telephone calls within North America, each local network switch, in the public switched telephone network, is designated in the North American numbering program, by means of a unique NPA-NXX code. , where the NPA is an area identifier of the three-digit numbering program (for example, area code 201 identifies New Jersey of the North) and NXX is a three-digit code that identifies the particular urban switch within the area of the numbering program. It is common for a single local network switch to host more than one NXX code. Inter-company companies, which use this bidding process, are usually identified by a Company access code. This code can be, for example, a "1" which means the main company of the end user, a 5-digit code "10XXX" for a company different from the main company of the end user, or some other code or data element designated for that purpose. Once a Company is selected for a call attempt, the appropriate Company access code can be inserted into the routing data of the call attempt (for example, NPA-NXX-XXXX, where the last four digits identify the particular line on which the NPA-NXX switch of the called user serves on the public switched telephone network). The subscription switch may also have dedicated direct links, with one or more points of presence of the Company. If that Company is selected, the subscription switch would route the call attempt directly to that link. Although the numbering scheme commonly prevailing for originating and final switching points, in the public switched telephone network, is that of the North American numbering program, other numbering schemes are possible that identify the origin and end points, particularly for other types of telecommunications networks, and can be used as telecommunications technology develops. International telephone calls, for example, commonly use a country code and a city code before the code identifying the local network switch, in the public switched telephone network. Each intermediate switching point, in a telecommunications network, has a unique identifier that is used in routing calls through route segments. These identifiers can be used by the Moderator and the Companies to administer the bidding process. The Companies that compete and bid for traffic, transmitting to the Moderator the economic incentive that each Company will offer for the traffic through each segment of the route in which they provide service or, at least, each segment of the route in which they wish to compete for use the bidding process). The economic incentive contemplated in this, because it is the most usual, is the tariff (amount of money charged per unit of time). However, many other types of economic incentives can be offered, such as providing a credit in another service or a credit for an additional bonus that can be offered if a user's traffic for a given month (or that of reselling another user) Telecommunications company, for example, the service of a Company between two switching points in those telecommunications network facilities of that Company) rises above a threshold value. The economic incentive could be a combination of rate and other incentive. But the economic incentive should be selected from a limited set, authorized by the supplier of a bidding mechanism, because the incentive must be able to be evaluated using the software found in the Moderator or in each of the attached computers of the subscription switch. A Company may submit more than one tender for route segments, which start at the switching points where they offer more than one kind of service (for example, the service switched to some subscribers, the access dedicated to others, large service). speed to others, or combinations of different kinds of services to certain users). Each bid must be associated with a period of time within which the bidding will be effective. The rules of the bidding process can be structured in many ways. The following are examples of possible bidding rules. a) The bid service provider measures the day in blocks of time and the bids are presented for each block of time. All bids for a given block of time must be submitted before a cut-off time which precedes that block of time, by a protection interval. Any bid received after the cut-off time is considered effective for the next block of time, unless a new bid from the same company is subsequently received for that segment of the route. The protection interval is needed to allow the processing of the bidding information by the Moderator, and for the transmission of the company selection data or the bidding information to the switch (or to its associated attached computer) before the period of the start of the tender. For example, if lots of thirty minutes are auctioned, a five minute protection interval may be appropriate. b) Companies are allowed to submit tenders for any time interval, specifying a start time and a completion time or a start time and a good start until canceled. However, no tender can be effective before a protection time interval specified by the bidding service provider. The bid service provider may send confirmation to the Company of the bids received if the Moderator's data link to the Companies is provided with selective messaging capabilities. c) Companies may be allowed to enter bids by default for any segment of route and / or block of time for which they do not transmit another tender. d) As a fail-safe mechanism, in order to avoid the use of old bids that have not been changed due to communication failures, the Moderator may impose a rule that sets a time limit (a fail-safe protection time) for ease of application of any tender. At the expiration of the time limit, the expired tender could be sent by default to a default bid or could be sent as non-tender data. That rule could also be integrated into the switch software, for protection against a failure in the moderator's data link to the switch. Data feedback, from the Moderator to the Companies, is the dissemination of tender data of the Moderator to each of the Companies. This allows the Companies to adjust their own bids for any particular route segment, in view of the tenders of the other Companies, for that segment of the route. In a tenders scheme in blocks of time, this broadcast can take place in different offers of services, either before or after the cut-off time of the bids for a given block of time. If it is disseminated before the block of time, the Companies have the opportunity, until the cut-off time, to adjust their bids for that block of time. If the service is arranged for dissemination back to the Companies, after the cut-off time, the Companies may adjust their bids for the next or subsequent blocks of time. If the bids are disseminated back to the Companies, after the cut-off time, but before the effective time for the bids, the Companies would be able to manage their networks to take into account the bidding structure in time intervals. The bids may be adjusted to be larger or smaller, depending on whether the Company, in view of the state of its network traffic, wishes to further encourage or discourage additional traffic. The Company may wish to reduce its bidding, for example, to encourage additional traffic in an underutilized telecommunications facility, or increase its bid to discourage traffic through an installation that approximates a congested state. Depending on the transmission and computing technologies used, the diffusion back to the Companies could also be done by placing the bids in a bulletin board system, so that they can be extracted by all the Companies.

An evolutionary development in the architecture of urban switches is the combination of a "non-intelligent" switch and an "intelligent" peripheral computer. In this arrangement, the switch realizes the connection between the incoming and outgoing telecommunications facilities, and the switch operating software performs the administration functions, specifically the support of the switching function. The peripheral computer contains the software related to the service. This provision allows the telecommunications service provider to modify its service offerings without having to ask the switch manufacturer to change the operation software of the switch. Through the use of an intelligent peripheral computer, a service that could be offered to all subscribers, including most businesses and individuals, is the routing of the lowest cost. As in the routing of the lowest cost of the PBX, the routing of a call attempt is dependent on the filling of a routing table. This table is a memory file that contains the cost (or other economic incentive) of the transmission of calls through each route accessed by the switch or other company selection data. According to the process described here, this routing table could be filled out by the Moderator, based on the company selection data it generates, or by a computer attached to the switch, based on decision rules introduced by a switch manager. Or, with the appropriate software, the function of the attached computer could be incorporated into the peripheral computer of the switch. With this combination of software implementations, a telecommunications service provider could offer all its customers a lowest cost routing service, with economically advantageous rates, based on a bidding process. As illustrated in Figure 8, the routing table can be populated with derived data, generated 75 in the Moderator through additional processing of economic incentive data. This could include company selection data, giving priority to the selection of companies, according to Company tenders, for each route segment that starts on that switch. The applicable data may be transmitted 76 to each switch, including those in which the attached computer fills the routing table 80 of the switch. Although part of the decision-making process has been executed by the Moderator (ie, classifying their bids and generating company selection data), the switch performs the last selection 81 of Companies, based on network conditions and rules of decision from the administrator 77. The network architecture involved is that illustrated in Figure 6, where the switch 3 represents the combination of the non-intelligent switch and the intelligent peripheral computer, and the input and output links 12, 13 represent all telecommunications facilities, to which the switch 3 has access. Another arrangement contemplated by the bidding process is for a company with local network, which controls several switches, to receive the bidding or route routing data , for all its switches and also process that data for all its switches. The bidding information that is transmitted between the Moderator, the Companies, and the subscription switches is a sensitive business information and may need to be coded under various circumstances. Depending on how the service is agreed upon, there may be a need to protect the privacy of bids, so that they do not suffer interception by other participating Companies or interception by non-participating Companies. A more delicate type of information would be the bidding information sent from the Companies to the Moderator, confirmation messages of bids, from the Moderator to the Companies, and company selection data sent from the Moderator to the subscription switching points. A less sensitive type of information would be the dissemination of bids, back to all participating Companies, after the cut-off time for a given block of time. There are several coding schemes, known in the art for that use, including the RSA and PGP schemes. Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the bidding process of this invention. The process is carried out by the participating Companies, acting through their network administration computers, the bid service provider, acting through the computer called Moderator, and the subscription switches. The main purpose of the Companies is to maximize their income by transmitting telecommunications traffic through their networks. Subscription switches are usually administered to obtain the telecommunications service in the most economical way. In the operation of this exemplary bidding process, the Moderator receives the bids 20 from each Company, specifying the economic incentive that the Company wishes to offer for the transmission of a call through each segment of the route for which it wishes to bid. . This information is stored in the computer's memory. At an appropriate time for the agreement of the particular service, in operation, the Moderator transmits 21 bids received from the Companies, to at least a portion of the Companies. The Moderator also processes the data in a classification operation, to determine which bids and / or company selection data, derived from the bids, are for the route segments that have a starting point associated with each subscription switch and the Moderator broadcasts 23 the appropriate bids to each of those switches. Each subscription switch is operated by a switch manager, which formulates the decision rules. A decision rule can be for example, a simple instruction to commute an attempt to call the Company that has submitted the lowest cost tender. The rules may include an instruction to route all calls at a particular time period (eg, from midnight to 6:00 AM) to a particular company, to satisfy the requirements of a contract between the switch owner and that Company, or because that Company has agreed to transmit all traffic during that period of time for a single monthly payment. The switch manager may also instruct the switch or the associated attached computer to assess an economic incentive that does not consist of a fee, in a particular manner. The bids and decision rules are received by the associated switch or attached computer, and stored in a database in its memory. The associated switch or computer, applies 31 the decision rules to the economic incentive data received as bids, and generates the company selection data, necessary to fill the routing table of the switch. The decision rules can be transmitted from the switch manager to the Moderator, through a transmission installation, and the company selection data can be generated in the Moderator. The company selection data can be transmitted to the switch, periodically, when they are generated, or in response to a demand coming from the switch. The request can request the company selection data, on a complete basis or call by call. The routing table is the file to which the lowest cost routing software, of the switch, has access, to decide which Company will receive a call attempt. This software will also provide treatment for failed call attempts (for example, retry, try the next Company with the lowest cost, or send by default to the main Company). When a call attempt is presented on the switch, a routing decision is made, and the call is routed to a Company, for transmission to the call destination or to an intermediate switching point. In order to route a call, the subscription switch operation software connects the input register that transmits the call attempt to the output register connected to the telecommunications facilities that connect the Company selected for that route segment. Routing decisions for each route segment, of a call attempt, can be made at each switching point (ie, at the originating switching point, or at any intermediate switching point, on the same telecommunications network or in different networks) when a call attempt is presented on each switch s. respective. Routing decisions can also be made (for example, by a central entity such as the Moderator) for all route segments that comprise the entire route of a call attempt, from its originating switching point, through any and all intermediate switching points, up to their final switching point, at each respective switching point, before routing the call attempt (eg, in a manner conceptually similar to the process for establishing calls used in today's networks) of signaling SS7). Alternatively, routing decisions can be made at any switching point, for any group of route segments that constitute less than all route segments that comprise an entire route of a call attempt (for example, for the remaining portion of a route). , from any intermediate switching point to its final switching point) before the call attempt is routed through that switching point. As illustrated in Figure 9, the routing decisions, for a call attempt, can be made at an originating switching point 82 as well as at intermediate switching points 3 in one or more telecommunications networks based on the bidding information and / or the data of selection of companies transmitted by the Moderator through a data link 8 to the respective switching point, presented with the call attempt. ISP means Intermediate Switching Point. In certain types of telecommunications networks (for example, packet data networks), a call attempt presented to a switch, for which a routing decision can be made, may consist of all or only part of the messages or information (either voice, data , video, etc.) transmitted during the call, by the calling user, to the called user, for example, in packet data networks, when a calling user sends a data file to the user to whom it is called, the network infrastructure would fragment this file into a series of individual packets that are directed and transmitted separately to the called user. Each of these packets can cross through different route segments on their journey from the originating switch to the final switch. Each packet can be treated as a call attempt, by the originating switching point and by each of the intermediate switching points, to which the packet is presented. And a routing decision can be made for each packet, at each of those switching points. The transmission of bidding information between the Companies and the Moderator is a feedback process, as illustrated, for example, in Figure 5. Each Company transmits 28 its economic incentive tenders, to the Moderator, and the Moderator transmits 21 the bids received, to each Company, or at least to the portion of the Companies that is appropriate for each bid. The Company initiates its bidding process by collecting 24 data from the network, such as the capacity and traffic load of each network installation, and transmitting this data from the network to the Company's network management computer. Network data can be entered through a keyboard or through a data link of the Company's network operating systems. The network administrator of the Company introduces (for example, through the keyboard or by data link) network administration instructions, such as the fact that a particular installation is being taken out of service to maintain it or because it has a problem that reduces its transmission capacity. Network management instructions could also be based on the operating characteristics of the networks, such as response time, or business competitiveness factors, such as the attempt to compete more intensively for traffic in a specific region of the country. , or through route segments that compete directly with another specified Company. The software within each of the Company's network management computers, then accesses its memory for the network data, the network administration instructions and the bidding data received from the Moderator, and determines the economic incentive that the Company will tender for the traffic of each route segment. These data are accessed through data busbars and registers that are commonly internal to a computer. These bids are stored in the computer's memory and transmitted to the Moderator. Given that the network management computer has access to the bids of other Companies, during each bidding cycle, each Company has the opportunity to adjust its bids in view of the bids of the other Companies, for traffic through each segment Route. This adjustment can be made automatically through the software, in response to the network administration instructions, or can be achieved by direct input from the network administrator observing the bidding data displayed. The result of that adjustment consideration may be the decision to leave the bid as originally calculated, as appropriate to achieve the goal of the network administrator. Figure 10 illustrates a network architecture that allows large users 61 to route telecommunications traffic to the Companies 62, through dedicated access lines 63,64 to take advantage of a tender agreement. This architecture can be used by large users who wish to send their telecommunications traffic through different types of networks (for example, circuit switching, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data, etc.) and use different classes of telecommunications services provided by these networks (for example, the transmission of voice, data, etc.). In this architecture, a Bidding Moderator 60 transmits processed bidding data via a data link 65 independent of the dedicated access facilities 63.64 that transmit calls from users 61 to a switch 59 equipped with ports of call 65. entrance and exit adapted to receive dedicated facilities 63, 64, 66. The bidding data link 65 is also independent of any common channel signaling network, associated with dedicated facilities 63, 64, 66. The dedicated access facilities 63 can be connected, for example, through the local central office 67 of the Local Network Telephone Company, or can be directly routed 64 from the user's PBX 61 (or other hardware-based home installations). or software) to the switch 59. The users 61 will also typically have switched access facilities 68, to a local central office 67 of the local network telephone company. This dedicated installation switch 59 has a switching matrix for switching calls and a switch controller managed with software to select a Company 62 for a call, based on the company selection data resulting from the bidding process, and for route the call to the selected Company 62 for a call, based on the selection data of companies resulting from the bidding process and route the call to the selected Company 62. The call is switched to the installation 66 of the dedicated Company, connected to the selected Company 62, perhaps through a wired service center 69. Through this architecture, large users 61 that send telecommunications traffic through dedicated facilities, can benefit from the bidding process and, for the traffic sent by users, to the public telephone network, for example, those users can avoid the costs of ccess imposed by the local network telephone companies, for the switched access traffic of the central office. Although a dedicated installation 63 can be connected through the local central office 67 of a local telephone company, for example, it is provided with a dedicated, non-switched connection, without activating the imposition of a rate element by switched access. So that each end user subscribed to the bidding agreement is not required to establish a billing relationship with each Company that takes part in the bidding process, a central billing agreement is advantageous. In the billing agreement illustrated in Figure 11, bidding and routing take place as illustrated in Figure 5 or Figure 8. After the switch routes a call 33, it transmits the call completion data. , that identify the call source, the Company, the route segment data, applicable, and any other information for billing purposes (for example, the time and duration of the call) to a computer associated with the Moderator. The Moderator transmits economic incentive data to this computer. The computer associates the end of the call information, with this economic incentive data, in its memory, to form a billing record of the call, in a billing database. Periodically (for example, at the end of each billing period) this computer classifies billing records, by a call source identifier, and generates an invoice. As an alternative to a computer associated with the Moderator who prepares the bills, a local telephone company, for example, can generate invoices for those customers who participate in the billing process as callers, by having a computer associated with one. or more switches that receive economic incentive data from the Moderator, and call termination data from the switch. This computer associates in its memory, the bidding information with the end of the call information, to form a billing record of the call, which is stored in a billing database. Periodically, the computer classifies the billing records by call source identifier and generates an invoice.

Claims (37)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the foregoing invention, it is considered as a novelty, and therefore, the content of the following is claimed as property: CLAIMS

1. A method for controlling a telecommunications network, in which a moderation computer collects economic incentive data from each Company, from a plurality of telecommunications companies, processes the data of economic incentives and distributes the processed data to a plurality of switches of telecommunications that define a plurality of route segments, each switch at a switching point, in a telecommunications network, whereby each of the plurality of switches is allowed to select a company from the plurality of telecommunications companies, for a call attempt presented to the switch, based on an economic choice, the method is characterized in that it comprises: a. Receive in the moderation computer, data of economic incentives that specify the economic incentive that each Company will offer for a call coming from a first switch, in a telecommunications network of a plurality of telecommunications networks, through a segment of route, up to a second switch in a telecommunications network of a plurality of telecommunications networks, process the data of economic incentives, to determine which of the economic incentive data, correspond to the first switch and optionally produce derived data, and store the incentive data economic and derived data, in a database in the moderation computer, as data of the first switch; b. transmitting at least a portion of the data of the first switch to the first switch, and, c. transmitting at least a portion of the data of the first switch to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunications companies.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the economic incentive data are tariff data.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the economic incentive data, received from each Company, are valid for a first specified block of time.

4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the economic incentive data, valid for the first block of time, must be received by the moderation computer, before a cut-off time preceding the first block of time per at least one protection interval.

5. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the data of the first switch, corresponding to a first Company of the plurality of Companies, are the same for all the second switches.

6. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the data of the first switch, corresponding to a first Company of the plurality of Companies, are the same for all the first switches and for all the second switches.

7. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the derived data includes company selection data.

8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the company selection data includes the designation of the selected Company.

9. A method in accordance with the claim 7, characterized in that the company selection data includes the designation of at least one first alternative Company.

10. An automated method for the selection of companies, to allow a telecommunications switch, which is in a telecommunications network, to select a company from a plurality of telecommunications companies, for a call attempt according to selection data. of companies received from a Bidding Moderator, for the transmission of telecommunications to a second switch, in a telecommunications network, and the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a. introduce to a database associated with the switch, company selection data, resulting from a bidding process, managed by a Bidding Moderator and related to at least one Company of the plurality of Telecommunications Companies, and, b. select a company from the plurality of telecommunications companies for the call attempt based on the company selection data.

11. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that for a call attempt that has failed, a first alternative company, of the plurality of telecommunications companies, is selected according to the data of the call attempt. selection of companies.

12. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that for a call attempt that has failed, a Default Company of the plurality of Telecommunications Companies is selected for the call attempt.

13. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that it includes displaying at least a portion of the economic incentive data in the switch.

14. A method in accordance with the claim 10, characterized in that it includes canceling the selection of companies and selecting an alternative Company, based on the decision rules coming from a switch manager, associated with the telecommunications switch.

15. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the company selection data is generated by the Bidding Moderator, based on decision rules transmitted through a transmission facility, to the Moderator, by a switch manager. , associated with the telecommunications switch.

16. A method for billing users and telecommunications service providers, for the attempts of calls made through route segments, during a billing period, through an auction process in accordance with claim 1, in the that the moderation computer collects economic incentive data from each company of a plurality of telecommunications companies, processes the data of economic incentives and distributes the processed data to a plurality of telecommunications switches, thereby allowing each one of the plurality of switches, selecting a company from the plurality of telecommunications companies, for each call attempt presented to the switch, based on an economic choice, and the method is characterized in that it comprises: a. receiving on a computer, economic incentive data from the moderation computer and call completion data from the switch including, at least, a call source identifier, a selected company identifier and route segment data; b. associate the call completion data with the economic incentive data to produce a billing record that includes the call source identifier and the portion of the economic incentive data applied to the call, and store the billing record in a billing database; and c. Sort the billing database by call source identifier and generate an invoice for the calls associated with each call source identifier during the billing period.

17. A method for routing a telecommunication call attempt, presented to a telecommunications switch, in a telecommunications network, of a plurality of telecommunications networks, to a first telecommunications company of a plurality of telecommunications companies, for the transmission through a route segment, in accordance with economic incentives that have been reached through a tender process involving a central processor, which is referred to as a Bidding Moderator, and the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a. collect data from company networks, for each of the companies, each company enters the data corresponding to the telecommunications facilities that constitute route segments, of its network, in its traffic management database of the computer it administers the traffic; b. Each traffic management computer receives management instructions from each network administrator of that Company, formulating economic incentives for at least a portion of the Company's telecommunications facilities, based on the administration instructions and network data of the company. the Company and transmitting the economic incentives to the Bidding Moderator; c. in the Bidding Moderator, receive the economic incentives, introduce the economic incentives from each Company in the Bidding Moderator database, and classify the economic incentives to identify all the economic incentives associated with each segment of the telecommunications route, specified for a first switch and a second switch and generate the company selection data; d. transmit at least a portion of the economic incentives received by the Bidding Moderator to at least a portion of the plurality of Telecommunications Companies, introducing the economic incentives in each traffic management database, and adjust each of the incentives of the Companies in consideration of economic incentives from at least one other Company; and. classifying the route segments, to determine which route segments are associated with the telecommunications switch, transmitting at least a portion of the company selection data and economic incentive data, associated with those route segments, to the switch, and enter the company selection data in the switch database; and, f. route the call attempt to the first telecommunications company, according to the company selection data.

18. a method according to claim 17, characterized in that the economic incentive is the tariff.

19. a method according to claim 17, characterized in that it includes exhibiting at least a portion of the economic incentives, in the traffic management computer of at least one of the plurality of Companies.

20. a method according to claim 17, characterized in that it includes requesting from the tender Moderator, the company selection data.

21. a Telecommunications Traffic Tender Moderator, to enable a first telecommunications switch, of a plurality of telecommunications switches, to select a Company from the plurality of Telecommunications Companies, for call attempts that wish to be made through a segment of route, according to economic incentives generated by the Companies, characterized because it includes: a. a computer with a processor and a memory; b. means to receive economic incentive data from a first telecommunications company and store in memory the economic incentive data identified with the first telecommunications company; c. means for transmitting at least a portion of the economic incentive data received from a plurality of Telecommunications Companies, to at least a portion of the plurality of Telecommunications Companies; d. means for classifying the economic incentive data received from the plurality of telecommunications companies, in order to determine a first subset of that data, corresponding to the first telecommunications switch, and generate company selection data; and, e. means for transmitting at least a portion of the company selection data and economic incentive data to the first telecommunications switch.

22. A bidding Moderator, according to claim 21, characterized in that it also includes means for receiving decision rules transmitted through a transmission installation, from a switch manager associated with the first telecommunications switch and applying the rules of decision to the s. economic incentive data, to generate company selection data.

23. An automated call routing system, for selecting a first telecommunications company from a plurality of telecommunications companies, for an attempted call presented to a telecommunications switch, for routing through a route segment, characterized in that comprises: a. a telecommunications switch; b. a computer attached to the telecommunications switch, an attached computer that has a processor and a memory; c. means to receive company selection data, from a Bidding Moderator, and store the company selection data in the memory; d. means to transmit the company selection data to the switch, for its input to the switch database; and e. means for selecting the first telecommunications company for the transmission of the call attempt, through the route segment, based on the company selection data found in the switch database.

24. A call routing system, according to claim 23, characterized in that the switch comprises a non-intelligent switch and an intelligent peripheral computer.

25. A call routing system, according to claim 24, characterized in that the attached computer is a software-defined portion of the intelligent peripheral computer.

26. A call routing system, in accordance with claim 23, characterized in that it includes means for asking the tender Moderator for the company selection datqs.

27. An automatic system for routing calls, for routing a call attempt presented in a telecommunications switch, in a first telecommunications company of a plurality of telecommunications companies, for transmission through a route segment, characterized because he understands; to. a telecommunications switch; b. means for asking the Bidding Moderator for company selection data, corresponding to the call attempt and receiving the "company selection data, resulting from a bidding process administered by the Bidding Moderator, in the commutator, and, c. means to route the call attempt to the first telecommunications company, for transmission through the route segment, according to the company selection data

28. A telecommunications switch, to select a first company from a plurality of Telecommunications companies, to route a call attempt that enters the switch through a dedicated installation, from the switch to the first company, for transmission through a route segment, based on the data of the first switch, produced by a Bidding Moderator, through a bidding process, the telecommunications switch is on acterized because it comprises: a. a switching matrix controlled by a switch controller operated with software; b. a plurality of input ports for receiving call attempts presented to the telecommunications switch through dedicated access facilities, coming from a plurality of call sources; c. a plurality of outgoing ports for transmitting call attempts to a plurality of Telecommunications Companies, through facilities of dedicated Companies; d. a data link entry port, to receive data from the first switch, from the Bidding Moderator, through a data link independent of dedicated access facilities and dedicated Company facilities; and. means implemented in software to select the first Company based on the data of the first switch, coming from a data link, independent of the dedicated access facilities, or of the company's dedicated facilities, and f. means for routing the call attempt through the route segment, from the source of the call to the first Company through the switching matrix.

29. A switch according to claim 28, characterized in that, for a call attempt that has failed, a first alternative Company of the plurality of telecommunications companies is selected, according to the data of the call attempt, for the call attempt. selection of companies.

30. A switch according to claim 28, characterized in that for a call attempt that has failed, a default company, of the plurality of telecommunications companies, is selected for the call attempt.

31. A switch according to claim 28, characterized in that the data of the first switch comprises at least a portion of the company selection data and the economic incentive data.

32. A switch according to claim 28, characterized in that it includes means for canceling the selection produced by the means for the selection of the first Company, and selecting an alternative Company, according to the data of designation of Companies, associated with the dedicated access installation, which transmits the call.

33. A method for telecommunication traffic switching, presented to a switch, through a plurality of dedicated access facilities, to a plurality of telecommunications companies, through a plurality of facilities of dedicated companies for transmission to through a plurality of route segments, based on the data of the first switch coming from a Bidding Moderator, characterized in that it comprises: a. receiving on the switch an attempt to call through a dedicated access facility, coming from a call source; b. receiving on the switch, at least a portion of the data of the first switch, associated with the switch, from the Bidding Moderator, the data results from a bidding process administered by the Bidding Moderator; c. selecting a first company from the plurality of telecommunications companies, based on at least a portion of the data of the first switch; and, d. to switch the call attempt, through a dedicated Company installation, to the first Company for transmission through a route segment.

34. A method according to claim 33, characterized in that it includes asking the Bidding Moderator, by at least a portion of the data of the first switch.

35. A method according to claim 33, characterized in that the first switch data includes economic incentive data and company selection data, and the selection is based on economic incentive data.

36. A method according to claim 33, characterized in that the first switch data includes economic incentive data and company selection data, and the selection is based on the company selection data.

37. A method according to claim 33, characterized in that the first switch data includes company selection data, and the company selection data includes the designation of the economically most advantageous company for the call attempt and, optionally, successive designations in order of economic advantage, and the designation of a Company by omission.