MXPA98009781A - System and method for commissioning a telecommunication service to - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for commissioning telecommunications services that includes an SLP tool kit to build a logical service program, and a SPM tool kit to build a service management program, wherein the service management program implements a service of support for the logical service program. A distribution network node is used to receive and distribute the service logic program and the service management program to a logical service execution environment residing in a telecommunications network node to execute the service logic program and for the service logical driving execution environment to execute the service management program

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMISSIONING A TOTAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for commissioning a telecommunications service.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the current telephony environment, when a telecommunications service provider wishes to provide a new service to its telephone customers, only the vendor and the manufacturer of the telecommunications equipment have the knowledge and ability to develop and deploy the new service. Due to the implementation and architecture of the past and current telecommunications system, the deployment of new services is a slow and time-consuming process. With the advent of an intelligent network (IN) and an advanced intelligent network (AIN), which include providing a service creation environment (SCE), can be created and provided in new service definitions for the service control point (SCP) for execution, and for the service management system (SMS) for management. However, there are many other business functions related to service deployment that fall behind. For example, billing, sales, marketing and customer support departments all require the ability to support the new service in the same rapid manner to fully deploy newly created services.

SYNTHESIS OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is desirable to provide a total commission of the telecommunications services from the description of the logic and data of the service to the specification of the information and logic necessary for the management and support of the services.

In one aspect of the invention, a system for commissioning telecommunications services includes a first set of tools for constructing a logical service program, and a second set of tools for constructing a service management program, wherein the management program for Services implements a support service for the logical services program. A distribution network mode used to receive and distribute the service logic program and service management programs for (i) a logical service execution environment residing in a telecommunications network mode that executes the service logic program and (ii) a logical execution execution environment to execute the service administration program.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for commissioning telecommunications services includes the steps of constructing a logical service program, and constructing a service management program, wherein the service administration program implements a support service for the program service logic After distributing the service logic program and the service management program to at least one service logical execution environment residing in a telecommunication network mode for at least one administration logical execution environment, wherein they are executed respectively.

A technical advantage of the present invention is the ability to quickly design, create and deploy new services in the telecommunications network to meet the needs of the network, front office systems and back office systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the concept of the total service commissioner according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 2 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating the concept of the total service commissioner according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 3 is a block diagram of a total service commissioner using a number of toolkits including a master management information base builder to construct a master management information base, according to the teachings of the present invention .

Figure 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the construction of the master management information base, according to the teachings of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a simplified block diagram of the master administration information base constructor, according to the teachings of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a simplified diagram illustrating the hierarchical structure of the master management information base; Y Figure 7 is a simplified diagram of an object oriented view of the master management information base.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Referring to Figure 1, which is a simplified block diagram illustrating the concept of the total service commissioner according to the teachings of the present invention, the total service commission system 10 enhances the role of a creation environment service for a service commissioning environment (SCE) 12, so that the recently added services are fully deployed in a functional way as well as being deployed with full support and administration. The service communication environment (SCE) 12 is a collection of tool case applications running on an engineering workstation and other suitable computing environment. The service commission environment 12 provides a capability to create new services for reusable components, test new services, verify logic, and deploy new services.

In addition, the commissioning service environment 12 provides the toolkits to create the logic, the data and the tempered ones for the support and management of the new services. The management, support and logic information of the new service is collected in a service definition package created in the service commissioning environment 12. The service definition packet 14 is transmitted to a service management system node (SMS) ) 16 in the telecommunication network for management functions. The service management system 16 serves as a network distribution node, which distributes the service definition packet 14 to a logical execution environment 20 and to a logical execution execution environment 22. The logical execution management environment service 20 resides in a telecommunications network node, including the nodes in an intelligent network (IN) or in an advanced intelligent network (AIN): the service control point (SCP) 30, the service transfer point ( STP) 32, the signal switching point (SSP) 34, and the intelligent peripheral (IP) 36. Typically, the service control point 30 is the service intelligence for the advanced intelligent network and contains the data and logic used to provide advanced services. The service transfer point 32 supports the transfer control message between the service control point 30 and the signal switching point 34 using the signaling system No. 7 (SS7) network. The signal switching point 34 is the interconnection to the subscriber or service caller and is able to recognize when a particular call requires intelligent network services. The smart peripheral 36 typically contains the functions and resources for exchanging information with the caller, such as playing voice announcements, and collecting dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) digits. The telecommunications services defined in the service definition packet 14 are therefore carried out in a logical service execution environment 20 residing in these advanced intelligent network components.

The servdefinition packet 14 is further provided by the management servsystem 16 for managing the logical execution environment 22, which may include the network systems 40 and the operational support systems 42. The servdefinition packet 14 contains the logic and data necessary to allow the management of the logical execution environment 22 to provide the front and back offfunctions to support the serv executed in the servlogical execution environment 20.

Referring now to Fig. 2, which is a more detailed block diagram illustrating the concept of the total servcommission according to the teachings of the present invention, the servcommission environment 12 includes the logical program tool cases. of serv(SLP) 13 to create the servlogic programs 15. The servcommissioning environment 12 also includes a master management information base (MIB) 17, which is a collection of the object definitions modeling the resources in business systems and telecommunications system. Servmanagement toolkits (SMPs) 19 have access to the master management information base 17 to create the servmanagement programs that sustain and manage the serv specified in the servlogic programs. serv15 and servprograms 21 are combined in the servdefinition pack 14 which is provided to the servmanagement system 16. The servmanagement system 16 can serve as a central distribution point which transmits the packet of servdefinition 14 or selected parts thereof to the nodes in a telecommunications network 50 such as an advanced intelligent network or an intelligent network. One or more network nodes can also serve this distribution function. The subscriber data and servdefinitions can be transmitted in the databases by referring to the servcontrol point 30 to modify or aggregate the data stored there. The servdefinition packet 14 may also include a trigger database and rules and call logic, which are provided to the signal transfer point 32 and the signal switching point 34. In addition, the smart peripheral 36 may receive two certificates or scripts defined in the servdefinition packet 14 in the servmanagement system 16 can also serve as the distribution point for transmitting the handling of logic, data and tempers and other information to network management and network operational support 40 and 42 respectively. For example, customer servdata, servorder information, marketing and information sales can be provided for the front offoperational support systems 42 whose sales support and marketing subscriptions to the new servand customer serv In addition, information such as billing information, network management, code and data, performance monitoring of metrics and specifications can be provided by the servmanagement system 16 to the network management systems 40 for the subsequent offfor the operations of network support, billing, and network management and monitoring.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the total servcharge using a number of tool cases including a master handling information base constructor for building a master handling information base according to the teachings of the present invention. The servcommission environment 12 includes a number of servlogarithm program toolkits 13 that can be used to generate basic servprograms and the database schema that define the structure in which the data is stored. An intuitive visual programming language and a library of reusable objects or independent servand tempered building blocks can be manipulated in a logical serveditor to specify the data parameters and logical servflow.

The service commission environment 12 also includes a logical commission management environment (MLCE) 62, which includes a master management information base 66 tool kit, logic commission 68 management tool cases, and a master management information base 70. In logic management commission 68 environment tool kits are used to generate service management programs which provide support and management functions for the deployed services. Service management programs can include agent processes and manager processes, where the manager process directs the agent processes to perform particular functions on an object that affects the underlying network resource that the object models. Both manager and agent processes have access to a master information base 70. Service management programs can include process flows, processes specified by linked independent service building blocks, rules, and other logical expressions.

The master management information base 70 is a repository of the managed objects that abstractly model or describe the properties and behavior of the physical and logical resources of the network elements in the telecommunications network. Physical resources, for example, include printed circuit boards, processors, disks, and power supplies that are grouped together to form part or all of a physical network element. Logical resources include program applications, and concepts such as "circuits" or "links" that have properties but are not physical in nature. Resources within a service provider network can therefore be modeled as objects with object-oriented methodologies in an object-oriented framework. The object definition for a resource includes a definition of its attributes, behaviors, methods and relationships between it and other objects.

The service commissioning environment 12 further includes a packaging tool 72 and a deployment tool 74 that packages the service logic programs, service management programs, database schemas, variables, counters and other information. within a service definition packet 80. The service definition packet 80 is provided for a network and element management systems 40, operational management and support systems 42 and intelligent network components 50. The management systems of element and network 40 and operational management and support systems 42 both include logical interpreters (LI) 84 and 100, which may reside in the respective management execution environments 86 and 102. Logical interpreters 84 and 100 interpret service management programs which can be expressed in an interpreted language. In addition, the intelligent network components 50 may include the logical interpreter 90, a logical service execution environment 92 and a logical execution execution environment 94 for interpreting service logic programs, service management programs, and executing interpreted logic .

Figure 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the construction of the master handling information base according to the teachings of the present invention. The physical and logical resources 64 in the network elements or components are modeled abstractly and described by the handled objects 112 in an object-oriented framework. The modeling and definition processes can be facilitated by the master managed information base constructor 110. The collections or repositories of managed objects 112 can be formed into managed information bases 114. In turn, the collections of the managed information bases are formed in a master management information base 116 which is the master specification of network object properties and behaviors. The master specification can be used to derive different forms of object definitions depending on the requirements or the operational support system. For example, the master specification can be used to derive:• A C ++ object definition; • definition of object of conversation • international telecommunications union (ITU) description of compliance of standards for telecommunications management network (TMN); • a description of the task force complaint of Internet engineering (ITF) for telecommunications management network networks; • agent application logic; • administrator application logic; Y • user interconnection applications graphics for exhibition and modification of object attribute.

In order to effectively handle a multiple vendor, a multiple service network, the management information bases are necessary to provide a description of the network resources. These are many standard bodies and industry consortiums that can specify information that can be incorporated into the management information bases 120 and 122 in Figure 5, which is a simplified block diagram of the master management information base constructor. according to the teachings of the present invention. The standard bodies and the industrial consortium include: 1. The international telecommunications union (ITU) 2. The Internet engineering task force (ITF) 3. The network management forum (MFN) 4. The ATM forum 5. The SONET interoperability forum (SIF) 6. The SONET interoperability forum ( SIF) 7. Bellcore 8. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) These organizations are typically made by government standard position organizations, and / or equipment manufacturers. Since the recommendations generated by the organizations are designed to cover a wide variety of services and products, these are typically general in scope. Therefore, in addition to the more general management information bases generated or generated based on recommendations of these organizations, more specific service provider management information bases 124 may be specified by the telecommunications service providers. The network resource management information bases 126 may be specified by the equipment manufacturers that describe their specific service needs and products. For example, and referring to Figure 6, which is a simplified diagram, illustrating the hierarchical structure of the master management information base. A computer manufacturer can develop a management information base 126 that defines the unique behavior of the resources contained in its products 132, the higher-level management information bases that define the common objects within its products and the product lines 130, and the specific product management information bases 136 that define the resources unique to each product.

Referring to Figure 7, a more detailed oriented object view of the master management information base shown as a corporate object repository 200 is provided. The corporate object repository 200 includes the object modeling of a network management service. of supplier and support systems and interconnections for them, from which can be inherited more specific objects of behavior and data structures to define a more specific or unique management and support systems with behavior and aggregated data structures. The element management system objects 210 can be derived from the object definitions specified in the corporate object repository 200 with conditions for configuration, monitoring, operation, revision and other network management functions. The objects of the element management system 210 are also used to derive interconnection and specific handling objects for the signal transfer point 212, for the customer premises equipment (CPE) 214, for the cross connections 216, for the intelligent peripherals 218, for the signal switching point 220, for the service control point 222 and for the end office (EO) 224. The objects of the billing management system 232 have provisions for descriptions for which it is required billing and call a detailed record (CDR) tempered for example. The objects of the billing management system 232 can be derived by inheritance to specific objects for billing systems 234.

The objects of the entry manager 240 have conditions for client information, subscription data and service documentation inherited from the objects defined in the corporate object repository 200. The additional specific order entry system and the interconnect objects 242 can be derived by legacy methods and data of the order entry manager objects 240. The customer management system and the interconnect objects 260 can be derived from objects defined in the corporate object repository 200. The objects for modeling a repair center 262 , a service dispatch 264, the support operator stations 266 and the interconnections thereto can be derived by inheritance of the client management system objects 260. In addition, the objects of the customer management system 270 can be derived from objects defined in the corporate object repository 200 to further derive the man-portable objects and interconnections for the service control point 272, the signal switching point 274, the intelligent peripheral 276, and other network nodes.

Therefore, the service commissioning environment 10 improves the role of the service creation environment in providing sufficient information about the service so that all management functions for that service can be derived from the definition of the service. The service commission system and the method according to the teachings of the present invention extend the definitions of the service description to include management parameters and driving logic to satisfy the needs of the entire management program.

Claims (38)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S

1. A system to commission telecommunications services, comprising: a set of SLP tools to build a logical service program; a set of SMP tools to build a service management program, the service management program implements a support service for the logical service program; a distribution network node to receive and distribute the service logic program and the service management program; a logical service execution environment that resides in a telecommunications network node, to receive and execute the logical service program; Y a logical execution execution environment to receive and execute the service management program,

2. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that it comprises a packaging tool for packaging the service logic program and a service management program in a service definition packet for transmitting to the distribution network node.

3. The system, as claimed in clause 2, characterized in that it comprises a deployment tool for downloading the service definition packet to the distribution network node.

4. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that it also comprises a deployment tool for downloading the logical program and the service management program to the distribution network node.

5. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logic program comprises a database schema that defines a database structure for data to be operated on the logical service program in the logical service execution environment.

6. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the distribution network node is a service management system.

7. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logical execution environment comprises a logical service interpreter for interpreting the service logic program.

8. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logical execution environment resides in a service control point.

9. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logical execution environment resides at a signal transfer point.

10. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logical execution environment resides in a service switching point.

11. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logical execution environment resides in an intelligent peripheral.

12. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the SLP and SMP tool kits reside in a service creation environment.

13. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises billing tempering.

14. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises a detailed call record tuning.

15. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises network management data.

16. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises network node operation metrics.

17. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises customer support data.

18. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises marketing sales information.

19. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service management program comprises customer information, subscription data and service documentation.

20. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the service logic program comprises a database scheme for organizing data operated by the service logic program in the service logic execution environment.

21. The system, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the logical service program comprises providing guides.

22. A method to commission telecommunications services that includes: build a logical service program; build a service management program, the service management program implements a support device for the logical service program; distributing the service logic program and the service management programs for at least one logical service execution environment, residing in a telecommunications network node, and at least one logical execution execution environment; execute the service logic program to implement a new service; Y execute the service management program to sustain the new service.

23. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that it comprises the step of packaging the service logic program and the service management program in a service definition package for distribution.

24. The method, as claimed in clause 23, characterized in that it comprises the step of downloading the service definition packet to a distribution network node for distribution to the service logical execution environment and to the logical execution environment of administration.

25. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step to construct a logical service program comprises the step of specifying a database schema that defines a database structure for data to be operated by the logical service program in the service logical execution environment.

26. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the distribution step comprises the step of distributing the service logic program and the service management program to a service management system in the telecommunications network.

27. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of interpreting the service logic program before execution in the service logical execution environment.

28. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the distribution step of the service logic program comprises the step of distributing the service logic program to a logical service execution environment resident in a service control point .

29. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of distributing the service logic program comprises the step of distributing the service logic program to a service logical execution environment residing at a transfer point of service. service.

30. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of distributing the service logic program comprises the step of distributing the service logic program to a service logical execution environment that resides at a switching point of service.

31. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of distributing the service logic program comprises the step of distributing the service logic program to a service logical execution environment that resides in an intelligent peripheral.

32. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of using a billing temper.

33. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of using a call detail record tuning.

34. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of specifying network management data.

35. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of specifying the network node operation metrics.

36. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of specifying the customer support data.

37. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of specifying the marketing sales information.

38. The method, as claimed in clause 22, characterized in that the step of constructing the service management program comprises the step of specifying the client information, the subscription data and the service documentation. E S U M E N A system and method for commissioning telecommunications services that includes an SLP tool kit to build a logical service program, and an SPM tool kit to build a service management program, wherein the service management program implements a service of support for the logical service program. A distribution network node is used to receive and distribute the service logic program and the service management program to a logical service execution environment residing in a telecommunications network node to execute the service logic program and for the service Logical execution execution environment to execute the service management program.