CA2325539C - Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node - Google Patents

Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CA2325539C
CA2325539C CA002325539A CA2325539A CA2325539C CA 2325539 C CA2325539 C CA 2325539C CA 002325539 A CA002325539 A CA 002325539A CA 2325539 A CA2325539 A CA 2325539A CA 2325539 C CA2325539 C CA 2325539C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
data
bus
incoming
switch
memory
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002325539A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2325539A1 (en
Inventor
Michael E. Noonan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Excel Switching Corp
Original Assignee
Excel Switching Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Excel Switching Corp filed Critical Excel Switching Corp
Publication of CA2325539A1 publication Critical patent/CA2325539A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2325539C publication Critical patent/CA2325539C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q3/00Selecting arrangements
    • H04Q3/0016Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
    • H04Q3/002Details
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q11/00Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems
    • H04Q11/04Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems for time-division multiplexing
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13003Constructional details of switching devices
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/1302Relay switches
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/1304Coordinate switches, crossbar, 4/2 with relays, coupling field
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/1309Apparatus individually associated with a subscriber line, line circuits
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13106Microprocessor, CPU
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13299Bus
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04QSELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13393Time slot switching, T-stage, time slot interchanging, TSI

Abstract

A telecommunications switching node that includes at least one resource interface card (108) which serves as an interface for connection to external call processing resources (336). The interface card communicates with the line cards in the switching node directly over the system buses (118, 120, 122, 124), i.e. without passing through the CPU/matrix card (104) and it uses two line card ports to connect to all external resources. The resource interface card (108) also communicates with line cards (106) that are connected to the system buses in other switching nodes in an expanded switching network. Its resources are thus available to ports in the other nodes when those nodes have available ports that are not occupied with other tasks. For communications with the latter ports, the resource interface card (108) transmits information through the CPU/matrix cards (104) on its switching node and on the nodes where the communicating ports reside. Thus for communications with ports on its switching node, the interface card (108) receives information on the incoming bus (340) and transmits it on the outgoing bus (342) and for communications with ports on other nodes it receives information on the outgoing bus (342) and transmits it on the incoming bus (340).

Description

RESOURCE INTERFACE UNIT FOR
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SWITCHING NODE

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications switching systems and more particularly to a telecommunications switch that includes resource interface cards for connections, without a loss of network connectivity, to external resources which may provide call processing services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An example of a switching system to which the present invention applies is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,544,163, Expandable Telecommunications System.
A
telecommunication switching node described therein has line cards with multiple ports connected to subscriber's telephone lines or to other devices such as PSTN
trunks. The switch also includes a CPU/matrix card and at least two system buses for switching calls received on one port to another port in the system. One of these buses is an incoming bus that passes messages from the line cards to the matrix card and the other is an outgoing bus which transmits messages from the matrix card to the line cards. In order to perform switching on calls, the switch receives information from and transmits information to line card ports over the system buses at predetermined times known as time slots. Each time slot generally corresponds with a port on the switch.
Each call involves connection between two ports. Because communication between these ports is bi-directional, it thus requires four time slots on the system buses. One time slot is used for transmission from one port to the matrix card, a second time slot is used for retrieving information from matrix card and sending it to the other port; the other two time slots are used for transmissions in the other direction. The switch stores information received in time slots in the incoming bus in corresponding memory locations. Thereafter, the switch retrieves the information from memory and transmits it over outgoing time slots assigned to the ports that are to receive the information.
In addition to call switching, the switch is also required to provide call processing services including, inter alia, tone generation and detection and voice mail. These services are provided by cards that are connected to the system buses to communicate with the line card ports to which the services are to be provided.
A
prior system as described in U.S. Patent No. 5,349,579, Telecommunications Switch with Programmable Communications Services, includes programmable service cards that transmit information directly to the line cards over the outgoing bus, i.e., without passing through the CPU/matrix card. Similarly, they receive information from the line cards directly over the incoming bus. Thus only two time slots are needed in these communications as compared with the four time slots that would be used if the information passed through the CPU/matrix card. This reduces the number of time slots required for communications between the ports and the desired call processing services on the services card, thus minimizing the reduction in the call-handling capacity of the switch. The communications services cards described therein service only resources that are internal to the switch, i.e. on cards connected to the switch buses. In order to connect to external voice processing resources, some systems use a Resource Bus Interface (RBI) card that is plugged into the system buses for communications with the various ports. The RBI card is connected to one or more external resources by means of a conventional voice processing resource bus.
The card communicates with the line card ports by way of the CPU/matrix card. It thus requires four time slots on the system bus for each call that uses its resources. This ties up line card ports that would otherwise be used for processing calls and reduces the call-handling capacity of the switch.
As described in U.S. Patent No. 5,544,163, an expandable system comprises a plurality of switching nodes interconnected over an internodal bus. A call between ports on different nodes is routed over the system buses on the two nodes and the internodal bus. A system resource may have more capacity than is needed for one switching node and it would therefore be desirable to make the resource available to the other nodes in the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention a telecommunications switching node includes at least one resource interface card which serves as an interface for connection to external call processing resources. The interface card communicates with the line cards in the switching node directly over the system buses, i.e. without passing through the CPU/matrix card and it uses two line card ports to connect to all external resources.
The resource interface card also communicates with line cards that are connected to the system buses in other switching nodes in an expanded switching network.
Its resources are thus available to ports in the other nodes when those nodes have available ports that are not occupied with other tasks. For communications with the latter ports, the resource interface card transmits information through the CPU/matrix cards on its switching node and on the nodes where the communicating ports reside.
Thus for communications with ports on its switching node, the interface card receives information on the incoming bus and transmits it on the outgoing bus and for communications with ports on other nodes it receives information on the outgoing bus and transmits it on the incoming bus.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a communications network comprising a plurality of switching nodes each of which contains line cards with multiple ports for connections between the communications network and subscriber lines or other switching systems, each of said nodes including a switch, an incoming bus for transferring switch data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card and an internal network interconnecting the switching nodes for conveying switched telecommunications data between them, the communications network characterized by: at least one node including a resource interface card that connects the node to external resources, the resource interface card including: a) means for transmitting data to line cards on the same node over the outgoing bus and for receiving data from those line cards over the incoming bus; b) means for transmitting data to line cards on other nodes over the incoming bus and the switch and means for receiving data from those line cards over the switch and the outgoing bus; c) first switching means for forwarding incoming information from ports to said external resources for processing; d) second switching means for returning processed information from said external resources to the requesting port though the incoming or outgoing bus;
e) a first memory for storing incoming data from the ports and a second memory for storing data from said external resources; f) at least one table for storing memory addresses; g) a resource bus for transmitting information from the second memory to said external resources; and h) means for selecting addresses from the table and retrieving data in the memory location identified by that address.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a switching node including line cards with multiple ports for connections between the switching node and subscriber lines or other switching systems, a switch for switching data from one port to another, an incoming bus for transferring switched data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card, the switching node further characterized by: a resource interface card that connects the node to said external resources, the resource interface card including: a) means for transmitting data to line cards on the same node over the outgoing bus and for receiving data from those line cards over the incoming bus;
b) means for transmitting data to line cards on other nodes over the incoming bus and the switch and receiving data from those line cards over the switch and the outgoing bus; c) first switching mans for forwarding incoming information from ports to external resources for processing; d) second switching means for returning processed information from external resources to the requesting port through the incoming or outgoing bus; e) a first memory for storing incoming data from the ports and a second memory for storing data from said external resources; f) at least one table for storing memory addresses; g) a resource bus for transmitting information from the second memory to said external resources; and h) means for selecting addresses from the table and retrieving data in the memory location identified by that address.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for exchanging data between ports in a switching node and external resources, the switching node including line cards with multiple ports for connections between the switching node and subscriber lines or other switching systems, a switch for switching data from one port to another, an incoming bus for transferring switched data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card, a resource interface card that connects the node to external resources, the resource interface card, said method characterized by the steps of: a) receiving data in the resource interface card on either the incoming bus or the outgoing bus; b) storing the data in a memory 5 location; c) selecting a memory address from a transmit table; d) transmitting the data identified by the selected address over a resource interface bus that is connected to the resource interface card to external resources for processing; e) returning the data from the external resources to the resource interface card and storing the data in a receive memory location; f) reading a memory address from a receive table; and g) sending data in the read memory address on the incoming bus or the outgoing bus to a port assigned a time slot on either bus.
In further embodiments, the incoming data from ports in the same switching node as the interface card or from other nodes in the system enter the resource through either the incoming bus or the outgoing bus and it is stored in a memory in the resource interface card. A memory address is read from a transmit connection map, i.e., a lookup table of memory addresses. Data in the memory location identified by that address is then transmitted to an external resource over a resource bus. Once the data is processed by the external resource, information is sent back to the resource interface card for transmission to the appropriate port. The information is stored in a second address in the resource card's memory. That address is ultimately selected from a receive map and the data in the memory location identified by that address is transmitted on a time slot basis to either the incoming bus or the outgoing bus, depending on whether the receiving port is in the same switching node as the interface card or in another node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Fig. I is a block diagram of a telecommunications switch which resides in a computer and which includes a resource interface card constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a detailed diagram of a CPU/matrix card of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a detailed diagram of a resource interface card of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a flow diagram showing the tasks performed when the resource interface card processes an incoming call; and Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing the tasks performed when the resource interface card processes an outgoing call.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a switch. The switch 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 102 and a hard disk drive 126 that are interconnected by an input/output (I/O) bus 114. The switch 100 also includes a power bus 116 and a chassis or housing in which a motherboard is mounted along with the disk drive and other optional accessories. The CPU 102 is mounted on the motherboard, which includes a series of slots into which other boards (cards) may be inserted and thereby connected to the I/O bus 114 and/or power 116 bus.
A CPU/matrix card 104 is interconnected with digital line cards 106, a resource interface card 108, a terminator card 110 and analog line cards 112 by four buses: a high speed data link control (HDLC) bus 118, time division multiplexing (TDM) buses 120, a line card (LC) status/control bus 122, and a timing/control bus 124. The CPU/matrix card 104 and the CPU 102 communicate with each other through the I/O bus 114. The line cards 106, 112 and the resource interface card 108 are connected to receive their basic operating power from the power bus 114.
An external host 128, which comprises a separate computer, may be linked with the CPU/matrix card 104 for supervisory control over the switch.
Fig. 2 shows the CPU/matrix card 200 in greater detail. The card 200 includes a central call processor 202 which has control over all other circuitry on the CPU/matrix card. It is connected to the HDLC bus 118, the LC
status/control bus 122, host select circuitry 210, random access (RAM) and read only memories 204, watchdog timing circuitry 206, I/O control circuitry 208, timing and control/select circuitry 212 and time slot interchange (TSI) 216. The central call processor 202 uses the HDLC bus 118 to simultaneously transmit messages to all cards connected to that bus or it may use the LC status/control bus 122 to assign time slots to other cards that transmit and receive messages to over the TDM buses.
Host select circuitry 210, connected to the CPU/matrix card's call processor 202, is a switch which informs the central call processor whether to communicate with the internal host (CPU 120) or the external host 128. The I/O control circuitry manages communications between the central call processor 202 and the internal host.
The timing and control/select circuitry 212 responds to instructions from the central call processor 202 to provide synchronizing signals for the CPU/matrix card and the other cards on the switch. The TSI 216 receives and transmits data through the TDM
buses 120 and operates as directed by the central call processor 202 to interchange time slots in a conventional manner.
Fig. 3 shows in greater detail the resource interface card 300 of Fig. 1. The various buses described are shown as duplicated for the purpose of providing redundancy. The TDM buses 120 comprise two communication paths designated as "LSpcm" 340 and "SLpcm" 342. The LSpcm 340 path carries pulse code modulation (PCM) data from the line cards 106, 112 to the CPU/matrix card 200 and the resource interface card 300. The SLpcm 342 path carries PCM data from the CPU/matrix card 200 and resource interface card 300 to the line cards 106, 112.
A CPU 302 on the resource interface card 300 has overall control of the other components and modules on the card. It is connected to the HDLC bus 118, a read only memory (ROM) 304, a random access memory (RAM) 306 and timing and control circuitry 308. The CPU 302 communicates with the central call processor 202 on the CPU/matrix card 200 via the HDLC bus 118. The CPU 302 receives card 200 instruction to perform certain actions and it transmits messages to the card when the requested actions have been performed. Communications over the TDM
buses 120 are synchronized with the CPU/matrix card 200 through timing signals received by the timing/control bus 124.
Receive PCM banks 314, 316 are connected to continuously receive all PCM
data transmitted from the SLpem bus 342 or from the LSpcm bus 340. There is a one to one relationship between the Receive PCM Banks 314 and 316. Incoming multiplexers 322, 324 pass PCM data from the TDM buses 340, 342 to the Receive PCM Bank 314. A time slot counter 318 is connected to Receive PCM Bank 314 in order to address the memory locations for receiving PCM data over the TDM
buses 340, 342.

A resource transmission map 320 which is a lookup table, is connected to Receive PCM Bank 316. The transmission map 320 generates addresses in the Receive PCM Bank 316 and data in the location identified by a generated address is read from the Receive PCM Bank 316. The data is transmitted to a transmit multiplexer 330 where it is formatted for transmission to external resources.
The transmit multiplexer 330 then passes the PCM data to an external resource 336 through a resource bus 334. The resource interface multiplexers 330, 332 connect the resource interface card to any industry standard interface bus which is connected to external resources 336.
When information is received from the external resource 336, it is transmitted through a receive multiplexer 332 to a Transmit PCM Bank 312. There is a one to one relationship between the Transmit PCM Bank 310 and the Transmit PCM
Bank 312. A resource receive map 329 which is a lookup table, is connected to Transmit PCM Bank 310. An address in the Transmit PCM Bank 312 is generated by the resource receive map 329. Data in a location in the Transmit PCM Bank 310 identified by that address is transmitted through time slots on the TDM buses and 342 to the appropriate port. During any given time slot, only one of the CPU/matrix card 200 and the resource interface card 300 is permitted to transmit PCM data over the TDM buses 340 to the line cards.
Fig. 4 is a flow diagram showing the tasks performed when the resource interface card processes an incoming call. In Step 410, at any given time slot, the resource interface card 300 may receive PCM data from either the SLpcm bus 342 or from the LSpcm bus 340. The PCM data is stored in (written to) a memory location in Receive PCM Bank 314. In Step 420, the transmit map 320 selects an address corresponding to a location in the Receive PCM Bank 316. During the same time slot, the resource interface card 300 transmits the PCM data stored in the memory location corresponding to that address to the transmit resource interface multiplexer 330. In Step 430, the transmit resource interface multiplexer 330 forwards the data to a standard resource interface bus 334 that is connected to the resource interface card 300. In Step 440, the CPU/matrix card 200 on switch sends a message to the internal host 102, informing the host which time slot is transmitting the PCM data. In order for the external resource to know what to do with the data, the internal host communicates with the external host 128 that exercise supervisory control over the external resource in Step 450. In Step 460, the external host transmits the data to the external resource device for performance of the requested task.
Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing how a call is processed after being operated on by an external resource. In Step 510, at any given time slot, the resource interface card 300 receives data from the resource interface bus 334 through the receive resource interface multiplexer 332. In Step 520, the resource interface multiplexer 332 transmits the data to the Transmit PCM Bank 312. In Step 530 an address in the Transmit PCM Bank 310 is randomly read from the receive map and the PCM data in the corresponding location in the Transmit PCM Bank 310 is read.
During the same time slot, the PCM data is transmitted to the port assigned to the time slot either through the LSpcm bus 340 or through the SLpcm bus 342.
The foregoing description has been directed to specific embodiments of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that other variations and modifications may be made to the described embodiments, with the attainment of some or all of their advantages. Therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the invention.

Claims (14)

1. A communications network comprising a plurality of switching nodes each of which contains line cards with multiple ports for connections between the communications network and subscriber lines or other switching systems, each of said nodes including a switch, an incoming bus for transferring switch data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card and an internal network interconnecting the switching nodes for conveying switched telecommunications data between them, the communications network characterized by:
at least one node including a resource interface card that connects the node to external resources, the resource interface card including:
a) means for transmitting data to line cards on the same node over the outgoing bus and for receiving data from those line cards over the incoming bus;
b) means for transmitting data to line cards on other nodes over the incoming bus and the switch and means for receiving data from those line cards over the switch and the outgoing bus;
c) first switching means for forwarding incoming information from ports to said external resources for processing;
d) second switching means for returning processed information from said external resources to the requesting port though the incoming or outgoing bus;
e) a first memory for storing incoming data from the ports and a second memory for storing data from said external resources;
f) at least one table for storing memory addresses;
g) a resource bus for transmitting information from the second memory to said external resources; and h) means for selecting addresses from the table and retrieving data in the memory location identified by that address.
2. The communications network of claim 1, wherein the resource interface card is further characterized by:
a) a processor for providing overall control of components on the resource interface card and for communicating with the switch via a system bus;
b) timing and control circuitry for synchronizing communications on the incoming and outgoing buses between the resource interface card and the switch; and c) a time slot counter connected to memory locations for addressing the memory locations.
3. The communications network of claim 2, further characterized in that:
the incoming and outgoing buses are time division multiplexed with time slots in these buses assigned to ports, the resource interface card connected to these buses:
a) having means for communicating with the ports on the same node on a time slot basis directly over the incoming or outgoing bus, without passing through the switch; and b) having means for utilizing time slots on each bus to transmit data bi-directionally between the port and said external resources connected to the node.
4. The communications network of claim 3, further characterized in that during one time slot only one of the switch and the resource interface card is permitted to transmit data over the incoming and outgoing buses to the line cards.
5. The communications network of claim 4, wherein said means for transmitting incoming data from the ports is further characterized by:
a) means for receiving data from the ports on the same node or other nodes and storing the data in the first memory;
b) means for obtaining a memory address from a transmit connection table;

c) means for transmitting data in the memory location identified by the address over the resource bus to an external resource for processing;

d) means in the switch for informing an internal host which time slot has the data;
e) means for communicating between the internal host and an external host which exercises supervisory control over said external resources;
and f) means in the external host for transmitting the data to said external resources for performance of a requested task.
6. The communications network of claim 5, wherein means for receiving processed data is further characterized by:
a) means for receiving processed data from said external resources connected to the node and storing the data in said second memory;
b) means for obtaining a memory address from a receive table; and c) means for transmitting data in the memory location identified by that address on a time slot basis to either the incoming bus or outgoing bus depending on whether the receiving port is in the same node or another node.
7. A switching node including line cards with multiple ports for connections between the switching node and subscriber lines or other switching systems, a switch for switching data from one port to another, an incoming bus for transferring switched data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card, the switching node further characterized by:
a resource interface card that connects the node to said external resources, the resource interface card including:
a) means for transmitting data to line cards on the same node over the outgoing bus and for receiving data from those line cards over the incoming bus;

b) means for transmitting data to line cards on other nodes over the incoming bus and the switch and receiving data from those line cards over the switch and the outgoing bus;
c) first switching mans for forwarding incoming information from ports to external resources for processing;
d) second switching means for returning processed information from external resources to the requesting port through the incoming or outgoing bus;
e) a first memory for storing incoming data from the ports and a second memory for storing data from said external resources;
f) at least one table for storing memory addresses;
g) a resource bus for transmitting information from the second memory to said external resources; and h) means for selecting addresses from the table and retrieving data in the memory location identified by that address.
8. The switching node of claim 7, wherein the resource interface card is further characterized by:
a) a processor for providing overall control over components on the resource interface card and for communicating with the switch via a system bus;
b) timing and control circuitry for synchronizing communications on the incoming and outgoing buses between the resource interface card and the switch; and c) a time slot counter connected to memory locations for addressing the memory locations.
9. The switching node of claim 8, wherein the incoming and outgoing buses are time division multiplexed with time slots in these buses assigned to ports, the resource interface card connected to these buses being further characterized by:
a) means for communicating with the ports on the same node on a time slot basis directly over the incoming or outgoing bus, without passing through the switch; and b) means for utilizing time slots on each bus to transmit data bi-directionally between the port and said external resources connected to the node.
10. The switching node of claim 9, further characterized in that during one time slot only one of the switch and the resource interface card is permitted to transmit data over the incoming and outgoing buses to the line cards.
11. The switching node of claim 10, further characterized by:
means for transmitting incoming data from the ports including:
a) means for receiving data from the ports on the same node or other nodes and storing the data in the first memory;
b) means for obtaining a memory address from a transmit connection table;
c) means for transmitting data in the memory location identified by the address over the resource bus to an external resource for processing;
d) means in the switch for informing an internal host which time slot has the data;
e) means for communicating between the internal host and an external host which exercises supervisory control over the external resources; and f) means in the external host for transmitting the data to the external resources for performance of a requested task.
12. The switching node of claim 11, further characterized by means for receiving processed data including:
a) means for receiving processed data from external resources connected to the node and storing the data in said second memory;
b) means for obtaining a memory address from a receive table; and c) means for transmitting data in the memory location identified by that address on a time slot basis to either the incoming bus or outgoing bus depending on whether the receiving port is in the same node or another node.
13. A method for exchanging data between ports in a switching node and external resources, the switching node including line cards with multiple ports for connections between the switching node and subscriber lines or other switching systems, a switch for switching data from one port to another, an incoming bus for transferring switched data from the line cards to the switch, an outgoing bus for transferring switched data from the switch to the line card, a resource interface card that connects the node to external resources, the resource interface card, said method characterized by the steps of:
a) receiving data in the resource interface card on either the incoming bus or the outgoing bus;
b) storing the data in a memory location;
c) selecting a memory address from a transmit table;
d) transmitting the data identified by the selected address over a resource interface bus that is connected to the resource interface card to external resources for processing;
e) returning the data from the external resources to the resource interface card and storing the data in a receive memory location;
f) reading a memory address from a receive table; and g) sending data in the read memory address on the incoming bus or the outgoing bus to a port assigned a time slot on either bus.
14. The method of claim 13, further characterized by the step of transmitting, further comprises the steps of:

a) informing an internal host which time slot has the data;
b) communicating between the internal host and an external host which exercises supervisory control over the external resources; and c) transmitting the data to the external resources by the external host for performance of a requested task.
CA002325539A 1998-06-08 1999-06-03 Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node Expired - Fee Related CA2325539C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US09/093,583 US6373849B1 (en) 1998-06-08 1998-06-08 Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node
US09/093,583 1998-06-08
PCT/US1999/012421 WO1999065268A1 (en) 1998-06-08 1999-06-03 Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2325539A1 CA2325539A1 (en) 1999-12-16
CA2325539C true CA2325539C (en) 2009-12-22

Family

ID=22239726

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002325539A Expired - Fee Related CA2325539C (en) 1998-06-08 1999-06-03 Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US6373849B1 (en)
EP (1) EP1086605B1 (en)
JP (1) JP3875490B2 (en)
AT (1) ATE341174T1 (en)
AU (1) AU749264B2 (en)
CA (1) CA2325539C (en)
DE (1) DE69933377T2 (en)
WO (1) WO1999065268A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2337665B (en) * 1995-03-31 2000-02-16 Inmarsat Ltd Communication method and apparatus
TW405090B (en) * 1997-04-04 2000-09-11 Ibm Predictive cache loading by program address discontinuity history
US7020736B1 (en) * 2000-12-18 2006-03-28 Redback Networks Inc. Method and apparatus for sharing memory space across mutliple processing units
US7527638B2 (en) 2003-12-16 2009-05-05 Depuy Spine, Inc. Methods and devices for minimally invasive spinal fixation element placement
EP2447852A3 (en) * 2005-04-19 2015-01-07 D.E. Shaw Research, LLC Scalable method for the evaluation of distance-limited pairwise particle interactions

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB8326718D0 (en) 1983-10-06 1983-11-09 British Telecomm Announcement system
US5390241A (en) * 1992-12-18 1995-02-14 At&T Corp. Shared line appearance across a plurality of switching systems
US5349579A (en) * 1993-01-05 1994-09-20 Excel, Inc. Telecommunication switch with programmable communications services
US5539884A (en) * 1993-05-20 1996-07-23 Bell Communications Research, Inc. Intelligent broadband communication system and method employing fast-packet switches
US5581553A (en) 1993-08-18 1996-12-03 Intervoice Limited Partnership Distributed switching architecture
US5426694A (en) * 1993-10-08 1995-06-20 Excel, Inc. Telecommunication switch having programmable network protocols and communications services
US5544163A (en) * 1994-03-08 1996-08-06 Excel, Inc. Expandable telecommunications system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1086605B1 (en) 2006-09-27
JP2002524889A (en) 2002-08-06
ATE341174T1 (en) 2006-10-15
JP3875490B2 (en) 2007-01-31
CA2325539A1 (en) 1999-12-16
US6373849B1 (en) 2002-04-16
AU749264B2 (en) 2002-06-20
WO1999065268A1 (en) 1999-12-16
AU4231399A (en) 1999-12-30
EP1086605A1 (en) 2001-03-28
DE69933377D1 (en) 2006-11-09
DE69933377T2 (en) 2007-08-23

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
JP3007907B2 (en) A communication switching mechanism that provides programmable communication services
US4715032A (en) Method and apparatus for the connection of a closed ring through a telephone exchange
CA1260590A (en) Architecture for distributed control telecommunication switching systems
JPH01502707A (en) Method and apparatus for providing variable reliability in telecommunications switching systems
CA2325539C (en) Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node
WO2000062578A1 (en) A universal application programming interface having generic message format
US4567589A (en) Electronic digital PCM time-division exchange with decentralized architecture
JP3943607B2 (en) Centralized network switch with switching function
CA2271269C (en) Processor for signaling messages in a data switching network
WO1999013680A1 (en) Sub-rate switching telecommunications switch
EP0884883A2 (en) Improvements in local exchange testing
JP2002524889A5 (en)
US4509168A (en) Digital remote switching unit
KR19990061460A (en) Integrated common line signaling device in all-electronic exchange
JPH0870492A (en) Central network switchboard with changeover function
US5883902A (en) Time slot interchanger and digital communications terminal for ISDN D-channel assembly
CN100539718C (en) Between access network and local switch, select the method and apparatus of bearing link
US4514842A (en) T-S-T-S-T Digital switching network
JP3046118B2 (en) Time division channel method
KR100603583B1 (en) Telephone switching system for using IP network and method for connectting between node in Telephone switching system
Cotton et al. Design of a digital exchange
JPH0415655B2 (en)
JPS63107391A (en) Trunk data management system for distributed exchange
JPH06152598A (en) Frame multi-address transmission system
JPH02288438A (en) Access system for loop type communication system

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
EEER Examination request
MKLA Lapsed

Effective date: 20170605