Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTE~M ~iND METHOD FOR TEL~ONY SERVICE CA~D PROCESSING
FIELD OF THE lNv~NllON
The present invention relates to a distributed
telephony card services ~Loceosing system and, in
particular, to such a system wherein each included
~ distributed processing site provides high speed digital
processing without requiring a real time remote access to
a centralized processing site to process a p~n~ing
telephony service request.
BACKGRO ~ D OF THE lNV~N'l'lON
Systems for providing telephony services to
subscribers have typically associated the telephony
services with a telephone number so that the services are
provided only when a subscriber accesses the services from
a 1telephony station associated with the tele~hore n h~l-,
More recently, subscribers have been provided with
telephony service cards similar to credit cards so that, by
using such a service card, telephony services available at,
for instance, a subscribers home telephone, may be accessed
by the subscriber at other locations. However, there may be
various restrictions encountered by card subscribers and
potential card subscribers both in ob~in;ng a telephony
sexvice card and in using such cards for cost effectively
accessing telephony services.
~ It is not uncommon for telephony service card
processing systems to issue cards wherein for each
subscriber, each card issued has an identification number
identical to a conventional telephone number already
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provided to the subscriber and for which the subscriber is
financially responsible. Thus, in such circums~Ances it may
be necessary for an individual desiring a telephony service
card to also subscribe to additional telephony services
such as conventional telephone service. Since service card
processing technology and the culture relating to the use
of such cards is so prevalent, requirements for such
additional telephony services, prior to the issuance of a
telephony service card, may prevent many individuals from
having access to telephony services. That is, such
individuals may be able to, ~or example, occasionally
prepay for certain telephony card services wherein the
services can be accefi~ via public telephones, but such
individuals may not be able to afford continuous
conventional telephone service.
It is also not uncommon for the processing of
telephony service card requests to be inefficient and
therefore costly for subscribers. In particular, since some
telephony service card processing systems store the
information related to service card subscribers at only a
small number of centralized service processing sites, a
card user in a remote location making a local call using
his/her telephony service card may incur a long distance
charge because the telephony service card provider must
make a long distance call to obtain the necessary user
information to complete the user's local call.
Additionally, telephony service card processing
systems may not be able to provide flexibility in allowing
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a card user to automatically activate and/or change his/her
telephony services related to a service card. For example,
a card user may desire to change the language used by the
telephony service card processing system in communicating
with the card user.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a telephony
service card processing system that addresses the above
mentioned difficulties. Further, it would be advantageous
if such a telephony service card processing system could be
accessible at a reasonable cost from substantially any
telephone.
SUMMARY OF THE lNv~NllON
The present invention is directed to a telephony
service card processing system for providing a plurality of
telephony card users with cost effective telephony
services. The present invention integrates a wide range of
telephony services so that these services are provided to
each card user substantially wherever there is telephony
service. Further, the present invention provides
substantial flexibility in allowing a card user to
automatically and in real time (re~configure his/her
telephony services accessible through his/her telephony
service card. For example, a card user may configure the
~ 25 services for his/her card so that other users having an ID
number associated with his/her card number may enter the ID
number and the present invention will automatically place
a call to the telephony station designated by the card
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user. Additionally, the card user may, for example, change
languages used by the present invention in communicating
with the card user.
The present invention provides the above mentioned
advantages, as well as other advantages, using a novel
combination of telephony service card processing features.
In particular, the present invention maintains a
distributed network of service card processing nodes
wherein most of these nodes are intended to be "local"
nodes, with each such local node servicing card users
within a region ~UL ~ ding the local node. That is, each
such local node is connected to a local telephony service
provider so that card users within the local area may dial
a predetermined telephone number and access the telephony
~5 services of the present invention. Further, each such local
node maintains data on card users locally to facilitater
immediate access in fulfilling a local card user's re~uest.
Additionally, the present invention includes, within each
such local node, hardware, software and data for processing
user requests at the local node. Thus, each local node is
able to interact with a user by providing a menu driven
interface to the user and automatically initiating user
telephony service requests without the delay and expense of
communicating with a remote central processing node.
Accordingly, each local node includes the control logic for
configuring in real time both a telephony service control
processor and a related plurality of slave digital signal
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processors for interacting with an on-line user and
performing the user's request(s).
Other features and benefits of the present invention
will become apparent from the detailed description with the
~ 5 acco _anying figures contained hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. ~ presents a high level or global perspective of
the distributed telephony service card processing system of
the presen~ invention;
Figs. 2A and 2B present an overall view of the
functionality of the present invention by illustrating the
menu choices available to user's of the present invention;
Fig. 3 presents a high level schematic o~ a telephony
15service card processing unit 304 provided at a node 104,
wherein such nodes have a plurality of such service
processing units 304;
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the communications
between the components of a service processing unit 304
wherein greater detail is provided, in particular regarding
CPIJ 308;
Fig. 5 presents a block diagram showing the internal
components of one of the supervisory boards 328.
25DETATT~n DESCRIPTION
Fig. 1 illustrates the telephony service card
processing system of the present invention from a global
perspective. As shown, the present invention includes a
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globally distributed set of telephony service card
processing sites or nodes 104 and 106 with digital
telephony communication links or channels between the
nodes. Each node 104 services substantially "local" users
who have telephony service cards for accessing the present
invention. That is, when such a user (hereinafter denoted
a card user) uses his/her telephony service card to request
a telephony service, the service request is typically
routed to a node 104 that is relatively close to where the
user is when ~king the service request. Note that each
node 104 is configured, controlled and maintA i n~ through
communications received from one of the central or hub
nodes 106. However, substantially all telephony card
service requests to a node 104 can be processed without
requiring a real time remote access to a hub node 106.
Thus, in particular, each node 106 is capable of on-site
real time validation of a user's identity and of the user's
access to a requested service without requiring an Acc~fi
to a hub node 106 during the processing of the user's
request for service. For example, a card user in the area
108 may access the telephony card services of the present
invention via node 104c without this node 104c requiring an
immediate remote access of, for example, node 106a.
Further, if this same card user traveled to, for example,
a location in area 112, then this card user is provided
with substantially identical telephony card services via
node 104i, also without requiring an immediate access of a
node 106, when such a telephony service is requested.
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Figs. 2A-B present an overall view of the
functionality of the integrated telephony service ~ystem as
provided at each node of the present invention. In
particular, Figs. 2A-B describe the integrated combination
of services provided: (a) to a user having a telephony card
providing access to the services of the present invention;
and also (b) to some callers seeking to contact a card
user. Each block in Figs. 2A-B corresponds to an action or
prccess associated with the present invention for
fulfilling a telephony card service. Commencing the
description with the caller identification block 100, this
process performs, for example, the activities related to
detecting a user on a telephony line (equivalently channel)
and subsequently re~uesting information from the user for
verification of the services of the present invention that
the user i~ allowed to perform. In particular, a card user
(i.e., a user having a card number plus a personal
identification number (PIN) for identifying himself/herself
tv the integrated telephony service system of the present
invention), may access the followin~ services:
(1.1) ~oice and fax mail status information 108 wherein
a card user may be alerted to any voice and fax
~ail left for the card user;
(1O2) A process for presenting the main menu ~12 to a
~ard user so as to provide the card user with
options for telephony services that may be
requested by the card user. In the present
embodiment of the invention, the menu 112
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includes nine menu options from which the card
user may select by pressing the appropriately
corresponding number on a telephony station from
which a card holder is calling. These options
are:
(1.2.1) The card user presses a zero (but all
h~s used throughout can alternatively be
any designated key) on the telephony station
from which he/she is c~l 1 ing, to make a
domestic call in the country from which the
card user is calling;
(1.2.2) The card user presses a one for placing an
international call;
(1.2.3) The card user presses a two to redial the
; ~~iately previously dialed number;
(1.2.4) The card user presses a three for indicating
that a ring back capability is desired
wherein the present invention automatically
periodically redials a card user supplied
telephone number that is busy until a
connection is made, and, upon making the
connection, the card user is automatically
alerted at the telephony station to which
the card user has access;
(1.2.5) The card user presses a five to speed dial
a telephone number the card user has
previously entered;
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_g_
(1.2.6) The card user presses a seven for allocating
funds to prepay an amount on a telephony
calling card for which the card user may be
responsible;
~1.2.7) The card u er presses an eight for special
services including, for example, the
services corresponding to the options of the
special services menu 118 (described below);
(1.2.8) The card user presses a nine to access a
user configuration menu for modifying the
telephony services to which the user has
access via the present invention.
Note that the control flow arrows proc~e~;ng outwardly
from the main menu 112 are labeled with digits indicating
which control flow arrow should be followed when a given
number is pressed by the card user in response to a
presentation of the menu 112. Thus, for example, a process
122 for ~-k;ng an outbound call is performed when any one
of the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3 and 5 is pressed ~y the card
user. Similarly, process 126 for activating a menu related
to prepaying a calling card is activated when the card user
presses a seven. Additionally, when a user presses a nine,
a process is activated wherein a user configuration menu
130 of the telephony services to which the card user may
request access.
Regarding this special services option, when the card
user accesses the special services menu 118, the following
options are available:
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(2.1) The card user presses a zero to request help, for
example, with determining a telephone nu~ber for
a person or organization. The help desk process
134 accesses a dat~hARe associated with the
"local" node of the present invention relatively
close to the telephony station on which the card
user is calling. This database provides
sufficient information relating to the card user
so that for personalized services, such as
directory assistance for a particular area or in
a particular language, the present invention
automatically routes the card user's call to a
telephony site that can be responsive to the card
user's inquiries.
15 (2.2) The card user presses a one for user-to-user
telephony services. That is, for a first card
user to contact a second card user, the first
card user may input an identification (ID) number
for identifying the second card user. That is, if
the first card user receives an important ~essage
from the second card user, then the first card
user is able to ; -~;ately contact the second
card user without disconnecting from the card
service processing sys~em of the present
invention.
(2.3) The card user presses a two to access his/her
voice mail as is also discussed further herein
below.
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(2.4) ~he card user presses a three for ~cc~scing fax
mail services as is also be described further
herein below;
(2.5) The card user presses a four for accessing an
- 5 information services menu 144 such as services
that charge an additional amount or premium for
access. For example, "900" services for the most
recent sporting event scores or the weather. Note
that such premium services have typically been
accessible only in the country of origin since
bilateral billing agreements between
international telephone service providers have
~ot been established. However, with the network
of local nodes of the present invention, a card
user can use a node of the present invention that
is local to him/her to route a call to another
node of the present invention that is local to a
remote area of interest. Thus, the card user can
gain access to the premium services of the remote
area.
(2.6) The card user presses a five to activate
conference calling services via options on a
conference menu 146 (not shown).
(2.7) The card user presses a six to access virtual
private network (VPN) services wherein a card
user may automatically obtain access to a private
telephony network to which the card user has
previously been given access permission. Note
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that to provide this service, the present
invention stores, at one or more of the
distributed nodes of the pre~ent invention, a
correspondence between the card of the card user
and a routing description providing access to the
private telephony network.
(2.8) The card user presses a seven to access modem
services via modem menu 160 options. Note that
there are two additional aspects of the present
invention that are particularly useful in
providing this menu option. These aspects are:
(a) a Global Private Nu~ber Plan (GPNP) for
associating a single n h~ with both identifying
the destination of a call and also for
identifying how the call i5 to be xouted; and (b)
a least cost routing capability for dynamically
deteL i ni ng the least cost route for a call. By
combining the use of aspects (a) and (b) above
with the activation of the present menu option,
assume a card user is in a foreign country and
requests a call be placed to an associate in
his/her home country wherein the call is to be
routed via a VPN. By the card user entering a
single GP~P number previously established, the
present invention identifies a telephone number
for the associate and identifies the VPN over
which the call is to be routed. Further, by
activating the least cost routing capabilities of
-
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the present invention, a cost effective call
route will be used to connect the card user' 8
call to the VPN.
(209) The card user presses an eight to access
- 5 information regarding billing codes that the card
user may request to be established so that, for
example, the card user may enter such a billing
code when placing a call and thereby have the
charge for the call listed as correspo~;ng to
the entered billing code. Note that the card
user is provided with a number of options for
establ; ~h;ng billing codes. In a first option,
the card user enters a billing code whenever the
present invention is called. Alternatively, in
a second option, in order to provide a billing
code the card user must activate the billing code
menu option here. Note that it is an aspect of
the present invention that billing codes may be
changed and/or not used without the card user
disconnecting from the integrated telephony
service system of the present invention. For
example, to change billing codes between calls
initiated during a single on-line session with
the present invention, the card user terminates
- 25 a first call by pressing the star-key.
Subsequently, the card user activates the present
menu option for changing the billing code, and
then places a new call.
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A voice mail menu 168 and a fax mail menu 172 are also
accessible by the card user pressing the telephony station
digits 2 and 3, respectively, for accessing an integrated
voice and fax mail system 176. Note that each of the menus
5 168 and 172 allow the card user to perform a delivery of
voice or fax mail, a retrieval of voice or fax mail, or a
(re)configuration of voice or fax services.
Re~erring now to ~ig. 2B, further detail is provided
regarding the user configuration menu 130. In particular,
the following menu items are available to the card user:
(3.1) The card user presses a one to change his/her
personal identification number (PIN) that is
input to verify the identity of the card user;
~3.2) The card user presses a two to access the setup
speed dial menu 180 for allowing quick dialing of
frequently called numbers;
(3.3) The card user presses a three to select the
language in which the present invention
communicates with the card user (e.g., system
prompts and instructions for the card user). For
example, the card user may select any of fifty
languages presently supported for communication
with the present invention. Note that it is an
aspect of the present invention that the card
user may request and/or change the language in
which the present invention responds using this
menu option. Further, note that the present
invention recognizes certain predetermined
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language phrases that the card user may speak in
requesting certain telephony services. Thus, the
language selected here also applies to voice
~ ~llnication by the card user to the present
- 5 invention. For example, instead of pressing
certain digits at the card user's telephony
station, the card user can also request a
particular menu option by vocalizing the number
corresponding to the desired menu option.
10 (3.4) The card user presses a four to program the ring
back service provided in option three of menu
112. In particular, the following ring back
configurations are available via ring back menu
184:
(3.4.1) The card user presses a zero to access
services for inputting the length of time
the ring back service is to be activated for
a given telephone nl h~l- that the card user
calls and receives no answer. For example,
the card user may request that the ring back
service be activated for no more than one
hour from the time of the original call by
the card user.
(3.4.2) The card user presses a one to terminate the
ring back service that is currently active
for a telephone number the card user has
previously called using the ring back option
of the main menu 112.
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(3.4.3) The card user presses a two to access
services for programming or setting certain
predete~ ;ne~ parameters of the ring back
service. For example, the card user may
specify the frequency that the ring back
service is to use in attempting to contact
a person at the number called by the card
user via the ring back option of main menu
112;
(3.4.4) The card user presses a nine to return to
the main menu 112 to access additional
telephony services of the present invention.
Note that, as is illustrated in both Figs.
2A and 2B, substantially all telephony
services provided from the main menu 112
also allow the card user upon termination of
a requested service to return to the main
menu 112 for accessing additional services.
(3.5) The card user presses a five to ~loy r am various
features of the follow-me service. This service
allows a card user to be contacted by a caller(s)
at substantially any telephony station that the
card user has designated. In one embodiment, this
service is provided for each caller to which the
card user has given an ID number (and,
optionally, a PIN) that has been assigned to the
card user so that the caller can enter the
number(s) for contacting the card user using the
,
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follow-me service. Thus, the card user may
provide a first group of such ID numbers to
family members, a second group of such ID numbers
to business associates, and one or more ID
numbers in a third group may be distributed
substantially publicly. Accordingly, when one of
these ID ~,~ hers (and, optionally, a
corresponding personal identification number) is
input by a caller and the card user's follow-me
service is active, then the caller' 5 call
activates telephony network element capabilities
of the present invention wherein the telephony
station designated to be contacted via the
follow-me service is alerted. Subsequently, if
the card user activates this telephony station 60
that it is off-hook, then the present invention
may automatically provide the card user with an
identification of the caller (e.g., by providing
the card user with the ID number of the caller in
the card user's preferred language), thereby
allowing the card user to determine whether
he/she desires immediate contact with the cal~er
or whether the caller should be redirected to,
for example, the card user's voice mail. Thus,
the card user may travel from one city to another
city and, using the present invention, input a
telephony station number where the card user can
be contacted so that when the present invention
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receives a call from a caller requesting contact
with the card user, the call will be redirected
to the telephony station whose telephone number
the card user has most recently input into the
present invention as the telephony number to be
used in contacting the card user. Note that menu
188 and submenu 192 may be accessed by the card
user for setting and clearing options of the
follow-me service~ In particular, the following
options are available to the card user from menu
188:
(3.5.1) The card user presses a zero to ~ccess
follow-me service parameters related to how
long a duration this service should be
active and/or inactive;
(3.5.2) The card user presses a one to clear or
terminate the follow-me service. Note that
since the card user is provided with, for
example, ten ID numbers (and, optionally,
corresponding personal identification
numbers) the card user may distribute, among
callers to which the card user prefers, the
ability of these callers to be able to
contact the card user at the most recently
designated telephone number provided by the
card user. Thus, the card user may terminate
the follow-me service for one or more ID
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--19--
numbers without effecting the follow-me
service for other ID -- hers.
(3.5.3) The card user presses a two to ~oyl~m the
follow-me service according to the follow-me
- 5 menu 192. Referring now to the menu 192,
the following options are available to the
card userU
(3.5.3.1) The card user presses a zero to
configure the present invention so that
no system message is played. In
particular, this option allows the card
user to configure the follow-me service
so that (a) the caller does not receive
a system message indicating to the
caller that the follow-me service is
activated, and (b~ the card user is
co~nected directly to the caller
without a system message intervening
to, for example, identify the caller
2~ and/or verify that the card user is the
person on the line.
(3.5.3.2) The card user presses a one to
configure connect message features of
the follow-me service wherein: (a) at
2S least a first recorded message is
provided for one or more of the callers
using a follow-me ID number for
contacting the card user ; and/or (b)
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one or more messages may be provided
for presentation to the card user when
a corresponding f o 1 1 o w - m e
identification number is provided by a
caller attempting to contact the card
user.
(3.5.3.3) The card user presses a two to
configure the follow-me service of the
present invention so that a further
telephone extension number is
automatically dialed by the present
invention in order to properly route
the follow-me caller's call.
(3.5.3.4~ The card user presses a three to
configure the present invention so that
when the telephony station designated
by the card user as the follow-me
destination goes off-hook, a message is
automatically played by the present
invention to the person at the
destination station for reguesting that
the call, in turn, be transferred to an
extension also provided in the message.
Note that this feature of the follow-me
service is particularly useful when the
card user cannot be called directly
but, instead, any incoming calls to the
card user are intercepted by an
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operator such as at a hotel or
hospital. Thus, when a swit~-hhoA~d
operator receives such a follow-me
call, the present invention
~ 5 automatically presents the operator
with a message requesting that the
operator transfer the follow-me call to
an extension or room number as provided
previously by the card user via the
present follow-me menu configuration
option.
~3.5.3.5) The card user presses a four for
configuring the present invention to
automatically dial, once the follow-me
designated telephony station goes off-
hook, an additional extension set
previously by the card user in the
present follow-me menu option.
(3.5.3.6) The card user presses a nine to return
to the main menu 112.
(3.5.4) Continuing now with the last option of menu
188, the card user presses a nine to return
to the main menu 112;
(3.6) Continuing now with the sixth option of menu 130,
- 25 the card user presses a six to programmatically
set personal identification numbers for one or
more of the follow-me ID numbers using the ID
security code menu controller 196. Referring now
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-22-
to the menu controller ~96, there are two service
configuration options available:
~3.6.1) ~he card user presses a zero to set a
personal identification number (PIN) for one
or more of the follow-me ID numbers provided
to callers.
(3.6.2) The card user presses a one to verify the
personal identification numbers for any of
the follow-me ID numbers to which the card
user has set a personal identification
nu~her .
A caller attemptin~ to access a card user subscribing
to the services of the present invention may contact the
card user using an assigned conventional public telephone
network telephone number for the geographic area or country
the card user desires. Thus, this assigned telephone number
i5 the number to which callers are routed as a default if
no follow-me telephone number has been designated for
contacting the card user. Alternatively, as indicated in
the discussion of the follow-me service above, some callers
may use a follow-me identification l h.~.~ as input to the
present invention in order to contact the card user
corresponding to the follow-me identification n~ h.~.~
entered by the caller. Regardless of the manner in which
the caller attempts to contact the card user via the
present invention, if the card user is unavailable, then
the caller may have access to the options provided by the
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--23--
mail delivery menu 200. ~eferring to the mail delivery
menu 200, t:he following options are available to a caller:
~4.1) ~he caller presses a zero to activate the process
204 wherein the caller may make an outbound call
and have it billed to the card user. Note that
~his option is only available to callers to which
the card user has provided an ID number that
allows access to this service.
(4.2) The caller presses a two to request that a
following facsimile mail message be delivered to
the card user.
(4.3) The caller may be provided with a delivery status
~elated to the delivery of a voice mail or a fax
mail. This menu option may be available only to
callers having an ID number correspo~;ng to the
user's card and wherein the ID number has been
selected by the card user to have access to this
menu option.
Note that, at least on options one and two for the
mail delivery menu controller 200, voice and fax mail
system 176 is access~ for delivering the mail messages
input by the caller.
In addition to the above services, the present
invention offers significant flexibility and advantages
related to the storage and use of information describing
the telephony services provided to a telephony card user.
In particular, the present invention provides the card user
with increased flexibility in terms of defining the
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services accessible by a telephony service card. Further,
this increased flexibility is provided without a
corresponding increase in database storage regarding the
number and size of database records. That is, the database
schemes used for storing and retrieving card user telephony
service information are very parsimonious regarding their
utilization of secondary storage such as hard disk space.
Note that such conservation is particularly important in
the present invention, since there may be duplicate copies
lo of card user data, distributed among various system nodes
of the present invention, for describing the telephony
services available to a card user.
In one implementation of the present invention,
telephony card services or functions provided to a card
user are stored within the present invention using object
oriented t~chniques. That is, an object oriented schema is
provided for the storage of telephony service information
related to each telephony service card provided to a card
user. Such an object oriented database structure allows
the factoring out of identical data fields across a large
nll~her of, for example, telephony service card description
records by using object oriented data and function
inheritance t~chn; ques related to hierarchically organized
object classifications (i.e. object classes~. Further, the
present invention also provides for the overriding or
replacement of record values and functions that would
otherwise be inherited from object oriented inheritance
classes.
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Thus, an object oriented telephony service class
hierarchy is provided for representing typical card user
collections of services. Accordingly, it is common to
provide a ranges of telephony service card numbers with a
given default set of telephony services. Thus, the data
descriptions for many fields of these cards are identical.
For example, one particular range of card numbers may be
targeted for potential card users in Germany. Since it is
likely that most users of such cards prefer system
lo responses in German, as well as their bills itemized in
denominations of German marks, at least these two fields
can be factored out of most card user description records
(i.e. objects3 and stored in a commonly accessible area.
In conjunction with the object oriented datAhA~
schemes, the present invention provides substantial
flexibility for customizing a card user's services in a
cost effective manner. In particular, the present
invention provides the following t~r-hn; ques for modifying
and securing the telephony services associated with a
telephony service card wherein the card has certain default
services and attributes automatically attached to it:
(5.1) Black list: In this t~ch~;que, some of the
standard or default services provided to a card
user, due to the card range within which the card
user's card number is contA; ne~, are marked so
that these services remain inactive. Thus, in
this t~r-hn;que, for each card, the card data and
functionality that is different from the default
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services is stored in a card services description
object specific to the card.
(5.2) Positive list: In this te~hn;~ue, a card user
may request that his/her card be capable of
accessing services beyond those services that are
provided as st~n~d services for the card number
range in which the user's card number is
contained. Thus, for each card, the card services
description object specific to the card is stored
in the database(s) of the present invention for
describing the services accessible by the card
user that are in addition to the default
services.
(5.3) Crypto: This t~chn;~ue provides an added measure
of security in that any personal identification
numberfi (PINs~ related to a telephony card for
accessing the services of the present invention
are stored in da~h~c~c for the present invention
(e.g., databases residing on hard disks 348 of
Fig. 4 described hereinbelow) in an encrypted
form, thereby inhibiting the theft of such PINs.
Thus, each encrypted PIN related to a card for
the present invention is decrypted in real time
at a local node. The decrypted PIN is then
compared with a PIN entered by a user as part of
a user identification and validation process.
(5.4) Full Custom: This t~ch~;~ue allows for a fully
customized telephony service card to be created
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for a user. Such a custom card is described by a
card services description object having ~nco~;n~s
that both override the default services
descriptions for the card range within which the
users card is contained as well as provide
descriptions of additional services.
A feature of the present invention that is related to
the flexibility of the assigning or associating telephony
services with a service card is the Open Language
lo Assignment capability of the present invention. This
feature allows a telephony service card to be issued to a
user without a preferred user language being specified.
When this occurs, during the first activation of telephony
services using such a card, the present invention requests
the user to choose a preferred language that is to be used
in all further system reSponC~e. Note that this feature is
particularly useful for third party telephony service card
providers that transition to using the present invention
with an existing clientele of telephony card users. That
is, if the card users from this existing clientele include
speakers of a ~,~ her of languages, then il.L~o.luctory
greetings on first activation of the present invention by
each of these card users may be in each of these languages,
requesting that the card user indicate the language of
choice for subsequent system responses. Note that since
this is an automatic procedure involving only the card
users, there is a substantial cost savings over other
language data gathering tPchn~ques wherein there are one or
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more manual operations, such as mailing user reguest forms
and/or manually updating system datAhA~c.
The present invention may also provide other services
that are substantially defined upon activation of a
telephony service card for the present invention. In
particular, the present invention supports a "call me"
service wherein a card user purchases or becomes
financially obligated for a telephony service card and the
card is programmed 80 that, for example, only certain
lo telephone numbers can be dialed using the card. Thus, once
the card purchaser or user has specified the one or more
telephone numbers accessible with the telephony service
card, the card may be given to another person so that this
other person can freely call the pre~G~Lammed telephone
numbers accessible with the service card. For example, such
a card may be purchased by a parent and ~ G~L ammed with
his/her own telephone nll~h~ so that when the card is given
to their child, the child may use the card to call the
parent without the parent being concerned about incurring
substantial billing costs for calls other than to the
parent.
In the present embodiment, three variations of the
"call me" service are provided:
(6.1) Single predefined call forwarding number: This
aspect of the "call me" service allows a card
user (e.g. card purchaser) to purchase a
telephony service card that is pre-~LGyLammed
with a single telephone number so that the speed
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dialling of this number is substantially the only
cervice available to the card user.
(6.2) Multi predefined forwarding numbers: This aspect
of the call me service is similar to the
capability of (6.1) except that a plurality of
telephone numbers are pre-programmed for the
card.
(6.3) User defined "call me" forwarding number(s): This
aspect of the call me service allows a card user
~r purchaser to program the service card. For
example, upon initial activation of the card
using the present invention, the card user may
define a single telephone number which will be
speed dialed upon subsequent activations of the
card's telephony services. In a Feco~
embodiment, the card may be ~oylammed to speed
dial a telephone number related to a menu of
telephone numbers input, for example, by the card
purch~s~r. That is, upon initial activation of
the card, the card user enters the telephone
numbers desired to be accessible with the card.
Note that to provide this capability, upon
initial activation, the card user te.g.
purchaser) must not only supply the plurality of
telephone numbers to be subsequently accessible
with the card, but also the card user supplies a
description or indication of whom it is that is
being contacted at each of the plurality of
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telephone numbers accessible by the card. Note
~hat such descriptions are recorded by the
present invention automatically. Subsequently,
when the card is used to dial one of these
numbers, a menu of the recorded options is
provided to a card user, thereby allowing the
card user to select any of the menu options for
speed dialing.
In addition to the parent-child ~nArio dis~cff~A
above, such "call me" telephony service cards may be
particularly useful for companies for providing certain
customers or potential customers with A Cc~S5 to certain
r p~ny capabilities without explicitly providing the
company telephone number(s) being called. Further, since
such cards can be prepaid providing a fixed amount of
~ervice call time, such cards can be included in various
product packages 80 that the purc~ e~ of such a package
may freely call, for example, a product service
representative a predetermined of times or for a
predetermined total length of time.
The services provided by the present invention and as
described in Figs. 2A and 2B are performed substantially by
service processing units 304 as shown in Fig. 3. More
precisely a node 104 of the present invention includes a
plurality of local networked service processing units 304
provided within a common rack or frame. In one embodiment
of the present invention, a rack for eight service
processing units 304 are stacked and connected together.
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Further, the racks of these service processing units 304
are distributed so that substantially all service requests
by a card user or a caller to a card user are provided by
a rack of service processing units 304 residing in the
territory of and connected directly to the local public
telephony service provider to which the card user has
access. For example, such a rack may reside as a module
within a telephony service provider central office. Thus,
the present invention provides a networked telephony card
service system. Also, there may be one or more centralized
nodes within this card service system for administrative
purposes and system monitoring as well as fault diagnosis.
~owever, i1: is an aspect of the present invention that most
calling card services are handled exclusively by one or
more service processing units 304 within racks distributed
among local telephony service providers. That is, the
centralized calling card service ad~inistrative nodes are
typically not ar~ by the distributed service
processing units 304 residing at, for example, sites of
local telephony service providers when calling card
services such as those illustrated in Figs. 2A and 2B are
performed.
Referring now to the hardware components of service
processing unit 304 as schematically presented in Fig. 3,
the service processing unit includes a CPU 308 upon which
the high level control processes of the service processing
unit 304 execute. Connected to CPU 308 via PCI-bus 312 is
a multiple~ing input-output unit 316 which communicates via
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an RS232 communication chAn~el with a potentially remotely
located processing system (not shown) for monitoring and
hAn~ling, for example, alarms. Note, that the remotely
located processing system may be at one of the centralized
nodes discussed above. In this case the communications are
provided using the X.25 protocol.
Note that there is a plurality of hardware units is
connected by an ISA-bus 320 to the CPU 308, in particular,
hardware units 324, 328, 336, 340 and 344. A first set of
lo the hardware units connected by the ISA-bus 320 to the CPU
308 are the digital network interface devices 324, labeled
in Fig. 3 as E1/Tl ISDN. Note that each one of these
devices may be a single card inserted within a common rack
(not shown). Further note that each of t~e other hardware
units as shown in Fig. 3 may also be cards inserted into
the same rack as these digital network interface devices.
Eaah digital network interface card 324 is able to
simultaneously process a plurality of digital telephony
signal channel~ (equivalently lines) wherein each such line
2~ is allocated to communicate telephony signals for a single
conversation. Each of the digital network interface devices
324 has two El connections 322 to the telephony network of,
~or example, the local telephony service provider. Note
that each connection 322 may simultaneously carry 30 lines.
Thus, since there are four network interface devices 324
per service processing unit 324, a total of 240
simultaneous lines (equaling the capacity of 120 card users
having non-blocking service) may be processed by the
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network interface devices. Note that the digital network
interface devices 324 are commercially available through,
for example, ACULAB, Ltd., Aculab House, Old Road, Leighton
Buzzard, Beds, ~U7 TRG Bedforshire, UK.
- 5 The ISA-bus 320 iS also connected to a plurality of
supervisory boards 328 for interacting with a user
according to the menus and functions of Figs. 2 and
additionally initiating the performance of any service
requests specified. In one embodiment of the present
invention there are eight supervisory boards 328. Each
such supervisory board 328 fits into a slot of the rack
mentioned above for the present invention. Further, each
of the supervisory boards 328 includes a plurality of
processing units (i.e., CPUs) for controlling and
performing the telephony card services of Figs. 2A and 2B.
For example, each such board is capable of simultaneously
processing communications on 64 (half duplex or 32 full
duplex) lines. Furthermore, each of the supervisory boards
328 dynamically loads and unloads in real time programs and
data required to perform the telephony card services of
Figs. 2. Thus, the local processing of the digital
telephony signals in performing the telephony card services
provides a significant user response advantage over systems
providing card services where a large proportion of the
card services are performed at a remote central site. Also
note that the supervisory boards 328 and the digital
network interface devices 324 c ul~icate service request
information with one another through digital signal
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processing channels on the MVIP bus 332. Note that the
MVIP bus 332 is used in communications between various
other hardware units also. It is important to note that
since the present invention is designed to be ~ n~;-hle
fox providing both higher capacity (i.e., capable of
servicing a greater number of service requests), and also
for providing additional services as the need for such
additional services becomes apparent. Thus, it is an
important aspect of the present invention that the
lo communication between the hardware units is substantially
compatible. Accordingly, the DSP c~nn~ls on the MVIP bus
332 and their interfaces to the hardware units communicate
in a telephony stAn~Ardized protocol su~po,Led by a large
number of telephony system vendors. In particular, the DSP
channels transmit data between the hardware units using the
Multiple Vendor Interface Protocol (MVIP). Further note
that providing such a st~n~A~dized protocol for
communication assists in providing an open systems approach
to the architecture of the present invention wherein, for
example, additional telephony card services may be
straightforwardly integrated into the present invention by
third parties such as value added resellers.
Additional hardware units connected to both the ISA-
bus 320 and the MVIP bus 332 may be also included in the
present invention. For example, a conference bridge card
may be included for supplying simultaneous communications
between three or more users having access to the te~ephony
card services of the present invention. Further, a digital
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signal processing compression card 340 may be supplied for
co~pressing telephony signals. Note that such compression
i8 particularly cost effective when the signals are to be
transferred over a long distance connection and ~ignal
- 5 traffic is near or above capacity of the connection.
Further, a multichassis card 344 may be supplied to switch
service re~uests service processing units 304 within the
sane rack thereby, for example, hAlAncing signal traffic
loads between the unit 304 within the rack. Returning now
to connections of the PCI-bus 312, note that a data storage
device 348, denoted in Fig. 3 as a hard disk, is attached
to the PCI-bus 312 for storing and supplying both data and
telephony card service programs to the CPU 308 as well as
the hardware units connected to the CPU 308 by the ISA-bus
15 320. In particular, the hard disk 348 is acces~ed by these
hardware units substantially under the control of CPU 308.
The PCI-bus 312 also connects to a local area network
(LAN) 352. The LAN 352 provides local area networking
capabilities for connecting, for example, a plurality of
rac~s of the service processing unit 304.
Referring now to Fig. 4, this figure provides further
det:ail regarding the procecs~C and servers that execute on
CPU 308. That is, Fig. 4 illustrates how these servers
c_ ln;cate with one another in CPU 308 and how they
c_ ;cate with other components previously described in
Fi~. 3. In particular, there are four software systems
executing on CPU 308 and represented as circles wherein
arrows connecting the circles and connecting to buses 312
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and 320 illustrate the major commu~ication paths and
directions that occur during operation.
When a new card service request is received by a
digital network interface device 324 on a connection 322,
the digital network interface device alerts the network
call control server 408 via ISA-bus 320. The network call
control server 408 determines the resources needed to
process the request and sends a request to the resource
manager 416 for allocation of the needed resources to
perform the request. In particular, a request i5 made that
the resource manager 416 allocate a DSP channel on the MVIP
bus 332 for communication of service request information
between, for example, the digital network interface device
324 and one of the supervisory boards 328. Thus, the
resource manager 416 schedules an allocation of processing
capacities on a supervisory board 328, and a DSP channel on
the MVIP bus 332 between the digit network interface device
324 and the allocated supervisory board 328. Subsequently,
the resource manager 416 communicates these allocations on
the ISA-bus 320 so that both the network interface device
324 and the allocated supervisory board 328 are provided
with the allocations. More precisely, the resource manager
416 sends one or more allocation messages to the file
server 420 and the file server 420 outputs these messages
to the ISA-bus 320 for delivery to digital network
interface device 324 and the supervisory board 328 to be
used in processing the service request.
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It is also important to note that the downloading and
storing of information related to telephony card service
re~uests is substantially provided by c~ n; cations
through the UNIX operating system 424 and the file server
420. That is, substantially all communications for
downloadi~g information from the hard disk 348 to a
supervisory board 328, and uploading information from a
supervisory board 328 to the hard disk 348 is accomplished
by transferring the information between the UNIX operating
system 424 and the file server 420.
Fig. 5 presents a block diagram showing the internals
of one of the supervisory boards 328. The block diagram of
this figure further includes the primary data and program
flows between components within the supervisory board 328.
However, it should be noted that in order to present some
of the flows more clearly, the dual port interface
component (DP) 508 has been duplicated three times to more
clearly illustrate its involvement in various
co n; cations within the supervisory boards 328. Further
note that the dual port 508 serves as an interface
component between both other components of the s~pervisory
ard 328 as well as being an interface to the ISA-bus 320.
The dual port 508 ç- ln;cates with the 186/EC CPU
516. The CPU 516 determines the destinations of programs
a~d data obtained from a database residing on the hard disk
348. Accordingly, 186/EC CPU 516 executes programs for
routing information to and from the hard disk 348. Thus,
the CPU 516 is provided with resident programs that, for
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example, may request programs and data for other components
of the supervisory board 328 when the supervisory board is
bootstrapped into operation.
The CPU 516 communicates with (7810) CPU 520. The CPU
S2Q performs much of the menu control and user interaction
functionalit~ described in relation to Figs. 2A and 2B.
That is, CPU 520 may be considered an application processor
for processing telephony card service requests. Thus, CPU
520 determines the menus to be presented to a user of the
present invention as well as configuring or instructing
other components of the supervisory board to output and/or
detect telephony signals related to a service reguest being
processed.
The CPU 516 also communicates through the dual port
508 to four digital signal processors (DSP) 524. The DSPs
524 process the telephony digital signals received by the
E1/Tl ISDN components 324. The DSPs 524 receive the digital
signals from lines of the MVIP bus 332 via a MVIP interface
532 and a switch matrix 528 described herein below.
Further, DSPs 524 also output responsive telephony digital
signals substantially according to the direction of the CPU
520. Note that such o~L~uL digital signals are supplied to
lines of the MV~P bus 332 via first the switch matrix 528
and then the MVIP interface 532.
The programs and data used by each of the DSPs 524 is
downloaded as needed in real time from the database
residing on the hard disk 348. Thus, programs and data are
downloaded for the following tasks:
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(7.1) Detecting telephony signal frequencies indicative
of various modes of operation such as on-hook and
off-hoo~;
(7.2) Detecting and decoding digits entered by a user;
- 5 (7.3) c~n~;~g data to the CPU 520 via the dual port 508
and the CPU 516.
In general, each DSP 524 is capable of detecting and
translating telephony digital signal data into more
conventional data processing formats such as ASCII.
Further, it is worthwhile to mention that each DSP 524 can
simultaneously process (i.e., detect and/or output)
information communicated on 16 lines from connections 322
via lines of the MVIP bus 332.
The CPU 516 also cn~m~ln;cates with a switch matrix
528. The switch matrix 528 i8 provided with switching
information from the resource manager 416 via CPU 516. The
switching information provided determines which lines from
the MVIP bus 332 are to be in signal communication with a
particular DSP 524. Note that there are 512 half duplex
lines (i.e., channels), or, equivalently 256 full duplex
lines entering the switch matrix 528 from a MVIP interface
532 that, in turn, interfaces with the same number of
corresponding lines in the MVIP-bus 332. Thus, the switch
matrix 528 determines the lines that are in signal
co- ~;cation with each DSP 524.
To commence processing telephony card service
requests, the CPU 516 provides a request for programs and
data to boot up the CPU 520 and each DSP 524. Each request
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from the CPU 516 is routed via ISA-bus 320 to the file
server 420 and subsequently to the UNIX operating system
424 wherein a request is made via PCI-bus 312 to the hard
disk 348 for the boot ~ GyLams and data. Subsequently, the
data from the hard disk 348 flows in a reverse direction
through the UNIX operating system 424 and subsequently the
file server 420 for eventual receipt by the CPU 516 that,
in turn, downloads the appropriate portions of this
information into the CPU 520 and each DSP 524.
Subsequently, the CPU 520 and each DSP 524 returns status
information to the CPU 516 that is thereby communicated to
the resource manager 416. Upon receipt by the resource
manager 416 of status information indicating the currently
active CPUs 520 and DSPs 524, the resource manager
commences to schedule service requests received from the
network call control 408 so that these requests are
processed by a CPU 520 and an DSP 524 on the same
supervisory board 328.
In operation, note that the processing performed by
each of the supervisory boards 328 is data driven via data
from the datAhA~ on hard disk 348. That is, the
executable program elements loaded into CPUs 520 from the
hard disk 348 are substantially generic in that this same
generic program can be used for directing the user
interactions related to substantially unlimited service
request on sixteen channels. Thus, for example, when a CPU
520 receives a menu response from a DSP 524, the CPU 520
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accesses a corresponding resident data table entry and
depending on the entry may:
(8O1~ Provide this DSP 524 with data to transmit to the
user (e.g., further menu options);
(8.2) Instruct this DSP 524 or another DSP 524 to route
the user's request to another node of the
integrated telephony service system of the
present invention;
(8.3) Request information from the user;
(8. 4) Request a DSP 524 to dial out on another line for
obt~;~;ng user requested information; and
(8.5) Request a DSP 524 to enter a "record" mode
wherein received information, via MVIP bus 332,
is ouL~uL (e.g., card user information) to the
hard dis3c 348 via CPU 516, DP 508, ISA 320 and
the CPU 308.
Note, however, that in some instances before the CPU 520
determines the next step to perform according to the data
in a resident data table, the CPU 520 may require further
data tables to be loaded from the hard disk 348. In such
a case, the CPU 520 provides a request to the CPU 516 for
the additional data and the data is requested and retrieved
from the hard disk 348 as herein above discussed.
For each of the above outputs from the CPU 520 for
directing the processing of a service request, the CPU 520
may also request program elements and/or data tables to be
downloaded from the hard disk 348 to a DSP 524 SO that the
next step in processing the service request can be
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performed by this DSP 524. It is an aspect of the present
invention that for substantially all service request
processing done by a DSP 524 that there are generic program
elements loaded at boot time that can continue processing
the service request for subsequent steps by providing the
DSP S24 with different data from the hard disk 348. That
is, each DSP 524 i8 substantially data driven. However,
for certain service requests, new ~r Oyr ~ elements may be
downloaded from the hard disk 348 to one or more DSP 524.
In particular, there is a service request requiring the
transfer of modem generated data, a set of different
program elements are downloaded from the hard disk 348.
The foregoing discussion of the invention has been
presented for purposes of illustration and description.
Further, the description is not int~n~ to limit the
invention to the form disclosed herein. Consequently,
variation and modification ~ e~curate with the above
teachings, within the skill and knowledge of the relevant
art, are within the scope of the present invention. The
embodiment described her~inAhove is further int~e~ to
explain the best mode presently known of practicing the
invention and to enable other skilled in the art to utilize
the invention as such, or other embodiments, and with the
various modifications required by their particular
application or uses of the invention. It is intended that
the appended claims be construed to include alternative
embodiments to the extent permitted by the prior art.
