Service package application and a service activation manager for use with a service control point in an advanced intelligent network

Abstract

A service package application program employing a service activation manager for use with a service control point in an advanced intelligent network is disclosed. The service package application program is employed to provide multiple services to subscribing users. The services are implemented by one or more decision graph nodes stored as a plurality of independent functional blocks. The services are defined by logic maps specifying logically ordered combinations of the decision graph nodes. The service activation manager includes: a subscriber identifier in communication with a subscriber database; a service identifier in communication with a trigger database; an active services list compiler; and a service manager. The subscriber identifier identifies a user associated with a phone call from a received query event message, and cooperates with a subscriber database to develop a subscription services list of phone call services subscribed to by the identified user. The service identifier accesses the trigger database to identify a mapped services list of phone call services mapped to the query event message. The active services list compiler cooperates with the subscriber identifier and with the service identifier to develop an active services list containing the phone call services present in both the subscription services list and the mapped services list. The service manager cooperates with the active services list compiler for sequentially executing the phone call services contained in the active services list.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . For use with a service control point in an advanced intelligent network, a service package application for processing phone calls comprising: 
 a first database storing a plurality of decision graph nodes, each decision graph node comprising a routine for performing at least one predefined function;    a first logic map identifying a first logically ordered combination of the decision graph nodes stored in the first database for processing a phone call in a first predefined manner, wherein executing at least a subset of the decision graph nodes in the first logically ordered combination performs a first phone call service;    a second logic map identifying a second logically ordered combination of the decision graph nodes stored in the first database for processing a phone call in a second predefined manner, the second predefmned manner being different from the first predefined manner, wherein executing at least a subset of the decision graph nodes in the second logically ordered combination performs a second phone call service, the second phone call service being different from the first phone call service;    a second database storing the first and second logic maps; and    a service activation manager in communication with the first and second databases, the service activation manager being responsive to phone calls requiring processing in accordance with the first phone call service to retrieve the first logic map from the second database and to retrieve at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the first logic map from the first database, and being responsive to phone calls requiring processing in accordance with the second phone call service to retrieve the second logic map from the second database and to retrieve at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the second logic map from the first database.    
     
     
         2 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  wherein the decision graph nodes identified in the first logically ordered combination are mutually exclusive of the decision graph nodes identified in the second logically ordered combination.  
     
     
         3 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  wherein at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the first logically ordered combination is the same as at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the second logically ordered combination.  
     
     
         4 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  wherein, if the decision graph nodes retrieved by the service activation manager are retrieved in accordance with the first logic map, the decision graph nodes are executed in the order specified by the first logic map.  
     
     
         5 . A service package application as defined in  claim 4  wherein at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the first logically ordered combination is the same as at least one of the decision graph nodes identified in the second logically ordered combination, and wherein, if the decision graph nodes retrieved by the service activation manager are retrieved in accordance with the second logic map, the decision graph nodes are executed in the order specified by the second logic map.  
     
     
         6 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  further comprising a table identifying services subscribed to by users.  
     
     
         7 . A service package application as defined in  claim 6  wherein the first service is identified in the table by a pathname to the first logic map stored in the second database.  
     
     
         8 . A service package application as defined in  claim 6  wherein the services subscribed to by the user are identified in a hexadecimal bit map field in the table.  
     
     
         9 . A service package application as defined in  claim 8  wherein the hexadecimal bit map field maps a hexadecimal character to four predefined services, and the subscription status of the four predefined services are determined by converting the hexadecimal character into a four bit binary number.  
     
     
         10 . A service package application as defined in  claim 9  wherein the value of each bit in the binary number indicates whether a corresponding phone call service has been subscriber to by the user.  
     
     
         11 . A service package application as defined in  claim 9  wherein a first bit position in the binary number is associated with the first phone call service, a second bit position in the binary number is associated with the second phone call service, a third bit position in the binary number is associated with a third phone call service, and a fourth bit position in the binary number is associated with a fourth phone call service.  
     
     
         12 . A service package application as defined in  claim 11  wherein the value of the first bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the first phone call service, the value of the second bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the second phone call service, the value of the third bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the third phone call service, and the value of the fourth bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the fourth phone call service.  
     
     
         13 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  further comprising a service specification table mapping a representation of the first phone call service to a pathname to the first logic map and mapping a representation of the second phone call service to a pathname to the second logic map.  
     
     
         14 . A service package application as defined in  claim 13  wherein the service specification table includes an active status field associated with the first phone call service, the active status field having a first programmable state wherein the first phone call service is activated for subscribing users and a second programmable state wherein the first phone call service is deactivated.  
     
     
         15 . A service package application as defined in  claim 14  wherein the first phone call service can be deactivated for all users by setting the active status field to the second programmable state.  
     
     
         16 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  wherein a third phone call service can be added to the service control point by storing a third logic map in the second database, the third logic map identifying a third logically ordered combination of the decision graph nodes stored in the first database for processing a phone call in a third predefined manner, the third predefined manner being different from the first and second predefined manners, wherein executing at least a subset of the decision graph nodes in the third logically ordered combination is required to perform the third phone call service, the third phone call service being different from the first and the second phone call services.  
     
     
         17 . A service package application as defined in  claim 16  further comprising a first table identifying services subscribed to by users, wherein the third phone call service is added by listing a first representation of the third phone call service in the first table for users subscribing to the third phone call service.  
     
     
         18 . A service package application as defined in  claim 17  further comprising a second table mapping query events to the phone call services, wherein, when the third phone call service is added, a second representation of the third phone call service is added to the second table in at least one position to map at least one query event to the third phone call service.  
     
     
         19 . A service package application as defined in  claim 18  wherein the second representation of the third phone call event comprises a pathname to the third logic map stored in the second database.  
     
     
         20 . A service package application as defined in  claim 18  further comprising a third table mapping a representation of the first phone call service to a pathname to the first logic map and mapping a representation of the second phone call service to a pathname to the second logic map, wherein, when the third phone call service is added, the second representation of the third phone call service and a pathname mapping the second representation to the third logic map is added to the third table.  
     
     
         21 . A service package application as defined in  claim 18  wherein the third phone call service is mapped to a pre-existing query event without adding system sub-numbers to the advanced intelligent network.  
     
     
         22 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  further comprising a table mapping query events to the first and second phone call services.  
     
     
         23 . A service package application as defined in  claim 22  wherein a first query event maps to the first phone call service.  
     
     
         24 . A service package application as defined in  claim 22  wherein a first query event maps to the first and the second phone call services.  
     
     
         25 . A service package application as defined in  claim 24  further comprising a second table identifying services subscribed to by users, wherein the service activation manager determines whether to retrieve the first logic map, the second logic map, or both, by addressing the second table.  
     
     
         26 . A service package application as defined in  claim 1  wherein the service activation manager responds to phone calls requiring processing in accordance with the first phone call service by sequentially executing the decision graph nodes retrieved from the first database in the order specified in the first logically ordered combination.  
     
     
         27 . A service package application as defined in  claim 26  wherein the service activation manager responds to phone calls requiring processing in accordance with the second phone call service by sequentially executing the decision graph nodes retrieved from the first database in the order specified in the second logically ordered combination.  
     
     
         28 . For use with a service control point in an advanced intelligent network, a service activation manager comprising: 
 a subscriber identifier in communication with a subscriber database, the subscriber identifier identifying a user associated with a phone call from a query event message developed by the advanced intelligent network, the subscriber identifier cooperating with the subscriber database to develop a subscription services list of phone call services subscribed to by the identified user;    a service identifier in communication with a trigger database, the service identifier accessing the trigger database to identify a mapped services list of phone call services mapped to the query event message;    an active services list compiler cooperating with the subscriber identifier and with the service identifier to develop an active services list containing the phone call services present in both the subscription services list and the mapped services list; and    a service manager cooperating with the active services list compiler for sequentially executing the phone call services contained in the active services list.    
     
     
         29 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein, if the user is not identified in a routing table stored in the subscriber database and the user is a called party, the service manager executes a predefined service.  
     
     
         30 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 29  wherein the predefined service is a caller identification service wherein the identity of a calling party associated with the phone call is delivered to the called party.  
     
     
         31 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein users are identified in the subscriber database by phone number.  
     
     
         32 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein the subscriber database includes an identification of a local exchange carrier associated with the user.  
     
     
         33 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 32  further comprising a history recorder cooperating with the subscriber identifier and the active services list compiler to store a representation of the services delivered to the user in association with a stored representation of the local exchange carrier identified in the subscriber database as being associated with the user.  
     
     
         34 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  further comprising a history recorder cooperating with the active services list compiler to develop a record of the number of times each of the phone call services is accessed over a predefined time period to provide usage data.  
     
     
         35 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein, if the user is not identified in the subscriber database and the user is a calling party, the subscriber identifier stores a default subscriber representation in the subscription services list.  
     
     
         36 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 35  wherein, if the default subscriber representation is present in the subscription services list, the active services list compiler stores a representation of a default service associated with the query event message in the active services list.  
     
     
         37 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 36  wherein the default service associated with the query event message is implemented by executing at least one decision graph node.  
     
     
         38 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein, if the telephone call services present in the subscription services list are mutually exclusive of the telephone call services present in the mapped services list, the active services list compiler stores a default service associated with the query event message in the active services list.  
     
     
         39 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 38  wherein the default service associated with the query event message is implemented by executing at least one decision graph node.  
     
     
         40 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein the subscriber database records the phone call services subscribed to by the user as a series of hexadecimal characters, wherein each hexadecimal character represents the subscription status of four predefined phone call services.  
     
     
         41 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein the phone call services subscribed to by the user are identified in a hexadecimal bit map field in the subscriber database.  
     
     
         42 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 41  wherein the hexadecimal bit map field maps a hexadecimal character to four predefined services, and the subscription status of the four predefined services are determined by converting the hexadecimal character into a four bit binary number.  
     
     
         43 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 42  wherein the value of each bit in the binary number indicates whether a corresponding phone call service has been subscriber to by the user.  
     
     
         44 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 42  wherein a first bit position in the binary number is associated with a first predefined phone call service, a second bit position in the binary number is associated with a second predefined phone call service, a third bit position in the binary number is associated with a third predefined phone call service, and a fourth bit position in the binary number is associated with a fourth predefined phone call service.  
     
     
         45 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 44  wherein the value of the first bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the first phone call service, the value of the second bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the second phone call service, the value of the third bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the third phone call service, and the value of the fourth bit indicates whether the user has subscriber to the fourth phone call service.  
     
     
         46 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  further comprising a service specification table mapping a representation of a first phone call service to a pathname to a first logic map associated with the first phone call service.  
     
     
         47 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 46  wherein the service manager cooperates with a decision graph node database storing a plurality of decision graph nodes, each decision graph node comprising a routine for performing at least one predefined function; and wherein the first logic map identifies a first logically ordered combination of the decision graph nodes stored in the decision graph node database for processing a phone call in a first predefined manner, and executing at least a subset of the decision graph nodes in the first logically ordered combination is required to perform the first phone call service.  
     
     
         48 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 46  wherein the service specification table includes an active status field, the active status field having a first programmable state wherein the first phone call service is activated for subscribing users and a second programmable state wherein the first phone call service is deactivated.  
     
     
         49 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 48  wherein the first phone call service can be deactivated for all users by setting the active status field to the second programmable state.  
     
     
         50 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 28  wherein the phone call services are prioritized in the mapped services list, and the priority of the phone call services in the mapped services list is identified in the active services list such that the service manager executes the phone call services in the active services list in the order specified by the mapped services list.  
     
     
         51 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 50  wherein if one of the phone call services listed in the active services list requires immediate response, the remaining services in the active services list are not executed by the service manager.  
     
     
         52 . For use with a service activation manager cooperating with a service control point in an advanced intelligent network, a method for identifying phone services subscribed to by a user comprising the steps of: 
 defining a service identification field including a plurality of unique positions;    associating each of the unique positions in the service identification field with one of a plurality of phone call services;    defining a user identification bit field having a plurality of unique bit positions;    associating each of the unique bit positions in the user identification bit field to a corresponding one of the unique positions in the service identification field; and    indicating which of the plurality of phone call services a user subscribes to by placing a bit having a predefined bit state in the unique bit positions of the user identification field corresponding to the subscribed to phone call services.    
     
     
         53 . A method as recited in  claim 52  further comprising the step of representing the bit states of the bits in the bit positions in the user identification field in a hexadecimal format.  
     
     
         54 . A method as defined in  claim 53  wherein the step of representing the states of the bits in the bit positions of the user identification field in a hexadecimal format comprises the steps of: 
 grouping the bit positions in the user identification field into groups of four positions; and  
 representing a binary number corresponding to the bit states of the bits in each group of four bit positions as a hexadecimal character.  
 
     
     
         55 . A method as defined in  claim 52  wherein the predefined bit state comprises a 1.  
     
     
         56 . A method as defined in  claim 52  wherein the predefined bit state comprises a 0.  
     
     
         57 . For use in a service control point in an advanced intelligent network including at least one signal transfer point, a service activation manager comprising: 
 a database mapping subscription services to subscribers;    at least two subscription services for processing a call between a calling party and a called party, at least one of the called and the calling parties being a subscriber to at least one of the subscription services; and    a processor for receiving a query from the at least one signal transfer point, the processor being adapted to identify the subscriber from the query, to access the database to identify a subscription service subscribed to by the subscriber, the identified subscription service being unidentified by a system subnumber in the query, and to call the subscription service identified in the database.    
     
     
         58 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein a new subscription service is added by updating the database and wherein the addition of the new subscription service does not require adding subsystem numbers (SSNs) to queries to identify the new service.  
     
     
         59 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein a new subscription service is added by updating the database and wherein the addition of the new subscription service does not require modifications to the at least one signal transfer point.  
     
     
         60 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein the subscription services are modified by updating the database and wherein modification of one or more of the subscription services does not require modifications to the at least one signal transfer point.  
     
     
         61 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein multiple users sharing the same subscription service package share subscription information on the database.  
     
     
         62 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 61  wherein the multiple users are associated with a single subscriber.  
     
     
         63 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein at least one of the called and the calling parties subscribes to at least two of the subscription services, the at least two subscription services are identified in the database, and the processor sequentially calls the at least two subscription services.  
     
     
         64 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein subscribers can subscribe to more than one of the subscription services without requiring the creation of a new subscription service combining the more than one subscription services.  
     
     
         65 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein the subscription services are updated without requiring transfer of subscription information in the database.  
     
     
         66 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein at least one of the subscription services comprises an error routine for processing errored calls.  
     
     
         67 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 57  wherein the processor monitors the number of times each of the subscription services is called to provide data relating to usage of the subscription services.  
     
     
         68 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 62  wherein each user can access a different set of services associated with a single subscriber.  
     
     
         69 . A service activation manager as defined in  claim 62  wherein each user can individually customize service flow options.