1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to emergency services. More particularly, it relates to selective router (a.k.a., 9-1-1 Tandem) protocol conversion to NENA 08-001 V8 or IETF location to service translation (LoST) protocol.
2. Background of the Related Art
In conventional emergency networks, a 9-1-1 call is placed, and forwarded by an end office to a 9-1-1 selective router. The selective router receives the call, and routes the call to a 9-1-1 trunk line to an associated public safety answering point (PSAP) appropriate for the current location of the caller.
Conventional selective routers define their own interfaces for querying databases for routing information. Developing standards specify a standard protocol for querying databases that store routing information.
In particular, as shown in
In particular, as shown in
Conventionally, companies that sell databases that store routing information also typically develop interfaces to permit the existing selective routers to query those databases.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a selective router interface translator comprises a NENA V3 protocol interface for communication with a location information server (LIS). A Location to Service Translation (LoST) protocol interface communicates with a LoST server. A NENA V3 protocol to LoST protocol translator translates a NENA V3 query for location of an emergency caller received over the NENA V3 protocol interface into a LoST protocol query for transmission over the LoST protocol interface.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a selective router interface translator comprises an automatic location identifier (ALI) interface for communication with an ALI. A NENA V8 protocol interface communicates with an Emergency Routing DataBase (ERDB). An ALI to ERDB protocol translator translates an ALI query for location of an emergency caller received over the ALI interface into an ERDB protocol query for transmission over the ERDB interface.
Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings:
The present inventor has appreciated in the context of selective routers that routing databases being planned today will only accept queries over a National Emergency Number Association (NENA) V8 interface, or using Location to Service Translation (LOST) protocol. The NENA V8 interface supports queries from a Voice Positioning Center (VPC) to an Emergency Routing DataBase (ERDB).
The present invention provides a selective router interface translator for placement between legacy selective routers and their location databases. In this way existing selective routers may remain as they are today, yet be flexible enough to allow the databases they query to be developed to new standards.
In particular, as shown in
In particular, as shown in step A1 of
In step A2, the selective router 200 receives the telephone number (TN) of the emergency caller 10, and must look up the TN in an appropriate database to determine which egress trunk group from the selective router 200 to use to complete the emergency call between the emergency caller 10 and the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) 20.
In accordance with the invention, a telephone number query goes out the existing proprietary interface from the selective router 200 to a selective router interface translator 100.
In step A3, the selective router interface translator 100 receives the telephone number query from the selective router 200. The selective router interface translator 100 then queries the relevant database that stores location information associated with that telephone number. In this example of
In step A5, the selective router interface translator 100 converts the routing information it receives from the IETF LoST query and converts it to the proprietary format used by the selective router 200 that originally queried.
In step A6, the selective router 200 receives a response to its query and is then able to select the appropriate circuit to complete the call between the emergency caller 10 and the appropriate PSAP 20 routed via the selective router 200.
In particular, as shown in step B1 of
In step B2, the selective router 300 receives the telephone number (TN) of the emergency caller 11, and must look up the TN in an appropriate database to determine which egress trunk group from the selective router 300 to use to complete the emergency call between the emergency caller 11 and the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) 21.
In accordance with the invention, a telephone number query goes out the existing proprietary interface from the selective router 300 to a selective router interface translator 100.
In step B3, the selective router interface translator 100 receives the telephone number query from the selective router 300. The selective router interface translator 100 then queries the relevant database that stores location information associated with that telephone number. In this example of
In step B4, using the current location information received back from the ALI query of step B3, the selective router interface translator 100 forms a NENA V8 protocol query to an Emergency Routing DataBase (ERDB) 600 to determine the appropriate routing for the selective router 300. An Emergency Routing DataBase (ERDB) 600 is used during a 9-1-1 call to determine routing by providing routing instructions based on location rather than telephone number;
identifies the emergency services zone (ESZ)/Emergency Service Number (ESN) for the 9-1-1 call location (PSAP); and provides an MSAG Valid Address of the 9-1-1 caller.
In step B5, the selective router interface translator 100 converts the routing information it receives from the NENA V8 query and converts it to the proprietary format used by the selective router 300 that originally queried.
In step B6, the selective router 200 receives a response to its query and is then able to select the appropriate circuit to complete the call between the emergency caller 11 and the appropriate PSAP 21 routed via the selective router 300.
In this way, the present invention provides interaction of existing selective routers with a NENA 08-001 Emergency Routing Database (ERDB) or an IETF Location to Service Translation Server (LoST Server).
While
The present invention has particular applicability by LECs and/or 9-1-1 service providers operating a selective router.
Those who would benefit from the invention include operators of current selective routers can adopt the newer routing databases without have to pay for or implement one of the newer protocols for querying a routing database. This extends the life of the current selective router infrastructure operated by local exchange carriers (LECs) and other 9-1-1 service providers.
While the invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiments of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/129,108, entitled “Selective Router Interface Translation to Standard Protocols” to Todd Poremba, the entirety of which is explicitly incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61129108 | Jun 2008 | US |