Patents Assigned to Northern Telecom Limited
  • Patent number: 6169892
    Abstract: A method of requesting authentication triplets as a function of CPU processing time at a MSC. The MSC requests a new set of authentication triplets from an HLR as a function of how busy the MSC CPU is. During the least busy periods of time, the MSC requests a new set of triplets often and discards some triplets, while during medium busy periods of time the MSC requests a new set of triplets when only, for instance, 2 triplets remain. During the busy periods of time, the MSC only requests a new set of 5 triplets from the HLR when no triplets remain. The present invention, in effect, postpones non-critical work to non busy periods of time when the MSC has more spare processing power, thereby increasing the capacity of the MSC to support traffic during busy periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2001
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Patrick Sollee
  • Patent number: 6167126
    Abstract: A switching device includes a call processing application which handles interactions with originating agents in accordance with a flexible interaction framework. The switch is provisioned with an interaction module in which a plurality of primitives, termed "collectables", each comprised of at least one instruction to be processed during execution thereof, reside. The flexible interaction framework is a list of selected ones of the collectables which are to be executed during interactions and a sequence of execution for the list of selected collectables. The call processing application handles interactions with originating agents by executing the collectables maintained in the list in accordance with the sequence of execution. At least one of the collectables maintained in the list contains instructions which, when executed, modifies the sequence of execution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: William J. Janning
  • Patent number: 6167271
    Abstract: A system to enable communication between a base station controller (24) within a cellular network (12), and a wired telephone system (38, 39) in a wired subscriber loop (113), wherein the base station controller (24) is responsive to, and generates, cellular network signaling, and the wired telephone system is responsive to, and generates, wired signals. The system includes: a protocol processor (121) receptive to the wired signals, for generating processed signals; and a terminal adapter controller (34) conductively coupled both to the base station controller (24) and to the protocol processor (121), receptive to the processed signals, for generating cellular network signaling. In another feature of the invention, the cellular network signaling is GSM signaling. In another feature of the invention, the system also includes a voice service module (123) conductively coupled to the protocol processor, for compressing voice data to standard cellular compression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Jerry Joe Parker, John O'Connell, Stewart Hodde Maxwell
  • Patent number: 6163707
    Abstract: The power control process receives a signal from the radiotelephone over the time varying reverse link. The received signal is demodulated and decoded. The resulting signal is used to estimate the .sup.E w/I.sub.0. The .sup.E w/f.sub.0 is compared to a threshold .sup.E w/I.sub.0 to generate a power control error. This error is input to a prediction filter that anticipates increases or decreases in the power control error over the time interval of the reverse link. The result from the prediction filter is used to modify the power control bit accordingly before transmission to the radiotelephone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: John Earle Miller
  • Patent number: 6157644
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for accelerating a router in a communications network are described. In one embodiment, a router accelerator includes a forwarding table for associatively storing a destination address and a next hop address. If a destination address of a packet matches a destination address in the forwarding table, then logic forwards the packet to a next hop. A router may be coupled to at least one network port through the router accelerator. In another approach, the network includes at least one host and at least one router. The host has at least one routing table for associatively storing a second-level destination address, a second-level next hop address and a first-level next hop address. A router accelerator includes redirect logic for storing the second-level destination address in a second-level next hop address entry in the at least one host routing table. This causes the host to request a first-level next hop address corresponding to the second-level destination address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Gregory M. Bernstein, Alan Chapman, Philip Edholm, Jeffrey T. Gullicksen, Kenneth Gullicksen
  • Patent number: 6154449
    Abstract: A network shelf is disclosed for connecting a number of devices together. The shelf includes a backplane having multiple device slots. It also includes multiple links connected to each device slot. Each of the device slots is normally connected to at least one of the other device slots through at least one of the links. The limit on the number of devices being connected together in a full mesh configuration is one more than the number of links on a given device slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Steven James Rhodes, Michael A. Gazier
  • Patent number: 6154840
    Abstract: A system and method for transmitting encrypted documents from a document server to a client computer across network allows a user to select and view fewer than all of the sections of the document so that not all of the encrypted document need be transmitted. An encryption module and encryption key generator allows the document server to generate encryption information for each encrypted section of the secure document and store that information in a key file on the client computer. A decryption module on the client computer accesses the key file to decrypt for viewing the selected document sections transmitted from the server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Kevin M. Pebley, Todd D. Carlton
  • Patent number: 6154296
    Abstract: An optical communications network configured in a shared protect capacity architecture. The network includes a plurality of shared and unshared nodes; a plurality of working lines connecting the plurality of nodes to form a ring that shares two or more nodes with another ring; a shared protect fiber optic line connecting the two shared nodes; and a plurality of protect lines connecting the plurality of unshared nodes which are connected by the plurality of working lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Siraj Nour Elahmadi, Paul A. Bullock, Kesavamurthy Nagaraj, Thomas Flanagan
  • Patent number: 6151505
    Abstract: A system and method of providing a terminator telecommunications unit with the geographic location of a mobile telecommunications unit, where the terminator unit may then provide directions to the mobile unit in voice format or non-voice data format so the mobile unit can use the directions to arrive at the location of the terminator unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: John Pruett Larkins, Gary Boyd Stephens
  • Patent number: 6148073
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for allocating a data path during a call by establishing a first network call segment associated with an agent and sending a message with routing information across a tandem link using predetermined signaling paths. A second embodiment of the invention comprises a method of allocating a data path during a call wherein the datapath is also a voice path. A third embodiment of the present invention additionally includes apparatus and method for allocating a data path during a call including establishing a two-way connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Thomas Helfand
  • Patent number: 6144486
    Abstract: The variables and parameters previously understood to affect the gain spectrum of an optical amplifier 13 were: (1) the wavelengths to be amplified; (2) the input power levels at those wavelengths; (3) the characteristics of the amplifying medium 20; (4) the insertion loss spectra of the amplifier's components, including any filter(s) used for gain flattening; (5) the pump band chosen to pump the amplifying medium 20; and (6) the total amount of pump power supplied in the chosen pump band. An additional fundamental variable has been identified which can be used to control the gain spectrum of an optical amplifier 13, namely, the center wavelength of the spectrum of the pump's output power within the chosen pump band. Methods and apparatus for using this variable for this purpose are disclosed.For example a, transmission system is disclosed having a transmitter 11 and a receiver 10 connected by an optical fiber 12.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2000
    Assignees: Corning Incorporated, Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Kevin W. Bennett, Fiona Davis, Richard A. Habel, Paul A. Jakobson, Nigel E. Jolley, Robert W. Keys, Kim Byron Roberts, Mark A. Newhouse, Michael J. Yadlowsky
  • Patent number: 6141370
    Abstract: A superimposed grating tunable WDM semiconductor laser is provided comprising a grating structure is a binary superimposed grating comprising a plurality of segments of equal dimension, s, each segment having one of two values of refractive index, whereby the grating structure is provided by a binary modulation of the refractive index modulation of segments s along the length of the grating.Thus, for a superimposed grating structure for an optoelectronic device for providing a spectrum comprising j reflection peaks at wavelengths .lambda..sub.j, the grating comprising a binary superimposed grating (BSG) having a sequence of a plurality of segments of equal size s, each segment of the sequence having a refractive index of one of two values wherein the effective waveguide index of the ith segment n.sub.i.sup.0 (.lambda.) is allowed to be changed by .DELTA.n.multidot.(m-1/2) with m=1 or m=0: ##EQU1## where i=1,2,3 . . . is the segment number, for digital position i.multidot.s, n.sup.0 (.lambda.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Ivan Avrutsky, Hanan Anis, Toshi Makino, Jingming Xu
  • Patent number: 6137806
    Abstract: In an intelligent network comprising a plurality of Service Signalling Points (SSP) and a Service Control Point (SCP), improved handling of overload conditions at the Service Control Point is provided by means of a Network Signalling Point interposed between the SSPs and the SCP. The Network Signalling Point (NSP) has a store for storing a copy of each message the NSP sends to various Point Codes, including that of the SCP; and service software for monitoring its links based upon associated Point Codes. If the NSP does not receive, within a preset time period, a response to a message sent to a particular destination Point Code via a particular link that is intact, the service software module will retrieve the stored copy of the message, replace the original destination Point Code with an alternative Point Code, and route the modified message to the alternative Point Code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Edgar Martinez
  • Patent number: 6123551
    Abstract: An electronic circuit interconnection method and apparatus involves mating a first circuit substrate with a second circuit substrate such that a projection of a circuit component mounted on at least one of the first and second circuit substrates is received in an opening in the other. The opening has a shape complementary to the projection, to register the first and second circuit substrates in a fixed orientation relative to each other in which contacts on the first circuit substrate are aligned and adjacent corresponding contacts on the second circuit substrate. The first and second circuit substrates are then clamped together to press the contacts on each substrate toward each other to place and maintain them in contact with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Alan Patrick Westfall
  • Patent number: 6124960
    Abstract: In a WDM transmission system carrying amplitude modulated traffic in which significant cross-phase modulation occurs, each of the individual channels is pre-chirped at the transmitter with replicas, or low-pass filtered replicas of the amplitude modulation applied to each of the other channels. Prechirping of each individual channel with a replica of the amplitude modulation applied to that channel may be added in order additionally to provide compensation for self-phase modulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Dietmar Garthe, Ross Alexander Saunders, Alan Robinson, Maurice O'Sullivan, Rongqing Hui
  • Patent number: 6122356
    Abstract: A state machine space for concurrent state machines is provided for use in a telecommunications system. Specialized data structures and processes are used to normalize and control data and events dynamically in the telecommunications system. A Universal Data Structure (UDS) provides data uniformity and represents an event in the telecommunications system. Universal State Machines (USMs) use the UDS as a way for the system architect to dynamically alter how the events are handled. The USMs are designed to function concurrently with other USMs without requiring explicit knowledge of other USMs or their functionality. The present invention includes definitions for sub-spaces of the state machine space in terms of (1) a subset of all the USM definitions in the state machine space, (2) a set of sub-space-specific function interface definitions that correspond with functions that may be called by the USMs in that space and (3) a set of rules for activation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Daniel James
  • Patent number: 6119008
    Abstract: A radio access system comprises a base station and a plurality of subscriber locations. The subscriber locations each comprise a residential base unit or subscriber interface which includes line termination equipment. A group of subscribers is served by a pool of residential radio transceiver units in radio communication with the base station which is connected to the residential base units by a shared bus. A group of subscriber locations may be served by a lesser number of residential transceiver units, while at the same time providing individual locations with access to increased bandwidth for ISDN services and the like. Also described is a system in which a subscriber's base unit is connected to two or more residential transceiver units to allow increased bandwidth without requiring additional residential base units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: David P. Weeks, John D. McNicol, Jie Lin, Keith Russell Edwards, Richard Driscoll
  • Patent number: 6115608
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing seamless transfer of a active call between cellular communication systems operating in different signal formats and different modes of handoff request initiation. An example being a mobile initiated CDMA/FDMA/TDMA system like IS-661 and a TDMA/FDMA network initiated system like PCS 1900. The system which initiates handoff requests internally is aware of all the IDs of all the BTSs of the other communication system with which it is to interact and the MSs monitors signals of both formats for maintaining a table of received signals from nearby cells, the cell IDs and signal quality, while maintaining an active call and the further ability to transmit a handover request on a command channel while in the active call mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Jose M. Duran, Xiaomei Wang
  • Patent number: 6112089
    Abstract: A method and system for increasing capacity and improving performance of a cellular network. The method includes maintaining and analyzing matrices of a cell in the network. Once matrix stores performance values and statistics concerning the cell and optimizing conditions for handoff from the cell in response to the performance values. Another matrix stores status values and statistics concerning the cell and optimizing conditions for handoff in response to the status values. A third matrix stores information about cells that should be considered as potential handoff cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventor: Prasanna Jayaraj Satarasinghe
  • Patent number: 6112015
    Abstract: A method is provided for graphically depicting detailed state and status information for network objects, particularly network objects forming part of a telecommunications network. A graphical representation of a network is displayed in which a basic icon is displayed for each network object. More commonly occurring state and status combinations are conveyed by imparting attributes to the basic icons such as dashed, solid, or three dimensional outlines. Less commonly occurring state and status combinations are conveyed by attaching modifier icons to the basic icons. The method is particularly suited to providing a detailed visual representation of the states and statuses included in the OSI standard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Northern Telecom Limited
    Inventors: Miguel Alberto Planas, Doug Edward Talbott