Reviews the role of IN in broadband networks. It discusses the emerging ITU IN standards and a possible interim interface to an external intelligence platform based on the ATM Forum's UNI 4.0 proxy signalling scheme. The immediate early need for external intelligence for broadband networks is for assistance with basic call SVC connections with name-to-address translations in order to support of a variety of number plans, including those needed for virtual private networks. External intelligence could also be used for a variety of other supplementary functions. Examples might be found in the area of network charging functions, perhaps to collate or enhance billing records before they are despatched to an off-line billing centre for sending to customers. Also, IN functions could be used to supplement the switch call control functions by providing call-control parameter information such as quality of service, or per-call bandwidth needs, perhaps providing assistance by dynamic off-load of traffic in busy periods.
展开▼
