A signaling protocol supporting multi-media and supplementary services

The utility of an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)-based broadband network will depend upon the availability of a wide variety of services, most of which have not yet been defined. A flexible and extendible control mechanism for invoking services is required to take full advantage of the potential network services. An object-oriented signaling protocol based on a call model that consists of a number of elementary building blocks which are combined to define network services is discussed. The focus is on its applicability for defining new services, using multimedia services involving an arbitrary number of connections and parties, calling number identification, and call deflection services as examples. A conclusion that can be drawn is that a combinatorial method for the definition of new services offers users and operating companies more power and flexibility without explosive growth in the number of standard service definitions