IN service creation elements: variations on the meaning of a SIB

The major thrust of the intelligent network is to move the intelligence behind call processing out of network switches and to empower network operators with tools that enable them to create this intelligence. In present day intelligent networks, call processing intelligence is typically placed on general purpose computing platforms, called service control points (SCP). Service creation environments (SCE) support the creation of IN call processing intelligence, service logic programs (SLP), that run on these computing platforms. Intelligent network solutions include an SCP component and an SCE component, as well as other network elements and operations systems. The service creation environment is a critical part of an IN solution. Today, telecommunications and information technology vendors offer a large variety of SCEs. This variety is largely characterized by the pre-defined service programming elements or commands, often called Service Independent Building Blocks (SIBs), that are provided by the SCE's service creation toolkit. These SIBs operate at various levels of granularity. A SCE may support the use of a general purpose programming language with a built-in API for access to INAP services. Or, an SCE may support a graphical service programming toolkit where the programming elements are represented by icons which again may operate at various levels from GNAP information flows to pre-defined service features. This paper describes three types or categories of IN service creation environments, where the categorization is based on the service programming elements and model supported by the SCE.