Intelligent networks; computer aided analysis for SLP specification

To the software engineer the intelligent network (IN) is an exciting new challenge. Rather than producing vendor specific software for an exchange or network database, the new challenge is to produce an environment where the network operators or new independent service providers can generate their own software to implement network services. The intelligent network is an evolution of the existing telecommunications network architectures. Although the exact structure of the proposed intelligent networks is not fixed, there is a convergence to a basic architecture. Services will be provided by Service Logic Programs or SLPs, which can run on one of a number of network node types. This paper considers the specification of services, and in particular considers the use of the formal specification language CCITT-SDL in that role. For SDL to be of practical use, computer based tools are essential, and indeed many excellent tools are available on the market. This paper describes the development of techniques to provide yet more powerful tools. It gives a brief review of how SLP specifications can be analysed for logical errors based upon SDL dynamic semantics. Then follows a discussion of how specification written in SDL can be analysed for logical errors within an SLP environment, where the errors themselves are defined in SDL. Finally the advantages and limitations of the technique are discussed