ADVANCED CALL SCHEDULING FOR TESTING A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

This paper describes an advanced scheduling system and method for gene rating large volumes of calls to be used for testing a telecommunicati ons network. The system is capable of preparing large scale and comple x network tests by viewing the task as a scheduling problem. The vario us requirements of the scheduling problem are analysed and represented as constraints or optimisation criteria. A fast heuristic method is p roposed for solving the problem. The approach is based on a greedy alg orithm for constructing solutions and if incorporates limited backtrac king and dynamic value-ordering heuristics. The algorithm and system a re currently being used for call charge verification in BT's PSTN and CSP networks.