Optimization of consolidating entities

Abstract

A system and method for homogeneously merging locations in a telecommunications network including: calculating a first characteristic of a carrier at a first location and a second location; determining a penalty for excluding the carrier based in part on the first characteristic; comparing the a penalty determined to a preselected value; and, if the penalty is less than the preselected value, merging the first location and the second location, thereby forming a merged location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for merging locations, the method comprising:
 calculating at least one first characteristic of at least one carrier at: at least one first location and at least one second location;   determining at least one penalty for excluding the at least one carrier based at least in part on the at least one first characteristic;   comparing the at least one penalty to at least one preselected value; and merging the at least one first location and the at least one second location if the at least one penalty is less than the at least one preselected value, thereby forming at least one first merged location.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one carrier includes a plurality of carriers. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising assigning at least one demand to the at least one carrier based at least in part on the at least one characteristic. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , further comprising determining an amount of the at least one demand that would be assigned to at least one second carrier of the plurality of carriers if the at least one first carrier were excluded. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic includes at least one of a capacity, a rate, a demand, a call quality, or a business criteria. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the determining is based at least in part on a number of minutes associated with the at least one carrier. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one penalty includes a plurality of penalties. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising determining if the at least one carrier is not available at the at least one second location. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 calculating at least one second characteristic of the at least one carrier at: at least one third location and at least one fourth location;   comparing the at least one second characteristic to a second predetermined value; and   merging the at least one third location with the at least one fourth location if the at least one second characteristic is less than the second predetermined value, thereby forming at least one second merged location.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising merging the at least one first merged location with the at least one second merged location. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the second predetermined value is equal to the first predetermined value. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising creating a bias favoring the at least one first merged location if the at least one first merged location had been previously created. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , further comprising creating a bias favoring the at least one second merged location if the at least one second merged location had been previously created. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first location and the at least one second location are within a LATA. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first location and the at least one second location are homogenous locations. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising repeating the calculating, the determining, the comparing, and the merging until a number of locations is less than a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the predetermined threshold is based at least in part on a capacity of at least one switch. 
     
     
         18 . A system for merging locations, the system comprising:
 means for calculating at least one first characteristic of at least one carrier at: at least one first location and at least one second location;   first means for determining at least one penalty for excluding the at least one carrier;   means for comparing the at least one penalty to at least one preselected value; and   means for merging the at least one first location and the at least one second location if the at least one penalty is less than the at least one preselected value, thereby creating at least one first merged location.   
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the at least one carrier includes a plurality of carriers. 
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 19 , further comprising means for assigning at least one demand to the at least one carrier based at least in part on the at least one characteristic.