Methods and systems for providing universal triggerless number portability

• US 20010040957A1
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Published: 11/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec Global, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: McCann, Thomas Matthew, Allison, Rick L.
• Granted Patent: US 6,647,113 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/221.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers

Abstract

A universal triggerless number portability routing node receives a first call setup message from an end office. The triggerless number portability routing node may examine a first routing number (RN) value contained in the first call setup message to determine whether the first RN is a home RN value. If the first RN is determined to be a home RN value, a number portability database lookup is performed based on the called party dialed number. Once a number portability lookup is performed, the call setup message is modified to include a second RN value returned by the NP database, and the modified call setup message is routed to a destination node, which may be a tandem gateway or an end office/mobile switching center.

Claims

1. A universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message.

2. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the first communication module is a message transfer part (MTP)/signaling system 7 (SS7) capable link interface module (LIM).

3. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the first communication module is an Internet protocol (IP)/transport adapter layer interface (TALI) capable data communication module (DCM).

4. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the first communication module is a data communication module implementing the stream control transmission protocol and one or more user adaptation layers for adapting SS7 traffic to the steam control transmission protocol.

5. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 4

wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 MTP level 2 user adaptation layer.

6. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 4

wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 MTP level 3 user adaptation layer.

7. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 4

wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 SCCP user adaptation layer.

8. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the NP database associates dialed numbers in received messages with individual routing numbers of tandem or end offices.

9. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the NP database associates individual routing numbers extracted from received messages with blocks or ranges of routing numbers associated with tandem offices or end offices.

10. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the home RN process has access to a database of RN values that correspond to signaling points in the home network of the universal TNP routing node.

11. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein, in response to determining to perform the lookup in the number portability database, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to perform the lookup based on the called party dialed number and to modify the first message to include a second routing number extracted from the number portability database instead of the first routing number.

12. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 11

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to modify any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message after performing the lookup in the number portability database.

13. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 11

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to modify the first message to include the second RN by attaching the second RN to the called party dialed number in the called party address of the first message.

14. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 11

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to examine a carrier selection parameter in the first message to determine whether carrier selection is invoked for the message as a condition to performing the lookup in the number portability database.

15. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 14

wherein, in response to determining that a carrier selection parameter is present in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether a carrier ID in the first message corresponds to the service provider that owns the universal TNP routing node.

16. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 15

wherein the triggerless number portability process performs the number portability database lookup only in response to determining that the carrier ID corresponds to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

17. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 14

wherein the triggerless number portability process routes the first message without modification to its original destination in response to determining that the carrier ID does not correspond to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

18. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether a number portability forwarding indicator (NPFI) parameter is present in the first message.

19. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 18

wherein, in response to determining that the NPFI parameter is present in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform the number portability lookup if the NPFI parameter indicates that the dialed number in the first message has been ported or that a number portability lookup has not been performed for the first message.

20. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform the number portability database lookup only in response to determining that a number portability status indicator present in the first message indicates that the number has been ported and/or a number portability database lookup has not been performed for the first message.

21. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether predetermined number portability status indicator values for a nature of address (NOA) parameter are present in the first message.

22. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 21

wherein, in response to determining that a predetermined number portability status indicator value is present for the NOA parameter in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to perform the lookup in the number portability database if the NOA parameter indicates that the called party number has been ported.

23. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein if no number portability status can be determined for the first message, then the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform a number portability database lookup by default.

24. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein if no number portability status can be determined for the first message, then the triggerless number portability process is adapted to route the first message to its destination without modification.

25. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to route the first message to another node without performing a lookup in the number portability database if the home RN process determines that the first RN corresponds to a node in a non-home network.

26. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 14

wherein the second RN corresponds to a tandem gateway serving a plurality of end offices.

27. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 14

wherein the second RN corresponds to an end office (EO).

28. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 14

wherein the second RN corresponds to a mobile switching center (MSC).

29. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the number portability database is located on a second communication module within the same housing as the first communication module.

30. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

wherein the number portability database is located on a second communication module located in a different housing from the first communication module.

31. The universal TNP routing node of

claim 1

comprising a gateway screening process for determining whether the first message is a call setup message to and/or from specific network nodes by examining at least one of a service indicator octet (SIO) parameter, an originating point code (OPC) parameter, and a destination point code (DPC) parameter contained within the first message.

32. A routing node capable of performing number portability processing for call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators, the routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators; and

(b) a second communication module for receiving the call setup messages from the first communication module, analyzing the number portability status indicators, and for determining whether a number portability database lookup is required based on the number portability status indicators.

33. The routing node of

claim 32

wherein the second communication module is adapted to analyze the call setup messages for the presence of number portability status indicators in all of the following fields present in the call setup messages:

the nature of address indicator, the routing number, and the number portability forward information parameter.

34. A method for use in a universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node for processing call signaling messages associated with ported subscribers, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a first call setup message including a dialed number;

(b) determining whether a first routing number (RN) is contained in the first call setup message, and in response to determining that the first routing number is contained within the first call setup message, determining whether the first RN is a home RN;

(c) in response to determining that the first RN is a home RN, performing a lookup in a number portability (NP) database based on the dialed number;

(d) extracting, from the number portability database, a second RN for a signaling point identified by the dialed number;

(e) modifying the first call setup message to include the second routing number in lieu of the first routing number; and

(f) routing the first call setup message to the signaling point.

35. The method of

claim 34

wherein receiving a first call setup message includes receiving an ISDN user part initial address message (ISUP IAM).

36. The method of

claim 34

wherein receiving a first call setup message includes receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) INVITE message.

37. The method of

claim 34

wherein determining whether a first RN is a home RN includes performing a lookup in a home RN database resident within the universal TNP routing node.

38. The method of

claim 34

wherein determining whether a first RN is a home RN includes performing a lookup in a home RN database external to the universal TNP routing node.

39. The method of

claim 34

wherein performing a lookup in an NP database includes performing a lookup in an NP database resident within the universal TNP routing node.

40. The method of

claim 34

wherein performing a lookup in an NP database includes performing a lookup in an NP database external to the universal TNP routing node.

41. The method of

claim 34

wherein modifying the message to include the second RN includes pre-pending the second RN to the first RN.

42. The method of

claim 34

comprising determining whether the first call setup message includes carrier selection information.

43. The method of

claim 42

comprising, in response to determining that the first call setup message includes carrier selection information, determining whether the carrier selection information indicates that the first call setup message is to be processed by a carrier that owns the universal TNP routing node.

44. The method of

claim 43

wherein performing the lookup in the number portability database comprises performing the lookup in response to determining that the carrier selection indicates that the first call setup message is to be processed by the carrier that owns the universal TNP routing node.

45. The method of

claim 43

wherein the number portability process routes the first call setup message without modification to its original destination in response to determining that the carrier ID does not correspond to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

46. The method of

claim 34

wherein the first RN is associated with a tandem office (TO).

47. The method of

claim 34

wherein the second RN is associated with an end office (EO).

48. The method of

claim 34

wherein the second RN is associated with a mobile switching center (MSC).

49. A method for number portability processing, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a call setup message including a dialed number and routing number for a tandem gateway in a called party address field of the first call setup message;

(b) determining whether number portability processing is required for the call setup message;

(c) in response to determining that number portability processing is required for the call setup message, performing a lookup in a number portability database based on the dialed number and returning a second routing number corresponding to an end office or mobile switching center (MSC);

(d) modifying the call setup message to include the routing number of the end office or MSC; and

(e) routing the call setup message to the tandem gateway.

50. The method of

claim 49

comprising, at the tandem gateway, receiving the call setup message and routing the first call setup message to an end office corresponding to which a subscriber has been ported.