Methods and systems for communicating between subscribers of different application-layer mobile communications protocols

• US 20030003930A1
• Filed: 07/19/2001
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec Global, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: McCann, Thomas M., Allison, Rick L.
• Granted Patent: US 6,745,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

A routing node communicates between subscribers of different application-layer mobile communications protocols, such as IS-41 and GSM, without converting each IS-41 message to GSM and vice versa. Rather than converting each message to the protocol of the intended recipient, the routing node functions as an HLR to provide the location of a mobile subscriber in a different application-layer mobile communications protocol and as an MSC to forward short message service messages to a short message service center of the other application-layer mobile communications protocol.

Claims

1. A routing node for delivering short message service (SMS) messages between subscribers of different application-layer mobile communications protocols, the routing node comprising:

(a) a routing element for receiving, from a short message service center (SMSC) of a first application-layer mobile communications protocol, a message requesting location information of a mobile subscriber of a second application-layer mobile communications protocol and for formulating a response to the message including an address of a node other than a mobile switching center, the address being stored in a destination ID field of the response message; and

(b) a converter operatively associated with the routing element for receiving, from the SMSC of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol, a mobile-terminated SMS message of the first application-layer communications protocol and for converting the mobile-terminated SMS message to a mobile-originated SMS message of the second application-layer communications protocol, thereby simulating operations of a mobile switching center of the second application-layer mobile communications protocol in forwarding a short message received from a mobile terminal.

2. The routing node of claim 1 wherein the routing element comprises an SS7 signal transfer point.

3. The routing node of claim 1 wherein the routing element comprises an SS7/IP gateway.

4. The routing node of claim 1 wherein the converter comprises a processing platform separate from the routing element.

5. The routing node of claim 1 wherein the converter comprises a processor internal to the routing element.

6. The routing node of claim 1 wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Interim Standard 41 (IS-41) protocol and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol is the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the destination ID field comprises the GSM MSC_ID field and the destination node comprises an SMSC.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the destination ID field comprises the IS-41 SMS_Address field and the destination node comprises a routing element.

7. The routing node of claim I wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol is the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Interim Standard 41 (IS-41) protocol.

10. A method for communicating messages between subscribers of different application-layer mobile communications protocols, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, from a network element of a first application-layer mobile communications protocol, a first message relating to a subscriber of a second application-layer mobile communications protocol;

(b) in response to receiving the first message, formulating a second message of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol;

(c) including, in a destination ID field of the second message, an address of a node other than a mobile switching center; and

(d) forwarding the second message to the network element of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving the first message includes receiving the first message from a short message service center of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein including an address in a destination ID field of the second message comprises including a GSM SMSC ID in a GSM MSC_ID field of the second message.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein including an address in a destination ID field of the second message comprises including a routing node address in an IS-41 SMS_ADDR field of the second message.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Interim Standard 41 (IS-41) protocol and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Interim Standard 41 (IS-41) protocol.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein steps (a)-(d) are performed at a signal transfer point.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein steps (a)-(d) are performed at an SS7/IP signaling gateway.

18. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

(a) receiving a mobile-terminated SMS message of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol;

(b) in response, formulating a mobile-originated SMS message of the second application-layer mobile communications protocol; and

(c) forwarding the mobile-originated SMS message to a short message service center of the second application-layer mobile communications protocol, thereby simulating operations of a mobile switching center of the second application-layer mobile communications protocol in forwarding a short message received from a mobile subscriber.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises IS-41 and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises GSM.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the first application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises GSM and the second application-layer mobile communications protocol comprises IS-41.

19. A method for establishing a call between subscribers of different application-layer communications protocols, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, from a mobile switching center (MSC) of a first application-layer mobile communications protocol, a first message requesting the location of a subscriber of a second application-layer mobile communications protocol;

(b) performing a lookup in a database based on a called party identifier in the first message and obtaining a routing number for a network serving the mobile subscriber of the second application-level mobile communications protocol;

(c) formulating a second message of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol;

(d) including the routing number in the second message; and

(e) forwarding the second message to the MSC of the first application-layer mobile communications protocol.