System and method of accessing mobile phone network subscriber information from the tcp/ip network

• US 20040259579A1
• Filed: 05/21/2004
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
• Original Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
• Inventors: Santos Hidalgo, Juan Miguel, Garcia Robles, Ana, De La Fuente Salcedo, Carlos
• Granted Patent: US 7,353,037 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/517
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A machine (1) in the TCP/IP network (2) performs a request regarding a consultation or modification of at least one mobile telephone network subscriber parameter; it is characterized in that it comprises means (5) for receiving the request made and means (5) for extracting the parameters included in said request and which are necessary for being able to attend to it. It comprises storage means (7) of at least one parameter pertaining to the different mobile telephone network subscribers (3) and means for sending the response to the request made in order to obtain and send the obtained information in the case that the request made is a consultation regarding the stored parameter. It comprises means (6, 8, 9 and 10) for obtaining the necessary mobile telephone network parameters so that the request is attended to by said mobile telephone network (3) in order to make the request to the network (3) when the request made is not contained in the means (7).

It allows making consultations or modifications of the network (3) subscriber parameters through the machine (1).

Claims

1. System for consulting and/or modifying mobile telephone network (3) subscriber parameters from a machine (1) in a TCP/IP network (2), by means of a request regarding a consultation and/or modification of at least one mobile telephone network (3) subscriber parameter stored in a first node of said mobile telephone network and accessible from a second node of said mobile telephone network, said second node being authorized to obtain and/or modify said at least one subscriber parameter in said first node, the system (4) comprising:

means (5) for receiving a request made by the machine (1) in the TCP/IP network (2);

means (5) for extracting request parameters included in said request and which are necessary in order to attend to said request;

storage means (7) of at least one subscriber parameter pertaining to each one of the different mobile telephone network subscribers;

means (5) for sending, to the machine (1), a response to the request made, in the case that the request made is a consultation concerning at least one subscriber parameter;

means for obtaining necessary mobile telephone network parameters for obtaining access to the at least one subscriber parameter in said mobile telephone network (3), in order to consult and/or modify said at least one subscriber parameter in said mobile telephone network (3) when said at least one subscriber parameter to be consulted and/or modified is not contained in the storage means (7);

characterized in that

the means for obtaining necessary mobile telephone network parameters comprise;

a request management module (6) arranged to detect when the request made cannot be attended to by the storage means (7) and to, after such detection, generate a routing information obtainment message to the mobile telephone network in order to access said first node of the mobile telephone network, in which the subscriber is registered, so as to obtain, in response, from said first node, routing parameters including the necessary mobile telephone network parameters;

and in that

said necessary mobile telephone network parameters include the identity of a second node of the mobile telephone network, said second node having authority to access the first node to obtain and/or modify said at least one subscriber parameter,

the system being arranged to acquire from the obtained necessary mobile telephone network parameters, said identity of the second node, and to use said identity for obtaining access to said first node for obtaining and/or modifying said at least one subscriber parameter in said first node.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the means for obtaining the necessary mobile telephone network parameters further comprise a compose and send messages module (8), as well as a module (9) for receiving and breaking down messages, from and to the mobile telephone network, respectively, for sending and receiving different signals to said mobile telephone network.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein the routing obtainment message is a routing obtainment message for a short message sent to the first node, said routing obtainment message indicating as an address of sender an address of the system (4), in order that the first node send the routing parameters to said system (4).

4. System according to claim 3, wherein said routing obtainment message for a short message is the message Send Routing Info For Short Messages srifsm.

5. System according to claim 1, wherein the first node is a Home Location Register HLR node of the mobile telephone network (3).

6. System according to claim 1, wherein access to said first node for obtaining and/or modifying said at least one subscriber parameter in said first node is obtained using the Update-Location MAP protocol operation or any Supplementary Service MAP protocol operation.

7. System according to claim 1, wherein the second node is a Visitor Location Register VLR in which the subscriber is registered.

8. System according to claim 1, wherein the means for receiving a request and the means for extracting request parameters comprise at least one protocol interface (5) for allowing the system (4) to receive and extract the request parameters in the request from the TCP/IP network.

9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises a protocol interface for each one of the protocols foreseen in the TCP/IP network, so as to allow the system to receive and extract the parameters according to the different protocols used in the TCP/IP network.

10. System according to claim 8, characterized in that the request management module (6) comprises a request control module (11) arranged to collect the parameters provided by the parameter extraction means (5), said request management module furthermore constituting the means for sending the response to the request made to the protocol interface (5) module;

the request management module (6) furthermore comprising a module (12) for requests to the storage means (7) of at least one subscriber parameter in order to obtain said at least one subscriber parameter when the request is a consultation of the latter.

11. System according to claim 10, characterized in that the request management module also comprises a module (13) for requests to the mobile telephone network for making said request to the mobile telephone network after receiving a request order from the request control module (11), carrying out said request through the module (8) for composing and sending messages to the mobile telephone network.

12. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage means (7) is arranged to store the consulted or changed subscriber parameters during a certain time period.

13. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a configuration directory (10) wherein configuration data are stored for proper system functioning.

14. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the request parameters received from the machine (1) in the TCP/IP network contain information regarding whether to access the storage means (7) or whether to access the mobile telephone network directly by means of sending said routing information obtainment message.

15. Process for accessing mobile telephone network subscriber information from the TCP/IP network, wherein a mobile telephone network subscriber accesses a service by means of his mobile telephone, which in turn accesses a machine (1) in the TCP/IP network in order to make a request regarding a consultation and/or modification of at least one mobile telephone network subscriber parameter;

the process comprising the following steps;

extracting request parameters included in said request made by the machine (1), from said request;

selectively accessing storage means (7) of at least one subscriber parameter pertaining to the mobile telephone network subscribers in order to obtain and send the information regarding said parameter to the machine (1), in the case that the request made is a consultation regarding said at least one stored parameter;

characterised in that it further comprises the steps of;

when the subscriber parameter is not contained in the storage means (7), accessing the mobile telephone network by means of sending a routing information obtainment message to the mobile telephone network in order to access a first node of the mobile telephone network, in which the subscriber is registered and in which said at least one subscriber parameter is stored;

obtaining, in response to said routing information obtainment message, from said first node, routing parameters including necessary mobile telephone network parameters for obtaining access to the at least one subscriber parameter in said first node, said necessary mobile telephone network parameters including the identity of a second mobile telephone network node with authority to access the first node;

acquiring, from said routing parameters, said identity of the second mobile telephone network node;

obtaining, using said identity, access to said first node for obtaining and/or modifying at least one subscriber parameter in said first node.

16. Process according to claim 15, characterized in that the routing information obtainment message is sent using, as sender identity, the identity of a Short Message Service Center SMSC.

17. Process according to claim 15, wherein the routing information obtainment message is a routing obtainment message for a short message.

18. Process according to claim 17, wherein said routing obtainment message for a short message is the message Send Routing Info For Short Messages (srifsm).

19. Process according to claim 15, wherein the first node is a Home Location Register (HLR) node of the mobile telephone network (3).

20. Process according to claim 15, wherein access to said first node for obtaining and/or modifying said at least one subscriber parameter in said first node is obtained using the Update-Location MAP protocol operation or any Supplementary Service MAP protocol operation.

21. Process according to claim 15, wherein the second node is a Visitor Location Register (VLR) node of the mobile telephone network (3).

22. Process according to claim 15, wherein, in the step of obtaining, using said identity, access to said first node for obtaining and/or modifying at least one subscriber parameter in said first node, the address of the second node, received from the first node, is sent at the Mobile Application Part MAP protocol level, and an address to which a response should be sent, is sent in the area of the Signal Connection Control Part SCCP protocol.