Controlling access to services in a communications system

• US 20050228985A1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Published: 10/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Aakula, Jukka, Hyotylainen, Tahvo, Virtanen, Timo, Ylikoski, Martti, Kiiskinen, Terho, Laine, Artuu
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,267 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/153
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies

Abstract

A proxy network element for controlling access to services in a communications system is disclosed. The proxy network element is configured to communicate with at least one further network element using a protocol belonging to a plurality of protocols, the at least one further network element controlling service usage based on service subscriptions. The proxy network element is also configured to provide access for the at least one further network element to at least one information store storing information relating to service subscriptions. The proxy network element provides support for communicating using the plurality of protocols and support for accessing a plurality of different information stores.

Claims

1. A proxy network element for controlling access to services in a communications system, said proxy network element configured

to communicate with at least one further network element using a protocol belonging to a plurality of protocols, said at least one further network element controlling service usage based on service subscriptions, and

to provide access for said at least one further network element to at least one information store storing information relating to said service subscriptions,

said proxy network element providing support for communicating using said plurality of protocols and support for accessing a plurality of different information stores.

2. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, comprising a plurality of protocol specific modules, at least one of the protocol specific modules relating to a respective protocol of said plurality of protocols.

3. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, comprising a plurality of data source connector modules, at least one data source connector module relating to a respective information store of said plurality of different information stores.

4. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, further configured to

convert requests received from said at least one further network element into unified requests, and

process said unified requests for constructing unified responses, said unified requests and responses each comprising unified messages.

5. The proxy network element as defined in claim 4, further configured to

convert a unified response into a response in accordance with a protocol of a respective request to be sent to at least one of said at least one further network element.

6. The proxy network element as defined in claim 4, comprising a plurality of processing modules for processing the unified messages.

7. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, further configured to

select a set of processing modules from the plurality of processing modules based on a unified message to be processed.

8. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of processing modules for processing the unified messages comprises at least one of a message validation processing module, an attribute translation processing module, and a message filtering processing module.

9. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of processing modules comprises at least one processing module for querying information from at least one of said at least one information store.

10. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of processing modules comprises at least one processing module for querying information from an external information source.

11. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, wherein processing modules in said plurality of processing modules are loadable during operation of the proxy network element.

12. The proxy network element as defined in claim 6, wherein processing modules in said plurality of processing modules are configurable during operation of the proxy network element.

13. The proxy network element as defined in claim 4, further configured to

query information from said at least one information store selected from said plurality of different information stores based on a request to be processed.

14. The proxy network element as defined in claim 13, further configured to

store information queried from at least one of said at least one information store.

15. The proxy network element as defined in claim 13, further configured to

check, before querying information from an information store, whether said information to be queried is stored within the proxy network element.

16. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, further configured to receive information indicating a change in said subscription information from at least one of said at least one information store.

17. The proxy network element as defined in claim 16, further configured to query for said information indicating a change in said subscription information.

18. The proxy network element as defined in claim 16, further configured to send information relating to said change in said subscription information to at least one of said at least one further network element controlling said service usage.

19. The proxy network element as defined in claim 18, further configured to send said information relating to said change in said subscription information when a service session relating to said change in said subscription information is active.

20. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, further configured to store session information relating to requests for further use.

21. The proxy network element as defined in claim 1, further configured to detect a need for a new service subscription.

22. The proxy network element as defined in claim 21, further configured to send information relating to said new service subscription to a further network element responsible for subscription management.

23. A system for controlling access to services in a communications system, said system comprising:

at least one information store for storing information relating to service subscriptions;

at least one first network element for controlling service usage based on said service subscriptions, a first network element using a protocol belonging to a plurality of first protocols for communicating said information relating to the service subscriptions; and

a proxy network element configured to communicate with said at least one first network element using a protocol belonging to a plurality of protocols and to provide access for said at least one first network element to said at least one information store, said proxy network element providing support for communicating using said plurality of protocols and support for accessing a plurality of different information stores.

24. The system as defined in claim 23, further comprising:

a second network element for managing said information relating to said service subscriptions, said second network element configured to store and access information in at least one of said at least one information store.

25. The system as defined in claim 24, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to detect a need for a new service subscription.

26. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to

send to at least one of said at least one first network element information indicating the need for the new service subscription,

receive from said at least one of said at least one first network element information confirming the new service subscription, and

send, in response to receiving from said at least one of said at least one first network element said information confirming the new service subscription, to said second network element information relating to the new service subscription for making a subscription.

27. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to

send, in response to detecting the need for the new service subscription, to said second network element information relating to the new service subscription for making a subscription.

28. A system for controlling access to services in a communications system, said system comprising:

at least one information store for storing information relating to service subscriptions;

a first network element for managing said information relating to said service subscriptions, said first network element configured to store and access information in said at least one information store;

at least one second network element for controlling service usage based on said service subscriptions; and

a proxy network element configured to provide access for said at least one second network element to said at least one information store and to send to the first network element information relating to a new service subscription for making the new service subscription.

29. The system as defined in claim 28, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to detect a need for the new service subscription.

30. The system as defined in claim 29, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to

send to a second network element information indicating the need for the new service subscription,

receive from said second network element information confirming the new service subscription before sending said information relating to the new service subscription to the first network element.

31. The system as defined in claim 29, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to send to said first network element said information relating to the new service subscription in response to detecting the need for the new subscription.

32. The system as defined in claim 28, wherein the system further comprises a plurality of second network elements, said plurality of second network elements communicating information relating to a service session using a plurality of protocols, and wherein said proxy network element is configured to support said plurality of protocols.

33. The system as defined in claim 28, wherein the system further comprises a plurality of information stores for storing said information relating to said service subscriptions and wherein said proxy network element is configured to access said at least one information store.

34. A proxy network element for controlling access to services in a communications system, said proxy network element configured to

provide access for at least one first network element to at least one information store, said at least one first network element controlling service usage based on service subscriptions, and

send to a second network element information relating to a new service subscription for making the new service subscription, said second network element managing said information relating to service subscriptions and storing information in at least one of said at least one information store.

35. The proxy network element as defined in claim 34, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to detect a need for the new service subscription.

36. The proxy network element as defined in claim 35, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to

send to a first network element information indicating the need for the new service subscription,

receive from said first network element information confirming the new service subscription before sending said information relating to the new service subscription to the second network element.

37. The proxy network element as defined in claim 35, wherein said proxy network element is further configured to send to said second network element information relating to the new service subscription in response to detecting the need for the new service subscription.

38. A method for processing a request in a proxy network element, said method comprising:

receiving a request in accordance with a protocol using a respective protocol specific module, said request relating to service usage and being received from a further network element responsible for controlling said service usage, said protocol specific module belonging to a plurality of protocol specific modules provided in said proxy network element;

converting said request into a unified request; and

processing said unified request.

39. The method as defined in claim 38, further comprising:

accessing at least one information store based on said request using a data source connector module, said data source connector module belonging to a plurality of data source connector modules provided in said proxy network element for accessing a plurality of different information stores.

40. The method as defined in claim 38, further comprising

selecting a set of processing modules from a plurality of processing modules for processing a unified message, said unified request comprising said unified message.

41. The method as defined in claim 38, further comprising:

converting a unified response resulting from said processing step into a response in accordance with said protocol.

42. A method for controlling access to services in a communication network, said method comprising:

receiving a request relating to service usage from a first network element responsible for controlling said service usage;

detecting a need for a new service subscription relating to said request, and

sending information relating to the new service subscription to a second network element responsible for managing service subscriptions.

43. The method as defined in claim 42, further comprising;

sending, to said first network element, information indicating the need for the new service subscription

44. The method as defined in claim 43, further comprising:

receiving from said first network element information confirming the new service subscription before sending said information relating to the new service subscription to the second network element.

45. The method as defined in claim 42, wherein said sending step is carried out in response to said detecting step.

46. A system for controlling access to services in a communications system, said system comprising:

storing means for storing information relating to service subscriptions;

controlling means for controlling service usage based on said service subscriptions, a first network element of said controlling means using a protocol belonging to a plurality of first protocols for communicating said information relating to the service subscriptions; and

communication means for communicating with said controlling means using a protocol belonging to a plurality of protocols and to provide access for said controlling means to said storing means, said communication means providing support for communicating using said plurality of protocols and support for accessing a plurality of different information stores.

47. A system for controlling access to services in a communications system, said system comprising:

storing means for storing information relating to service subscriptions;

managing means for managing said information relating to said service subscriptions, said managing means configured to store and access information in said storing means;

controlling means for controlling service usage based on said service subscriptions; and

providing means for providing access for said controlling means to said storing means and to send to the managing means information relating to a new service subscription for making the new service subscription.