Routing of media communication service

• US 20060035637A1
• Filed: 10/08/2004
• Published: 02/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Westman, Ilkka
• Granted Patent: US 8,068,818 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/435.300
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/345 containing wildcard characters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/395 Internet protocol multimedia private identity [IMPI]; Internet protocol multimedia public identity [IMPU]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2596 Translation of addresses of the same type other than IP, e.g. translation from MAC to MAC addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A method of routing a request in a communication system. The method comprises searching routing information associated to an identity, and prioritizing either one of the routing information related to the identity for the first type and the routing information related to the identity of the second type. The request is then routed by using the prioritized routing information. The invention advances correct routing in a system where different identity types are available.

Claims

1. A method of routing a request in a communication system, comprising:

including in the request an identity that may be interpreted as an identity of a first type or as an identity of a second type;

searching for routing information associated with the identity;

prioritizing one of routing information related to the identity of the first type or routing information related to the identity of the second type; and

routing the request by using the prioritized routing information.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising prioritizing one of the routing information in a network-wide operator definition.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising prioritizing one of the routing information separately for one or more services.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

storing routing information related to at least one identity of the first type and at least one identity of the second type in a database; and

prioritizing the routing information in the database.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, comprising:

arranging the search for routing information so that the prioritized routing information is always found before non-prioritized routing information.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, comprising prioritizing the routing information by a database function.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

querying routing information related to the identity; and

prioritizing the routing information in the querying network node.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising querying non-prioritized routing information only if prioritized routing information is not available.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

querying routing information related to the identity of a first type and to the identity of a second type; and

prioritizing by choosing one of the routing information related to the identity of the first type or the routing information related to the identity of the second type.

10. A network element, comprising:

storing means for storing routing information associated with an identity;

searching means for searching for routing information based on an identity that may be interpreted as an identity of a first type or as an identity of a second type;

prioritization means for prioritizing, one of the routing information related to the identity of the first type or the routing information related to the identity of the second type; and

output means for outputting routing information, said output means being arranged to output primarily prioritized routing information.

11. The network element as claimed in claim 10, wherein said prioritization means are arranged to prioritize one of the routing information as a network-wide operator definition.

12. The network element as claimed in claim 10, wherein said prioritization means are arranged to prioritize one of the routing information separately for one or more services.

13. The network element as claimed in claim 10, wherein the storing means are arranged to store the routing information so that prioritized routing information is always found before non-prioritized routing information.

14. The network element as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:

a database function arranged to choose prioritized routing information over non-prioritized routing information.

15. A network element, comprising:

querying means for querying routing information for a request, said querying means being arranged to include in the query an identity that may be interpreted as an identity of a first type or as an identity of a second type;

prioritization means for prioritizing one of routing information related to the identity of the first type orrouting information related to the identity of the second type; and

routing means for routing the request according to prioritized routing information.

16. The network element as claimed in claim 15, wherein said querying means are arranged to query non-prioritized routing information only if prioritized routing information is not available.

17. A computer program embodied in a computer readable medium, the computer program implementing the steps of:

including in a request an identity that may be interpreted as an identity of a first type or as an identity of a second type;

searching for routing information associated with the identity;

prioritizing one of routing information related to the identity of the first type or routing information related to the identity of the second type; and

routing the request by using the prioritized routing information.