Methods, systems, and computer program products for using a location routing number based query and response mechanism to route calls to IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) subscribers

• US 20080198862A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec Global, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: Ravishankar, Venkataramaiah, Bantukul, Apirux, Marsico, Peter J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,213,440 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5084 Providing for device mobility network addressing or numbering for mobility support in wireless networks H04W8/26; mobile IP H04W80/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42297 with number portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/128 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13097 Numbering, addressing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13102 Common translator
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13141 Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13248 Multimedia
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for using an LRN based query and response mechanism (e.g., a switching office number portability processing system) to route calls to IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) subscribers are disclosed. According to one method, an LRN based response message including a communications service subscriber identifier is received. An IMS gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier may be determined. The IMS gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier may be inserted into the LRN based response message and routing the message.

Claims

1. A method for routing a call, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a location routing number (LRN) based response message that includes a first LRN associated with a first network node and a communications service subscriber identifier;

(b) querying a network offload data structure using the communications service subscriber identifier;

(c) inserting an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier into the LRN based response message if an entry in the network offload data structure matches the communications service subscriber identifier; and

(d) routing the LRN based response message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein querying includes searching a database for an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein the entry includes the IMS gateway LRN.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein querying includes:

(a) determining whether an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is located in a first database comprising entries including a plurality of communications service subscriber identifiers and a plurality of associated IMS gateway LRNs, wherein the first database includes communications service subscriber identifier exceptions to ranges of communications service subscriber identifiers in a second database; and

(b) in response to determining that an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is not located in the first database, searching the second database for an entry including a range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein the entry including the range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier includes the IMS gateway LRN.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein inserting the IMS gateway LRN includes replacing an LRN in the number portability response message with the IMS gateway LRN.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein routing the message includes routing the message to an originator of a number portability query message associated with the number portability response message.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the LRN based response message includes intercepting a number portability response message at a network routing node located between a query originating signaling point and a number portability database.

8. A method for routing a call, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a location routing number (LRN) based query message including a communications service subscriber identifier;

(b) querying a network offload data structure using the communications service subscriber identifier;

(c) acquiring an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier if an entry in the network offload data structure matches the communications service subscriber identifier; and

(d) generating an LRN based response message associated with the LRN based query message, wherein the LRN based response message includes the IMS gateway LRN.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the LRN based query message comprises a number portability query message and the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the LRN based query message comprises a send routing information (SRI) query message and the LRN based response message comprises an SRI acknowledgement response message.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein querying includes searching a database for an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein the entry includes the IMS gateway LRN.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein querying includes:

(a) determining whether an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is located in a first database comprising entries including a plurality of communications service subscriber identifiers and a plurality of associated IMS gateway LRNs, wherein the first database includes communications service subscriber identifier exceptions to ranges of communications service subscriber identifiers in a second database; and

(b) in response to determining that an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is not located in the first database, searching the second database for an entry including a range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein the entry including the range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier includes the IMS gateway LRN.

13. The method of claim 9 comprising routing the generated number portability response message.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein routing the generated number portability response message includes routing the message to an originator of a number portability query message associated with the number portability response message.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein receiving the number portability query message includes intercepting the number portability query message at a network routing node located between a query originating signaling point and a number portability database.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising routing the number portability query message to a number portability system if the entry in the network offload data structure does not match the communications service subscriber identifier.

17. A system for routing a call to a subscriber via an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway, the system comprising:

(a) a communications module configured to receive a LRN based response message including a communications service subscriber identifier; and

(b) an IMS offload function configured to determine an IMS gateway location routing number (LRN) associated with the communications service subscriber identifier, configured to insert the IMS gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier into the LRN based response message, and configured to route the LRN based response message.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the IMS offload function is configured to search a database for an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier and wherein the entry includes the IMS gateway LRN.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the IMS offload function is configured to:

(i) determine whether an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is located in a first database comprising entries including a plurality of communications service subscriber identifiers and a plurality of associated IMS gateway LRNs, wherein the first database includes communications service subscriber identifier exceptions to ranges of communications service subscriber identifiers in a second database; and

(ii) search the second database, in response to determining that an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is not located in the first database, for an entry including a range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein entry including the range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier includes the IMS gateway LRN.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein the IMS offload function is configured to replace an LRN in the number portability response message with the IMS gateway LRN.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein the IMS offload function is configured to route the number portability response message to an originator of a number portability query message associated with the number portability response message.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein the communications module is adapted to intercept the number portability response message at a routing node located between a query originating signaling point and a number portability database.

24. A system for routing a call to a subscriber via an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway, the system comprising:

(a) a communications module configured to receive a location routing number (LRN) based query message including a communications service subscriber identifier; and

(b) an IMS offload function configured to;

(i) determine an IMS gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier; and

(ii) generate an LRN based response message associated with the LRN based query message and including the IMS gateway LRN in response to determining the IMS gateway LRN.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the LRN based query message comprises a number portability query message and the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the LRN based query message comprises a send routing information (SRI) query message and the LRN based response message comprises an SRI acknowledgement response message.

27. The system of claim 24 wherein the IMS offload function is configured to search a database for an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier and wherein the entry includes the IMS gateway LRN.

28. The system of claim 24 wherein the IMS offload function is configured for:

(a) determining whether an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is located in a first database comprising entries including a plurality of communications service subscriber identifiers and a plurality of associated IMS gateway LRNs, wherein the first database includes communications service subscriber identifier exceptions to ranges of communications service subscriber identifiers in a second database; and

(b) in response to determining that an entry including the communications service subscriber identifier is not located in the first database, searching the second database for an entry including a range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier, wherein the entry including the range of communications service subscriber identifiers with the communications service subscriber identifier includes the IMS gateway LRN.

29. The system of claim 25 further wherein the IMS offload function is further configured to route the generated number portability response message.

30. The system of claim 25 wherein the generated number portability response message is routed to an originator of the number portability query message associated with the generated number portability response message.

31. The system of claim 25 wherein the communications module is adapted to intercept the number portability query message at a routing node located between a query originating signaling point and a number portability database.

32. The system of claim 25 wherein the IMS offload function is further adapted to:

(a) buffer the communications service subscriber identifier and requisite transaction identification information that permits a matching of the number portability query message with the associated number portability response message; and

(b) utilize the buffered communications service identifier to search the database after the associated number portability response message is received.

33. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:

(a) receiving a location routing number (LRN) based response message that includes a first LRN associated with a first network node and a communications service subscriber identifier;

(b) querying a network offload data structure using the communications service subscriber identifier;

(c) inserting an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier into the LRN based response message if an entry in the network offload data structure matches the communications service subscriber identifier; and

(d) routing the LRN based response message.

34. The computer program product of claim 33 wherein the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

35. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:

(a) receiving a location routing number (LRN) based query message including a communications service subscriber identifier;

(b) querying a network offload data structure using the communications service subscriber identifier;

(c) acquiring an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) gateway LRN associated with the communications service subscriber identifier if an entry in the network offload data structure matches the communications service subscriber identifier; and

(d) generating an LRN based response message associated with the LRN based query message, wherein the LRN based response message includes the IMS gateway LRN.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the LRN based query message comprises a number portability query message and the LRN based response message comprises a number portability response message.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the LRN based query message comprises a send routing information (SRI) query message and the LRN based response message comprises an SRI acknowledgement response message.