METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A DISTRIBUTED ROAMING MASTER (DRM) IN WIRELESS DATA NETWORKS

• US 20110039518A1
• Filed: 08/14/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maria, Arturo
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,308 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/406
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A system and methodology that can facilitate communication between home and roaming radio access networks by employing IP-based messaging is provided. The system employs a Distributed Roaming Master (DRM) that facilitates authentication and/or authorization of roaming UEs (user equipment) by employing information, which can be downloaded from a home carrier-DRM over an IP network, in advance or in real time. Further, the DRM can utilize the downloaded information to route data packets between authorized roaming UEs and end-destinations, over the IP network. Furthermore, the system can implement Distributed Roaming Servers (DRS), which can be distributed at strategic points in the radio access networks and can perform a subset of functions performed by the DRM. Additionally, the system can include a Distributed Roaming Configuration Server (DRCS) that facilitates management and configuration of the DRM and/or DRSs based on one or more records stored in a Distributed Roaming Security Catalog (DRSC).

Claims

1. A system that provides a Distributed Roaming Technology Architecture (DRTA) that connects multiple radio access carrier networks, comprising:

a first Distributed Roaming Master (DRM) within a first radio access carrier network, that at least one of authenticates or authorizes a roaming User Equipment (UE), which subscribes to a second radio access carrier network, based in part on an analysis of data from a profile associated with the roaming UE, the profile downloaded from a second DRM within the second radio access carrier network over an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising, a data store, local to the first DRM, that stores information associated with the roaming UE, the information includes at least one of roaming profiles, security attributes, Access Point Name (APN) profile or catalogs.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein, the information is downloaded to the data store from the second DRM via IP-based messages at least one of periodically, based on a schedule, or on demand.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein, the first DRM facilitates communication between the roaming UE and an end-destination via IP-based messaging by employing at least a subset of the stored information.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a billing component that tracks billing records for roaming utilization by the roaming UE by monitoring the communication; and

a priority component that at least one of assigns or implements a Quality of Service (QoS) priority for the roaming UE.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein, the first DRM establishes via the IP network a network-to-network virtual private network (NTN-VPN )by employing at least a subset of the stored information and securely delivers data packets between the roaming UE and an end-destination.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising, one or more Distributed Roaming Servers (DRSs) that are distributed at strategic points in the first radio access carrier network, the DRSs perform a subset of functions performed by the first DRM and provide an IP interface that is utilized for communication with network elements of disparate radio access carrier networks by employing IP-based messaging.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising,

a Distributed Roaming Security Catalog (DRSC) that stores at least one of a security profile or configuration parameter;

and

a Distributed Roaming Configuration Server (DRCS) that at least one of provisions or facilitates management of at least one of the first or second DRM by utilizing the stored at least one of a security profile or configuration parameter.

9. A method that facilitates communication between home and roaming carrier networks associated with a first user equipment (UE) by employing Internet Protocol (IP)-based messaging, comprising:

receiving information associated with the first UE from a Distributed Roaming Master (DRM) in a home carrier network of the first UE over an IP network, when the first UE is visiting a roaming carrier network; and

employing the received information to facilitate at least one of authentication of the first UE, authorization of the first UE, or communication between the first UE and an end-destination over the IP network.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, querying the DRM for information associated with the first UE by employing IP messages.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising, storing the received information in a local data store.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving information includes receiving information at least one of periodically, based on a schedule, or in real-time.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving information includes receiving at least one of a roaming profile, a security attribute, an Access Point Name (APN) profile or a catalog associated with the first UE.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising, establishing a network-to-network virtual private network (NTN-VPN) via the IP network by employing at least a subset of the received information and securely delivering data packets between the first UE and the end-destination.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising, storing at least one of a security profile or configuration parameter defined by a network operator.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining a schedule to update one or more DRMs; and

updating the one or more DRMs based in part on the determined schedule.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising, delivering data associated with a second UE, which subscribes to the roaming carrier network, to a DRM within a disparate carrier network by employing IP-based messages, wherein the data facilitates at least one of authentication of, authorization of, or routing of data packets from, the second UE, when the second UE is roaming within the disparate carrier network.

18. A system that provides gateway services to a roaming subscriber user equipment (UE) comprising:

means for querying a Distributed Roaming Master (DRM), located within in a home carrier network, over an Internet Protocol (IP) network for information associated with the roaming subscriber UE, the means for querying located within a roaming carrier network;

means for receiving and storing the information; and

means for analyzing the information to at least one of authenticate or authorize the roaming subscriber UE.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising, means for routing of data packets between the roaming subscriber UE and an end-user enterprise server via IP-based messages, based in part on the received information.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising,

means for establishing a network-to-network virtual private network (NTN-VPN) via the IP network based in part on the received information;

and

means for exchanging data packets between the roaming subscriber UE and the end-user enterprise server via the NTN-VPN.