DYNAMIC INTERNET PROTOCOL REGISTRY FOR MOBILE INTERNET PROTOCOL BASED COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20110282931A1
• Filed: 05/17/2010
• Published: 11/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaikh, Imtiyaz, CHEN, Xuming, Li, Mingxing
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,523 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/375 Access point names [APN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/654 International mobile subscriber identity [IMSI] numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers

Abstract

A server device configured to store an Internet protocol (IP) registry, the registry includes information for a user device, the information includes particular identifiers for the user device, an IP address for the user device, and a particular access point name (APN), where the particular APN corresponds to a service, an application, a network, or data used by the user device; receive a query that includes identifiers and an APN; perform, using the IP registry, an operation to identify the information, for the user device, based on the identifiers and the APN; obtain the information for the user device, when the identifiers match the particular identifiers stored in the IP registry and when the APN matches the particular APN stored in the IP registry; and send, to an application server, the information for the user device, where the IP address permits the application server to communicate with the user device.

Claims

1. A method, performed by a server device, comprising:

storing, in a memory associated with the server device, an Internet protocol (IP) registry, the IP registry including a plurality of data items for each of a plurality of user devices, the plurality of data items, for a particular user device, of the plurality of user devices, including identification information for the particular user device, an IP address for the particular user device, a particular access point name (APN), and a port number associated with a gateway server, where the particular APN corresponds to a service, an application, a network, or data used by the particular user device;

receiving, by the server device and from an application server, an IP address query, the IP address query including identification information and an APN;

performing, by the server device and using the IP registry, a look up operation to identify the plurality of data items based on the received identification information and the received APN;

obtaining, by the server device, the plurality of data items for the particular user device, when the received identification information matches the identification information, for the particular user device, stored in the IP registry and when the received APN matches the particular APN stored in the IP registry; and

sending, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the plurality of data items for the particular user device, where the IP address and the port number permit the application server to communicate with the user device via the gateway server.

2. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of data items, for the particular user device of the plurality of user devices, includes time to release (TTR) information, the TTR information including a particular point in time when the IP address expires;

and

where obtaining the plurality of data items for the particular user device includes;

determining that the TTR is less than or equal to a particular threshold;

sending, to the gateway server, a request for another IP address, associated with the particular user device, based on the determination that the TTR is less than or equal to the particular threshold, the request including the identification information, for the particular user device, and the particular APN;

receiving, from the gateway server, the other IP address and another TTR associated with the other IP address; and

sending, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the other IP address and the other TTR.

3. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of data items, for the particular user device of the plurality of user devices, includes time to release (TTR) information, the TTR information including a particular point in time when the IP address expires, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the application server, a first request to extend the TTR, the first request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN;

sending, to the gateway server, a second request to extend the TTR, the second request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN;

receiving, from the gateway server, another TTR associated with the IP address; and

sending, to the application server, the other TTR, associated with the IP address, in response to the first request to extend the TTR.

4. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of data items, for the particular user device of the plurality of user devices, includes time to release (TTR) information, the TTR information including a particular point in time when the IP address expires, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the application server, a request to extend the TTR, the request including the identification information for the particular user device, the particular APN, and a period of time by which the TTR is to be extended;

determining whether the period of time is less than or equal to a particular threshold;

extending the TTR based on another period of time when the period of time is less than or equal to the particular threshold;

sending, to the gateway server, a notification indicating that the TTR was extended based on the other period of time, the notification including the identification information for the particular user device, and the particular APN; and

sending the notification to the application server in response to the request to extend the TTR.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

sending another request to extend the TTR to the gateway server when the period of time is greater than the particular threshold, the other request including the identification information for the particular user device, the particular APN, and the period of time by which the TTR is to be extended;

receiving, from the gateway server, an extended TTR associated with the IP address; and

sending the extended TTR, the identification information for the particular user device, and the particular APN to the application server in response to the request to extend the TTR.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the application server, a first notification indicating that a communication with the user device is complete, the first notification including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN;

sending, to the gateway server, a second notification that the communication with the user device is complete, the second notification including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN; and

receiving, from the gateway server, an extended TTR associated with the IP address.

7. The method of claim 1, where the identification information for the particular user device includes a public identifier or a private identifier, where the public identifier is a mobile subscriber integrated services digital network number and where the private identifier is an international mobile subscriber identity.

8. A server comprising:

a memory to store an Internet protocol (IP) registry, the IP registry including data for each of a plurality of user devices, the data, for a particular user device, of the plurality of user devices, including identification information for the particular user device, an IP address for the particular user device, a time-to-release (TTR) corresponding to the IP address, a particular access point name (APN), and a port number associated with a gateway server, where the particular APN corresponds to a service, an application, a network or data associated with the particular user device; and

a processor to;

receive, from an application server, an IP address query that includes identification information and an APN,

perform a look up operation, using the IP registry, to identify the data, for the particular user device when the received identification information matches the identification information, for the particular user device, stored in the IP registry and when the received APN matches the particular APN stored in the IP registry,

determine whether to extend the TTR, obtained from the data, based on the TTR and a particular threshold,

perform an operation to extend the TTR, by a period of time, to obtain an extended TTR when the TTR is less than or equal to the particular threshold, and

sending, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the data for the particular user device and the extended TTR, where the IP address and the port number permit the application server to communicate with the user device via the gateway server.

9. The server of claim 8, where, when performing the operation to extend the TTR to obtain the extended TTR, the processor is further to:

send, to the gateway server, a request to extend the TTR, the request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN, and

receive, from the gateway server, the extended TTR associated with the IP address.

10. The server of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

send, to the gateway server, a request for another IP address, associated with the particular user device, when the TTR is less than or equal to the particular threshold, the request including the identification information, for the particular user device, and the particular APN,

receive, from the gateway server, the other IP address and another TTR associated with the other IP address, and

send, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the other IP address and the other TTR.

11. The server of claim, 8, where, when performing the operation to extend the TTR to obtain an extended TTR, the processor is to:

extend the TTR by the period of time, and

send, to the gateway server, a notification indicating that the TTR was extended, the notification including the identification information for the particular user device, the period of time, and the particular APN.

12. The server of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

send, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the data for the particular user device when the TTR is greater than the particular threshold, where the IP address and the port number permit the application server to communicate with the user device via the gateway server.

13. The server of claim 8, where, when sending the data for the particular user device, the processor is to:

compare the TTR, obtained from the data, with the particular threshold,

determine that the IP address has not expired when the TTR is greater than the particular threshold, and

send, to the application server and in response to the IP address query, the data for the particular user device based on the determination that the IP address has not expired, where the IP address and the port number permit the application server to communicate with the user device via the gateway server.

14. The server of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the application server, a first request to extend the TTR, the first request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN,

send, to the gateway server, a second request to extend the TTR, the second request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN,

receive, from the gateway server, another extended TTR associated with the IP address, and

sending, to the application server, the other extended TTR, corresponding to the IP address, in response to the first request to extend the TTR.

15. The server of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the application server, a request to extend the TTR, the request including the identification information for the particular user device, the particular APN, and a particular period of time by which the TTR is to be extended,

determine whether the particular period of time is less than or equal to another particular threshold,

extend the TTR by another period of time when the particular period of time is less than the other particular threshold,

send, to the gateway server, a notification indicating that the TTR was extended by the other period of time, the notification including the identification information for the particular user device, and the particular APN, and

send the notification to the application server in response to the request to extend the TTR.

16. The server of claim 8, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the application server, a request to extend the TTR, the request including the identification information for the particular user device, the particular APN, and a particular period of time by which the TTR is to be extended,

determine whether the particular period of time is less than or equal to another particular threshold,

send, to the gateway server, another request to extend the TTR when the period of time is greater than the other particular threshold, the request including the identification information for the particular user device, the particular APN, and the particular period of time by which the TTR is to be extended,

receive, from the gateway server, another extended TTR associated with the IP address, and

send, to the application server, the other extended TTR, the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN in response to the request to extend the TTR.

17. A system comprising:

a first server device to;

store, in a memory associated with the server device, an Internet protocol (IP) registry, the IP registry including a plurality of data items for each of a plurality of user devices, the plurality of data items, for a particular user device of the plurality of user devices, including identification information for the particular user device, an IP address for the particular user device, time-to-release (TTR) corresponding to the IP address, a particular access point name (APN), and port information regarding a gateway server, where the particular APN corresponds to a service, an application, a network, or data associated with the particular user device; and

receive, from a second server device, an IP address query that includes identification information and an APN,

identify, using the IP registry, the plurality of data items for the particular user device, when the received identification information matches the identification information for the particular user device stored in the IP registry and when the received APN matches the particular APN stored in the IP registry,

send, to the second server device and in response to the IP address query, the plurality of data items for the particular user device, where the IP address and the port information permit the second server device to communicate with the user device via the gateway server,

receive, from the second server device, a request to extend the TTR corresponding to the IP address,

obtain an extended TTR corresponding to the IP address and in response to the request, the extended TTR extending the TTR by a period of time, and

send the extended TTR to the second server device.

18. The system of claim 17, where the request to extend the TTR includes a particular period of time by which the second server device requests to communicate with the user device;

and

where, when obtaining the extended TTR, the first server device is further to;

determine whether to generate the extended TTR or to retrieve the extended TTR, from the gateway server, based on the particular period of time and a particular threshold,

when the particular period of time is greater than the particular threshold;

send, to the gateway server, the other request to extend the TTR, the other request including the particular period of time, identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN, and

receive, from the gateway server, the extended TTR, and

when the particular period of time is less than or equal to the particular threshold;

generate the extended TTR by extending the TTR by the particular period of time.

19. The system of claim 17, where, when identifying the plurality of data items for the particular user device, the first server device is further to:

compare the TTR, corresponding to the IP address, obtained from the identified plurality of data items, with a particular threshold, and

determine that the IP address has not expired when the TTR is greater than the particular threshold.

20. The system of claim 17, where, when identifying the plurality of data items for the particular user device, the first server device is further to:

determine that the IP address has expired when the TTR, corresponding to the IP address, is less than or equal to a particular threshold,

extend the TTR by the period of time to create another extended TTR based on the determination that the IP address has expired, and

send the other extended TTR to the second application server device.

21. The system of claim 17, where, when identifying the plurality of data items for the particular user device, the first server device is further to:

determine that the IP address has expired when the TTR, corresponding to the IP address, is less than or equal to a particular threshold,

send, to the gateway server, another request for another IP address associated with the particular user device, the other request including the identification information, for the particular user device, and the particular APN,

receive, from the gateway server, the other IP address and another TTR associated with the other IP address, and

send, to the second server device and in response to the IP address query, the other IP address and the other TTR.

22. The system of claim 17, where, when identifying the plurality of data items for the particular user device, the first server device is further to:

compare the TTR corresponding to the IP address with a particular threshold,

determine that the IP address has expired when the TTR is less than or equal to the particular threshold,

send, to the gateway server, another request to extend the TTR when the IP address is determined to have expired, the request including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN,

receive, from the gateway server, another extended TTR associated with the IP address, and

send, to the second server device and in response to the IP address query, the other extended TTR.

23. The system of claim 17, where the first server device is further to:

receive, from the second server device, a first notification indicating that a communication with the user device is complete, the first notification including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN, and

send, to the gateway server, a second notification that the communication with the user device is complete, the second notification including the identification information for the particular user device and the particular APN.

24. The system of claim 17, where the first server device is further to:

receive, from the gateway server associated with the user device, the plurality of data items, for the particular user device, and

store the plurality of data items, for the particular user device, in the IP registry.

25. The system of claim 17, where the first server device is further to:

receive, from the gateway server associated with the user device,the plurality of data items, for the particular user device, the plurality of data items including;

the identification information for the particular user device,

two or more IP address for the particular user device,

one or more TTRs corresponding to the two or more IP addresses, each TTR, of the one or more TTRs, corresponding to one of the two or more IP addresses,

one or more APNs corresponding to the two or more IP addresses, each APN, of the one or more APNs, corresponding to the one of the two or more IP addresses, and

one or more port numbers associated with the gateway server, each port number, of the one or more port numbers, corresponding to the one of the two or more IP addresses, and

store the plurality of data items, for the particular user device, in the IP registry.