System and Method for Controlling Advanced Triggering Operations in a Telecommunication Network

• US 20140036774A1
• Filed: 08/01/2013
• Published: 02/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Openet Telecom Limited (Amdocs Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Openet Telecom Limited (Amdocs Ltd.)
• Inventors: LEHANE, Bart, DUNNE, Cameron Ross
• Granted Patent: US 9,641,958 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/24 preventing metering of tax-free calls to certain lines, e.g. to fire or ambulance stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A network server may be configured to generate, modify, augment, communicate, and/or manage the triggers and signaling communications so that they may be processed and communicated in a more intelligent, efficient, and/or cost effective manner than that which is available via conventional solutions. The network server may receive a trigger communication message that includes trigger parameters and information suitable for causing a destination device to automatically initiate an operation, determining a criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message, monitoring a condition to determine whether the criterion has been satisfied, and send the trigger communication message to the destination device when it is determined that the criterion has been satisfied.

Claims

1. A method of communicating triggers in a telecommunication network, comprising:

receiving in a processor a trigger communication message from a source device, the trigger communication message including trigger parameters and information suitable for causing a destination device to automatically initiate an operation;

determining a criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message;

monitoring a condition to determine whether the criterion has been satisfied; and

sending the trigger communication message to the destination device when it is determined that the criterion has been satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device comprises scheduling the trigger communication message for transmission at a future time; and

monitoring the condition to determine whether the criterion has been satisfied comprises monitoring a clock to determine whether a current time is equal to the future time at which the trigger communication message is scheduled for transmission.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message comprises determining one of:

a time-based criterion;

a cost-based criterion;

a data volume-based criterion;

a priority-based criterion; and

a group-based criterion.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving policy information from a component in the telecommunication network, wherein determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device comprises:

determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message and the received policy information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message and the received policy information comprises determining a time period during which the trigger communication message should be transmitted to the destination device to reduce network congestion and meet a maximum allowable time requirement included in the trigger parameters.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message and the received policy information comprises determining a time period during which the trigger communication message should be transmitted to the destination device to reduce an amount billed to a charging account associated with the source device and meet a maximum allowable time requirement included in the trigger parameters.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving charging information via a charging based interface.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving policy information from a policy control rules function (PCRF) component via a policy based interface.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the trigger communication message includes a pseudonym identity value;

using the pseudonym identity value included in the trigger communication message to retrieve a hardware-based identity value from memory when it is determined that the trigger communication message includes a pseudonym identity; and

updating the trigger communication message by replacing the pseudonym identity value with the retrieved hardware-based identity value,

wherein sending the trigger communication message to the destination device comprises sending the updated trigger communication message to the destination device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a response communication message that includes a hardware-based identity value from the destination device in response to sending the trigger communication message to the destination device;

determining whether a pseudonym identity should be used for the received response communication message;

generating a pseudonym identity value when it is determined that a pseudonym identity should be used for the response communication message;

storing the generated pseudonym identity value in memory in association with the hardware-based identity value included the response communication message;

updating the response communication message by replacing the hardware-based identity value with the generated pseudonym identity value; and

sending the response communication message to the source device.

11. A server computing device comprising:

a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving a trigger communication message from a source device, the trigger communication message including trigger parameters and information suitable for causing a destination device to automatically initiate an operation;

determining a criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message;

monitoring a condition to determine whether the criterion has been satisfied; and

sending the trigger communication message to the destination device when it is determined that the criterion has been satisfied.

12. The server computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message comprises determining one of:

a time-based criterion;

a cost-based criterion;

a data volume-based criterion;

a priority-based criterion; and

a group-based criterion.

13. The server computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising receiving policy information from a component in a telecommunication network, and wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device comprises:

determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message and the received policy information.

14. The server computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving charging information via a charging based interface.

15. The server computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving policy information from a policy control rules function (PCRF) component via a policy based interface.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a trigger communication message from a source device, the trigger communication message including trigger parameters and information suitable for causing a destination device to automatically initiate an operation;

determining a criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message;

monitoring a condition to determine whether the criterion has been satisfied; and

sending the trigger communication message to the destination device when it is determined that the criterion has been satisfied.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message comprises determining one of:

a time-based criterion;

a cost-based criterion;

a data volume-based criterion;

a priority-based criterion; and

a group-based criterion.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations further comprising receiving policy information from a component in a telecommunication network, and wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device comprises:

determining the criterion for sending the trigger communication message to the destination device based on the trigger parameters included in the trigger communication message and the received policy information.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving charging information via a charging based interface.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving policy information from the component in the telecommunication network comprises receiving policy information from a policy control rules function (PCRF) component via a policy based interface.