Home location register for a mobile telecommunications network

• US 6,360,095 B1
• Filed: 09/24/1998
• Issued: 03/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Markport Limited (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Markport Limited (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Collins, Augustine, Dillon, Aidan, Cunningham, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Simon
• Application Number:
  US09/169,929
• Time in Patent Office: 1,272 Days
• Field of Search: 455/433, 455/507, 455/517, 455/412, 455/403, 455/424, 455/560, 455/435
• US Class Current: 455/433
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 Backbone network devices

Abstract

A HLR (10) has a bus (11) which interconnects a NAP layer (12), a DBS layer (13) and an OMP layer (14). All accesses to a memory database (26) are through a single channel—the associated DBS (25) with associated databases (26, 27). Each NAP (20) has a directory service (21) identifying the active DB (26) for each item of subscriber data. Each DBS (25) has a shadow DBS (25) to which it automatically writes for real time synchronization.

Claims

1. A mobile telecommunications network home location register comprising:

a high speed bus;

at least two database servers, each directly connected to a memory database of subscriber data, and connected to the bus;

at least one network access processor connected to the bus and comprising means for accessing subscriber data on the memory database via the bus and the database servers;

a maintenance processor having operator interfaces, being connected to the bus, and comprising means for accessing subscriber data on the memory databases via the bus and the database servers;

a storage database for storing data to be updated;

wherein the network access processor comprises means for performing a transaction-oriented commit for updating a memory database whereby an update is not committed by the database server until the network access processor ends the transaction; and

wherein the network access processor includes a directory service indicating location of subscriber data on the memory databases.

2. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein the maintenance processor comprises means for updating the directory service.

3. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein each item of subscriber data is stored in an active location on one memory database and also in a shadow location on a different memory database.

4. The home location register as claimed in claim 3, wherein the directory service of the network access processor identifies the database server having access to the memory database storing the active locations for each item of subscriber data.

5. The home location register as claimed in claim 4, wherein the database servers each comprise means for dynamically updating the shadow locations upon updating the associated active locations.

6. The home location register as claimed in claim 5, wherein the database server comprises means for updating the shadow locations according to one of a plurality of pre-stored schemes according to desired performance and security levels.

7. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network access processor comprises means for uploading bus status and error signals to the maintenance processor.

8. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein the maintenance processor comprises means for partitioning the subscriber data between memory databases by control of the database servers.

9. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein the maintenance processor is directly connected to the storage database and comprises means for accessing the memory databases via the database servers to update the storage database.

10. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein the maintenance processor comprises means for replicating the subscriber data in the storage database.

11. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary processor connected to the bus and comprising means for accessing subscriber data in the memory databases via the bus and the database servers.

12. The home location register as claimed in claim 1, wherein each database server comprises a core connected to a database handler, in turn connected to the memory database and to a plurality of external handlers connected to the bus.

13. The home location register as claimed in claim 12, wherein the core comprises a plurality of finite state machine dialogue handlers, each for performing core operations of a single transaction at one time.

14. The home location register as claimed in claim 13, wherein an external handler comprises means for activating a dialogue handler upon receipt of a transaction request, and means for identifying by way of a parameter value the transaction and the dialogue handler.

15. The home location register as claimed in claim 13, wherein the external handler, the dialogue handler and the database handler comprise means for identifying subscriber data retrieved in the transaction as an object having an identifier and a server memory location.

16. The home location register as claimed in claim 15, wherein the dialogue handler comprises means for identifying the external handler for a particular transaction by way of a temporary identifier.

17. A mobile telecommunications network home location register comprising:

at least two database servers, each directly connected to a memory database of subscriber data, and connected to the bus;

at least one network access processor connected to the bus and comprising means for accessing subscriber data on the memory database via the bus and the database servers;

a maintenance processor having operator interfaces, being connected to the bus, and comprising means for accessing subscriber data on the memory databases via the bus and the database servers;

a storage database for storing data to be updated;

wherein each database server comprises means for identifying dirty subscriber data items, namely those which have not been updated to the storage database;

wherein each database server comprises means for determining if any item has been updated to the storage database if a request is received from the maintenance processor for a subsequent item to be updated;

wherein the dirty items are identified by a flag within each item; and

wherein the network access processor comprises a directory service indicating location of subscriber data on the memory databases.

18. The home location register as claimed in claim 17, wherein each database server comprises means for immediately changing the flag to a clean status after transmitting the item to the maintenance processor to update the storage database, and for setting it again to a dirty status if a negative response is received from the maintenance processor.