Methods and systems for providing universal triggerless number portability

• US 6,647,113 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Issued: 11/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tekelec Global, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: Allison, Rick L., McCann, Thomas Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, CREIGHTON H
• Application Number:
  US09/823,061
• Publication Number:
  US 20010040957A1
• Time in Patent Office: 956 Days
• Field of Search: 379/221.13, 379/207.02, 379/201.01, 379/219, 379/220.01, 379/221.08, 379/221.09, 379/221.1, 379/221.12, 379/221.14, 379/229, 379/230
• US Class Current: 379/221.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers

Abstract

A universal triggerless number portability routing node receives a first call setup message from an end office. The triggerless number portability routing node may examine a first routing number (RN) value contained in the first call setup message to determine whether the first RN is a home RN value. If the first RN is determined to be a home RN value, a number portability database lookup is performed based on the called party dialed number. Once a number portability lookup is performed, the call setup message is modified to include a second RN value returned by the NP database, and the modified call setup message is routed to a destination node, which may be a tandem gateway or an end office/mobile switching center.

Claims

1. A universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of a first parameter for storing number portability status information, wherein, if the first parameter is determined to be present, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on the first parameter, and wherein, if the first parameter is determined not to be present, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to analyze the first message for the presence of a second parameter for storing number portability status information, the second parameter being different from the first parameter, and, if the second parameter is present, to determine whether to perform the lookup in the number portability database based of the second parameter.

8. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the NP database associates dialed numbers in received messages with individual routing numbers of tandem or end offices.

9. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the NP database associates individual routing numbers extracted from received messages with blocks or ranges of routing numbers associated with tandem offices or end offices.

10. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the home RN process has access to a database of RN values that correspond to signaling points in the home network of the universal TNP routing node.

19. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the first parameter includes a number portability forward information (NPFI) parameter, and in response to determining that the NPFI parameter is present in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform the number portability lookup if the NPFI parameter indicates that the dialed number in the first message has been ported or that a number portability lookup has not been performed for the first message.

20. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform the number portability database lookup only in response to determining that a number portability status indicator present in the first message indicates at least one of:

(a) that the number has been ported, and

(b) that a number portability database lookup has not been performed for the first message.

21. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the second parameter includes a nature of address parameter and the tiggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether predetermined number portability status indicator values are present in the nature of address parameter.

22. The universal TNP routing node of claim 21 wherein, in response to determining that a predetermined number portability status indicator value is present for the NOA parameter in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to perform the lookup in the number portability database if the NOA parameter indicates that the called party number has been ported.

23. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein if no number portability status can be determined for the first message, then the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine to perform a number portability database lookup by default.

24. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein if no number portability status can be determined for the first message, then the triggerless number portability process is adapted to route the first message to its destination without modification.

25. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to route the first message to another node without performing a lookup in the number portability database if the home RN process determines that the first RN corresponds to a node in a non-home network.

29. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the number portability database is located on a second communication module within the same housing as the first communication module.

30. The universal TNP routing node of claim 1 wherein the number portability database is located on a second communication module located in a different housing from the first communication module.

51. The method of claim 1 wherein the first parameter includes a number portability forward information (NPFI) parameter and the second parameter includes a nature of address (NOA) parameter storing number portability status information.

2. A universal triggerless number portability routing (TNP) node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number, wherein the first communication module is a message transfer part (MTP)/signaling system 7 (SS7) capable link interface module (LIM);

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message.

3. A universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number, wherein the first communication module is an Internet protocol (IP)/transport adapter layer interface (TALI) capable data communication module (DCM);

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message.

4. A universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number, wherein the first communication module is a data communication module implementing the stream control transmission protocol and one or more user adaptation layers for adapting SS7 traffic to a steam control transmission protocol;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message.

5. The universal TNP routing node of claim 4 wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 MTP level 2 user adaptation layer.

6. The universal TNP routing node of claim 4 wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 MTP level 3 user adaptation layer.

7. The universal TNP routing node of claim 4 wherein the data communication module implements an SS7 SCCP user adaptation layer.

11. A universal a triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message, wherein, in response to determining to perform the lookup in the number portability database, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to perform the lookup based on the called party dialed number and to modify the first message to include a second routing number extracted from the number portability database instead of the first routing number.

12. The universal TNP routing node of claim 11 wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to modify any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message after performing the lookup in the number portability database.

13. The universal TNP routing node of claim 11 wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to modify the first message to include the second RN by attaching the second RN to the called party dialed number in the called party address of the first message.

14. The universal TNP routing node of claim 11 wherein the triggerless number portability process is adapted to examine a carrier selection parameter in the first message to determine whether carrier selection is invoked for the message as a condition to performing the lookup in the number portability database.

15. The universal TNP routing node of claim 14 wherein, in response to determining that a carrier selection parameter is present in the first message, the triggerless number portability process is adapted to determine whether a carrier ID in the first message corresponds to the service provider that owns the universal TNP routing node.

16. The universal TNP routing node of claim 15 wherein the triggerless number portability process performs the number portability database lookup only in response to determining that the carrier ID corresponds to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

17. The universal TNP routing node of claim 14 wherein the triggerless number portability process routes the first message without modification to its original destination in response to determining that the carrier ID does not correspond to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

26. The universal TNP routing node of claim 14 wherein the second RN corresponds to a tandem gateway serving a plurality of end offices.

27. The universal TNP routing node of claim 14 wherein the second RN corresponds to an end office (EO).

28. The universal TNP routing node of claim 14 wherein the second RN corresponds to a mobile switching center (MSC).

18. A universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message to determine whether a number portability translation has already been performed for the first message, and, in response to determining that a number portability translation has already been performed for the first message, performing another number portability translation for the first message.

31. The universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node comprising:

(a) first communication module for receiving a first message from a first end office over a first communications network, the first message including a dialed number;

(b) a number portability (NP) database containing routing numbers (RNs) for signaling points serving ported subscribers;

(c) a home routing number (HRN) process for receiving the first message from the first communication module, determining whether a first routing number (RN) in the first message is associated with a signaling point in a home network, and for forwarding the first message for further number portability processing only if the first RN is associated with a signaling point in the home network; and

(d) a triggerless number portability process for receiving the first message from the HRN process, analyzing the first message for the presence of one or more number portability status indicators, and determining whether to perform a lookup in the number portability database based on any of the number portability status indicators determined to be present in the first message; and

(e) a gateway screening process for determining whether the first message is a call setup message to specific network nodes and whether the first message is a call setup message from specific network nodes by examining at least one of a service indicator octet (SIO) parameter, an originating point code (OPC) parameter, and a destination point code (DPC) parameter contained within the first message.

32. A routing node capable of performing number portability processing for call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators, the routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators; and

(b) a second communication module for receiving the call setup messages from the first communication module, analyzing the number portability status indicators, and for determining whether a number portability database lookup is required based on the number portability status indicators.

33. A routing node capable of performing number portability processing for call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators, the routing node comprising:

(a) a first communication module for receiving call setup messages including a variety of different number portability status indicators; and

(b) a second communication module for receiving the call setup messages from the first communication module, analyzing the number portability status indicators, and for determining whether a number portability database lookup is required based on the number portability status indicators, wherein the second communication module is adapted to analyze the call setup messages for the presence of number portability status indicators in all of the following fields present in the call setup messages;

the nature of address indicator, the routing number, and the number portability forward information parameter.

34. A method for use in a universal triggerless number portability (TNP) routing node for processing call signaling messages associated with ported subscribers, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a first call setup message including a dialed number;

(b) determining whether a first routing number (RN) is contained in the first call setup message, and in response to determining that the first routing number is contained within the first call setup message, determining whether the first RN is a home RN;

(c) in response to determining that the first RN is a home RN, performing a lookup in a number portability (NP) database based on the dialed number;

(d) extracting, from the number portability database, a second RN for a signaling point identified by the dialed number;

(e) modifying the first call setup message to include the second routing number in lieu of the first routing number; and

(f) routing the first call setup message to the signaling point.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein receiving a first call setup message includes receiving an ISDN user part initial address message (ISUP IAM).

36. The method of claim 34 wherein receiving a first call setup message includes receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) INVITE message.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein determining whether a first RN is a home RN includes performing a lookup in a home RN database resident within the universal TNP routing node.

38. The method of claim 34 wherein determining whether a first RN is a home RN includes performing a lookup in a home RN database external to the universal TNP routing node.

39. The method of claim 34 wherein performing a lookup in an NP database includes performing a lookup in an NP database resident within the universal TNP routing node.

40. The method of claim 34 wherein performing a lookup in an NP database includes performing a lookup in an NP database external to the universal TNP routing node.

41. The method of claim 34 wherein modifying the message to include the second RN includes pre-pending the second RN to the first RN.

42. The method of claim 34 comprising determining whether the first call setup message includes carrier selection information.

43. The method of claim 42 comprising, in response to determining that the first call setup message includes carrier selection information, determining whether the carrier selection information indicates that the first call setup message is to be processed by a carrier that owns the universal TNP routing node.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein performing the lookup in the number portability database comprises performing the lookup in response to determining that the carrier selection indicates that the first call setup message is to be processed by the carrier that owns the universal TNP routing node.

45. The method of claim 43 wherein the number portability process routes the first call setup message without modification to its original destination in response to determining that the carrier ID does not correspond to the service provider that owns the universal triggerless number portability routing node.

46. The method of claim 34 wherein the first RN is associated with a tandem office (TO).

47. The method of claim 34 wherein the second RN is associated with an end office (EO).

48. The method of claim 34 wherein the second RN is associated with a mobile switching center (MSC).

49. A method for number portability processing, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a call setup message including a dialed number and a routing number for a tandem gateway in a called party address field of the call setup message;

(b) analyzing the call setup message to determine whether number portability processing is required for the first message;

(c) in response to determining that number portability processing is required for the call setup message, performing a lookup in a number portability database based on the dialed number and returning a routing number corresponding to an end office or mobile switching center (MSC);

(d) replacing the routing number of the tandem gateway in the called party address field with the routing number of the end office or MSC; and

(e) relaying the call setup message to the tandem gateway.

50. The method of claim 49 comprising, at the tandem gateway, receiving the call setup message and routing the call setup message to an end office corresponding to which a subscriber has been ported.