Methods and systems for routing messages in a communications network

• US 7,035,239 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2000
• Issued: 04/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tekelec, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: Rao, Raghavendra Gopala, McCann, Thomas Matthew, West, Robert Fulton Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao, Seema S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jagannathan, Melanie
• Application Number:
  US09/747,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20010030957A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,950 Days
• Field of Search: 370352-356, 370/389, 370/392, 370400-401, 370/410, 370/522, 370/335, 370/342, 370/428, 455426-433, 455/445, 455/466, 379/221.14
• US Class Current: 370/335
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0025 Provisions for signalling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

A flexible routing node for re-directing signaling messages in a communications network is disclosed. Re-direction or re-routing of signaling message packets is accomplished through the use of a range or block-based database in conjunction with an exception-based database. The range-based routing instruction databases incorporates a data structure that maps ranges or blocks of mobile identification numbers (MINs) to a single destination network address, while the exceptions database stores any exceptions to these range or block-based rules. The pair of routing databases is implemented such that, when a signaling message is received that requires re-direction, the exception-based database is queried first. If a match is found in the exceptions database, the signaling message is modified using the returned routing instructions and transmitted into an associated communication network. If no match is found in the exception-based database, a default query is performed against the range-based database. The signaling message is then modified using the routing instructions returned by the range-based database and transmitted into an associated communication network.

Claims

1. A method for routing message to a short message service center (SMSC) in a network including a plurality of SMSCs, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a message having a signaling connection control part and a mobile application part, the mobile application part having a mobile identification number (MIN) of an originating handset;

(b) determining an entity type for the message based on the signaling connection control part;

(c) in response to determining that the entity type indicates that the message is destined for an SMSC, performing a lookup in an address translation database using the MIN of the originating handset from the mobile application part of the message to locate an address for one of the SMSCs in the network, wherein performing a lookup in an address translation database using the MIN of the originating handset includes performing, using the MIN of the originating handset, a lookup in an exception-based database containing first packet routing rule records and, in response to failing to locate an address in the exception-based database, the method further comprises performing a lookup in a range-based database containing second packet routing rule records, wherein the first packet routing rule records represent packet routing rules that are exceptions to packet routing rules represented by the second packet routing rule records; and

(d) in response to locating the address, routing the message based on the address.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first packet routing rule records in the exception-based database is indexed by a single mobile identification number.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the second packet routing rule records in the range-based database is indexed by a range or block of mobile identification numbers.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein, performing a lookup in the range-based database includes performing the lookup using an entity address extracted from the signaling connection control part of the message.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the entity address extracted from the signaling connection control part of the message corresponds to an entity address programmed into the originating handset.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a message includes receiving a short message service message from a mobile switching center.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein receiving a short message service message includes receiving a short message service message at a signal transfer point or signaling gateway.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein routing the message based on the address includes routing the message to an interworking mobile switching center (IWMSC) associated with the one SMSC.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first packet routing rule records in the exception-based database is indexed by a mobile identification number that is outside of a mobile identification number range by which at least one of the second packet routing rule records in the range-based database is indexed.

10. The method of claim 1 comprising, in response to locating the address, inserting an entity address of a destination SMSC in the called party address field of the message.

11. A flexible routing node comprising:

(a) a communication module for receiving signaling messages, determining whether the messages require signaling connection control part (SCCP) processing, and, in response to determining that the messages require SCCP processing, internally routing the messages; and

(b) a processing module for receiving the signaling messages that require SCCP processing, extracting mobile identification numbers of originating handsets from mobile application part portions of the messages, and performing address translations for the messages based on the mobile identification numbers of the originating handsets, wherein the processing module includes a range-based database having first packet routing rule records and an exception-based database having second packet routing rule records representing exceptions to packet routing rules represented by the first packet routing rule records and wherein, in performing each of the address translations, the processing module is adapted to perform a lookup in at least one of the range-based and exception-based databases.

12. The flexible routing node of claim 11 wherein the processing module includes an entity type table for determining an entity type for the signaling messages that require SCCP processing.

13. The flexible routing node of claim 12 wherein the entity type table includes entries for mapping subsystem number values to entity type identifiers.

14. The flexible routing node of claim 13 wherein the entity type table includes a first entry for mapping a subsystem number value to an SMSC entity type.

15. The flexible routing node of claim 14 wherein the first entry maps the subsystem number value of 8 to an SMSC entity type.

16. The flexible routing node of claim 14 wherein the processing module is adapted to perform the address translations based on the mobile identification numbers of the originating handsets extracted from the MAP portions of the messages for messages having an entity type of SMSC.

17. The flexible routing node of claim 11 wherein the signaling messages that require SCCP processing include at least one short message service message and wherein the processing module is adapted to route the at least one short message service message to a short message service center corresponding to the mobile identification number of the originating handset extracted from the mobile application part portion of the at least one short message service message.

18. The flexible routing node of claim 11 wherein at least at least some of the second packet routing rule records are indexed by individual mobile identification numbers, and wherein at least some of the first packet routing rule records database are indexed by ranges of mobile identification numbers, and wherein the processing module is adapted to perform a lookup in the exception-based database using the mobile identification number of the originating handset from a MAP portion of one of the messages that require SCCP processing, and in response to failing to locate a matching entry in the exception-based database, the processing module is adapted to perform a lookup in the range-based database using an SMSC entity address extracted from an SCCP portion of the one message.

19. The flexible routing node of claim 18 wherein at least one of the second packet routing rule records in the exception-based database is indexed by a mobile identification number that is outside of mobile identification number ranges by which the first packet routing rule records in the range-based database are indexed.

20. The flexible routing node of claim 11 wherein the communication module and the processing module are components of a signal transfer point (STP).

21. The flexible routing node of claim 11 wherein, in performing each address translation, the processing module is adapted to write an entity address of a destination short message service center in a called party address field of each message.

22. A network element for routing a data packet through a communications network, the network element comprising:

(a) a communication module capable of transmitting a data packet to and receiving the data packet from a communications network;

(b) a range-based database containing first packet routing rule records, wherein each first packet routing rule record is indexed by a range or block of identification numbers; and

(c) an exception-based database containing second packet routing rule records wherein each second packet routing rule record is indexed by a single identification number, wherein at least one of the second packet routing rule records is indexed by a single identification number that is outside of the ranges or blocks of identification numbers by which the first packet routing rule records are indexed, wherein the network element is adapted to perform a lookup in the exception-based database using a mobile identification number (MIN) extracted from a mobile application part (MAP) of a signaling message, and, in response to failing to locate a matching record, the network element is adapted to perform a lookup in the range-based database using an entity address extracted from a signaling connection control part (SCCP) of the signaling message.

23. The network element of claim 22 wherein the MIN comprises a MIN of an originating handset.

24. A method for routing short message service (SMS) messages, the method comprising:

(a) receiving an SMS message from a mobile switching center, the SMS message having a signaling connection control part (SCCP) including a called party address field storing an entity address of a first short message service center (SMSC) and a mobile application part (MAP) storing a mobile identification number (MIN);

(b) performing a first lookup based on the MIN extracted from the MAP of the SMS message;

(c) in response to locating a matching entry in the first lookup, extracting an entity address associated with a second SMSC from the matching entry, inserting the entity address associated with the second SMSC in the SCCP called party address field of the SMS message and, routing the SMS message to the second SMSC using routing information from the matching entry;

(d) in response to failing to locate a matching entry in the first lookup, performing a second lookup using the SMSC entity address of the first SMSC stored in the SCCP called party address field of the SMS message; and

(e) in response to locating a matching entry in the second lookup, routing the SMS message to the first SMSC.

25. The network element of claim 24 wherein the MIN comprises a MIN of an originating handset.