Method and system for providing telecommunication subscriber services without provisioning or maintenance

• US 7,881,308 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2002
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Kelly, Michael R., Askerup, Anders
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh; Ayaz R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ho; Chuong T
• Application Number:
  US10/174,276
• Publication Number:
  US 20040202187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,150 Days
• Field of Search: 370401-402, 370/352, 370/328, 370/353, 370/465, 370/466, 370/467, 370/320, 370/321, 370335-338, 370341-347, 455/466, 455/433, 455/445, 455/461
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/654 International mobile subscriber identity [IMSI] numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0809 Plug-and-play configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

An intelligent router takes the place of a conventional SCCP relay in a wireless network. The intelligent router automatically provisions and updates subscriber information in a network file.

Claims

1. A router configured for use in a wireless network providing telecommunication services to mobile stations operated by subscribers to said telecommunication services, said router comprising:

a microprocessor; and

a mass storage device coupled to said microprocessor, said mass storage device containing a network entity file and a routing translation file, said network entity file contains addresses of entities accessible to said router and said translation file is used to store translations from a mobile switching equipment dialable number associated with a subscriber'"'"'s mobile station to an address of one of said entities, wherein for each of a plurality of subscribers, an entity comprises location information for that subscriber'"'"'s mobile station and also comprises a translation from a mobile switching equipment dialable number associated with that subscriber'"'"'s mobile station to a non-dialable number associated with that subscriber'"'"'s mobile station;

wherein, upon receiving information regarding a call to a subscriber for which a translation is not present in the routing translation file, said microprocessor automatically updates, without human intervention, said routing translation file to provide a translation for the subscriber by accessing said network entity file to obtain the addresses of the entities, broadcasting a message to said entities to determine which entity contains location information pertaining to said subscriber, and, based on responses from said entities, updating said routing translation file; and

wherein said router implements a batch mode whereby each entry in at least one network entity is queried to verify accuracy of that entry'"'"'s translation. location information pertaining to said subscriber and said microprocessor

2. The router of claim 1 wherein said router receives a response from the entity to which said message was broadcast that contains said location information pertaining to said subscriber and said microprocessor stores a translation in said translation file, said translation includes the address of the entity containing the location information.

3. The router of claim 1 wherein said message comprises a send routing information message.

4. The router of claim 1 wherein said responses comprise a send routing information return request message.

5. The router of claim 1 wherein said entities comprise home location registers, each register containing a plurality of entries, one or more entries per subscriber, and said location information indicating a network switch to which the subscriber is currently registered.

6. A method of managing routing information in a wireless network, comprising:

(a) receiving a request for routing information for a subscriber'"'"'s mobile switching equipment (“

MS”

);

(b) determining whether a translation exists in a translation file for the MS, the translation translating a dialable number associated with the MS to a network entity containing translations of dialable numbers to non-dialable numbers of the MS'"'"'s as well as location information as to the MS'"'"'s current location;

(c) if no translation currently exists in the translation file, sending messages to a plurality of network entities to determine which of the entities contains the desired current location information for the MS, and, based on responses from the network entities and without human intervention, updating the translation file to include a translation for the MS; and

(d) performing a batch mode whereby each entry of at least one network entity is queried to verify accuracy of that entry'"'"'s translation.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the network entities comprise home location registers.

8. The method of claim 6 further receiving a message from the network entity which contains the desired current location information for the MS.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein (c) includes retrieving addresses corresponding to the plurality of network entities before sending the messages.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein said network entities in (c) include at least one home location register and at least one router.

11. A wireless network providing telecommunication service to a plurality of mobile switching equipment, comprising:

a first router;

a plurality of second routers coupled to said first router; and

a plurality of network entities coupled to said second routers;

wherein the first router has access to a network entity file and a routing translation file, said network entity file contains addresses of said second routers and said translation file is used to store translations from a mobile switching equipment dialable number to an address of one of said network entities which contains location information of the mobile switching equipment, at least one network entity also comprising translations from dialable numbers associated with a mobile station to a non-dialable number associated with said mobile station; and

further wherein, upon receiving information regarding a call to a subscriber for which a translation is not present in the translation table, said first router automatically updates, without human intervention, said translation table to provide a translation for the subscriber by accessing said network entity file to obtain the addresses of the network entities, broadcasting a message to said network entities to determine which entity contains location information pertaining to said subscriber, and, based on responses from said network entities, updating said translation file; and

wherein at least one of routers performs a batch mode in which each entry in at least one network entity is queried to verify accuracy of that entry'"'"'s translation.

12. The network of claim 11 wherein said first router accesses said network entity file to retrieve said addresses and broadcasts a message to said second routers to determine which of said second routers can provide the location information pertaining to said subscriber.

13. The network of claim 12 wherein said first router receives a response from the second router that can provide the location information pertaining to said subscriber and said first router stores a translation in the translation file, the translation includes the address of the network entity containing the location information.

14. The network of claim 12 wherein said message comprises a send routing information message.

15. The network of claim 13 wherein said response comprises a send routing information return request message.

16. The network of claim 11 wherein said network entities comprise home location registers, each register containing a plurality of entries, one entry per subscriber, and each entry including location information pertaining to a subscriber, said location information indicating a network switch to which the subscriber is currently registered.