Methods, systems, and computer program products for performing prepaid account balance screening
First Claim
1. A method for performing prepaid account balance screening, the method comprising:
- at a network entity for processing network signaling messages;
receiving a signaling message containing information that identifies a prepaid subscriber, the message being sent from a message source and intended for a message destination;
determining, using prepaid account balance screening data and the information in the signaling message that identifies the prepaid subscriber, whether the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance satisfies a threshold requirement, wherein the available prepaid subscriber account information is stored in a prepaid subscriber database and wherein the prepaid account balance screening data is a subset of the available prepaid subscriber account information and is stored separate from the prepaid subscriber database; and
in response to determining that the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance does not satisfy the threshold requirement, performing a screening action that shields the prepaid subscriber database from message traffic associated with the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account, wherein performing the screening action includes discarding the message.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, and computer program products for performing prepaid account balance screening are disclosed. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for performing prepaid account balance screening. The method includes receiving, at a network entity for processing network signaling messages, a signaling message containing information that identifies a prepaid subscriber, the message being sent from a message source and intended for a message destination. It is determined whether the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance satisfies a threshold requirement, using prepaid account balance screening data and the information in the signaling message that identifies the prepaid subscriber, where the prepaid account balance screening data is a subset of available prepaid subscriber account information stored in a prepaid subscriber database separate from the prepaid account balance screening data. In response to determining that the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance does not satisfy the threshold requirement, a screening action is performed. In one example, the screening action shields the prepaid subscriber database from signaling message traffic associated with the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for performing prepaid account balance screening, the method comprising:
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at a network entity for processing network signaling messages; receiving a signaling message containing information that identifies a prepaid subscriber, the message being sent from a message source and intended for a message destination; determining, using prepaid account balance screening data and the information in the signaling message that identifies the prepaid subscriber, whether the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance satisfies a threshold requirement, wherein the available prepaid subscriber account information is stored in a prepaid subscriber database and wherein the prepaid account balance screening data is a subset of the available prepaid subscriber account information and is stored separate from the prepaid subscriber database; and in response to determining that the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance does not satisfy the threshold requirement, performing a screening action that shields the prepaid subscriber database from message traffic associated with the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account, wherein performing the screening action includes discarding the message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for performing prepaid account balance screening, the system comprising:
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a prepaid subscriber account balance screening database, containing prepaid account balance screening data representing a subset of available prepaid subscriber account information stored in a prepaid subscriber database separate from the prepaid account balance screening data; and a prepaid subscriber account balance screening function for receiving a signaling message containing information that identifies a prepaid subscriber, using the information in the signaling message that identifies the prepaid subscriber to extract information from the prepaid subscriber account balance screening database to determine whether the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance satisfies a threshold requirement, and in response to determining that the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance does not satisfy the threshold requirement, performing a screening action that shields the prepaid subscriber database from message traffic associated with the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account, wherein performing the screening action includes discarding the message. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing prepaid account balance screening, the steps comprising:
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receiving a signaling message containing information that identifies a prepaid subscriber, the message being sent from a message source and intended for a message destination; determining, using prepaid account balance screening data and the information in the signaling message that identifies the prepaid subscriber, whether the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance satisfies a threshold requirement, wherein the available prepaid subscriber account information is stored in a prepaid subscriber database and wherein the prepaid account balance screening data is a subset of the available prepaid subscriber account information and is stored separate from the prepaid subscriber database; and in response to determining that the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account balance does not satisfy the threshold requirement, performing a screening action that shields the prepaid subscriber database from message traffic associated with the prepaid subscriber'"'"'s account, wherein performing the screening action includes discarding the message.
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Specification