Mediating method and system between signaling network peers

• US 8,958,439 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2011
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ridel, Lenny, Shafran, Gil
• Primary Examiner(s): GREY, CHRISTOPHER P
• Application Number:
  US13/195,265
• Publication Number:
  US 20120033681A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,296 Days
• Field of Search: 370465-467, 370/395.2, 709/225, 709/228
• US Class Current: 370/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/022 Multivendor or multi-standard integration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

The present invention disclose a system and method for mediating between signaling network peers of diameter type, where each peer is associated with different telecommunication service providers network or different application vendors. The method comprise the steps of: identifying equipment application type and release version of each provider based on pre-defined automatic identification classification rules and profile, classifying the vendor of the implemented diameter application in each signaling peer, retrieving a first set of rules adapted for the identified source equipment type, intercepting messages of communication session between signaling peers of different providers, applying steering rules on outgoing requests for selecting the destination route of target peers, retrieving a second set of conversion rules adapted for the identified destination equipment type vendor application relating to messages structure, content types and content values and applying all conversion rules on intercepted messages for translating between messages formats of the different signaling peers.

Claims

1. A method for mediating between diameter type signaling network peers, the method comprising:

identifying, by a network peer mediating device, a source equipment type and a release version for signaling network peers based on pre-defined automatic identification and classification rules, wherein each of the signaling network peers is associated with a different telecommunication service provider or a different application vendor;

classifying, by the network peer mediating device, the application vendor of an implemented diameter application in each of the signaling peers;

retrieving, by the network peer mediating device, conversion rules adapted for the identified source equipment type or application vendor, wherein the conversion rules adapted for the application vendor comprise message structure rules, content type rules, or content value rules;

intercepting, by the network peer mediating device, messages of any communication session comprising an exchange of data between the signaling peers of different telecommunication service providers;

applying, by the network peer mediating device, access control rules for validating the intercepted messages;

applying, by the network peer mediating device, steering rules on outgoing messages for selecting a destination route of receiving signaling peers;

applying, by the network peer mediating device, filtering rules to eliminate redundant information in the data exchanged in the at least one communication session;

applying, by the network peer mediating device, the conversion rules to the intercepted messages to translate between message formats of the different signaling peers.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the translating process comprises converting the intercepted messages to normalized format and retranslating the normalized messages according to the format of the receiving signaling peers.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the translation process comprises testing that the message formats are in compliance with the conversion rules relating to at least one telecommunication service provider, wherein non-compliant messages are rejected.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the filtering rules comprise checking that each value of a messages fields is in compliance with network functionality or security requirements and replacing non-compliant values with valid values corresponding to the receiving signaling peer format.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the implemented diameter application is a Mobility Management Entity (MME) application.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the steering rules comprise routing rules or load balancing rules.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

applying, by the network peer mediating device, at least one or more rules on outgoing messages in accordance with a path route to the selected peer, the one or more rules comprising;

a compression rule,

an acceleration rule, or

an optimization rule.

8. A network peer mediating device comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory, wherein the memory is coupled to the one or more processors which are configured to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory comprising;

identifying a source equipment type and a release version for signaling network peers based on pre-defined automatic identification and classification rules, wherein each of the signaling network peers is associated with a different telecommunication service provider or a different application vendor;

classifying the application vendor of an implemented diameter application in each of the signaling peers based on the pre-defined automatic identification and classification rules;

retrieving conversion rules adapted for each identified equipment type or application vendor, wherein the conversion rules adapted for the application vendor comprise message structure rules, content type rules, or content value rules;

intercepting messages of at least one communication session comprising an exchange of data between the signaling peers of different telecommunication service providers;

applying access control rules for validating the intercepted messages;

applying steering rules on outgoing messages for selecting a destination route of receiving signaling peers;

applying filtering rules to eliminate redundant information in the data exchanged in the at least one communication session;

applying the conversion rules on intercepted messages to translate between message formats of the different signaling servers.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the translating process includes converting the intercepted messages to normalized format and retranslating the normalized messages according to the format of the receiving signaling peers.

10. The device of claim 8 wherein the translation process includes testing that the message identified format is in compliance with conversion rules relating at least one telecommunication service provider, wherein non-compliant messages are rejected.

11. The device of claim 8 wherein the filtering rules comprise checking that each value of the messages fields is in compliance with network functionality or security requirements and replacing non-compliant values with valid values corresponding to the format of the receiving signaling peers.

12. The device of claim 8 wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory comprising:

applying at least one rule comprising;

a compression rule based on the route path to the receiving signaling peers,

acceleration rules for prioritizing message transmission, or

optimization rules.

13. The device of claim 8 wherein the steering rules comprise routing rules or load balancing rules.

14. The device of claim 8 wherein the implemented diameter application is a Mobility Management Entity (MME) application.