Location based routing

• US 9,185,139 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2010
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Holbrook, Brian, Lau, Priscilla, Li, Mingxing
• Primary Examiner(s): Chu, Wutchung
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARLEY, JASON A
• Application Number:
  US12/758,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20110249666A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,037 Days
• Field of Search: 707/622
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42034 Calling party identification service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method may include receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) Invite message associated with a call and determining that the call involves location based processing. The method may also include identifying location information associated with the call based on header information included in the SIP Invite message and identifying a location ID based on the location information. The method may further include modifying the SIP Invite message to include the location ID, identifying a call type associated with the call and identifying a mobile switching center to which the SIP Invite message is to be forwarded based on the call type and the location information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a user device, a session initiation protocol (SIP) Invite message associated with a call;

determining that the call involves location based processing, wherein the location based processing includes routing the call to a final destination based on a location of the user device, wherein the determining that the call involves location based processing comprises;

determining that the call corresponds to one of an N11 call, where N represents an integer, a toll free call, or a short code call;

identifying location information associated with the user device based on header information included in the SIP Invite message, wherein the location information includes at least one of a cell identifier (ID) or a sector identifier (ID);

accessing a database to identify a location identifier (ID) corresponding to at least one of the cell ID or sector ID;

modifying the SIP Invite message to include the identified location ID, wherein the modifying the SIP Invite message comprises;

appending the location ID to a request Uniform Resource Identifier (R-URI) header, wherein the modified SIP Invite message indicates that a number in the R-URI header is not a real phone number;

identifying a call type associated with the call based on information in the R-URI header; and

identifying a mobile switching center to which the SIP Invite message is to be forwarded based on the call type and the location information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying the SIP Invite message further comprises:

appending the location ID as a prefix to the R-URI header.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) associated with the identified mobile switching center into the modified SIP Invite message.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

forwarding the SIP Invite message with the location ID and the FQDN of the identified mobile switching center toward the identified mobile switching center.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the call involves location based processing further includes:

examining a request Uniform Resource Identifier header of the SIP Invite message to determine whether the call comprises an N11 call, a toll free call or a short code call.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying location information comprises:

examining a P-Access Network Identifier header of the SIP Invite message to identify a cell ID and sector ID.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

translating original call information input by a user placing the call into a ten digit telephone number.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a call type comprises:

identifying the call type based on information included in the SIP Invite message.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forwarding the modified SIP Invite message to the identified mobile switching center, and

determining, by the mobile switching center, a destination location associated with the call based on the location ID.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented as computer-executable instructions embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable memory device.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first device and from a user device, a call initiation message associated with a call;

determining, by the first device, that the call involves location based processing, wherein the location based processing includes routing the call to a final destination based on a location of the user device;

forwarding, by the first device, the call initiation message to a second device;

identifying, by the second device, call location information corresponding to the location of the user device based on header information included in the call initiation message, herein the call location information includes at least one of a cell identifier (ID) or a sector identifier (ID);

accessing, by the second device, a database to identify a location identifier (ID) based on at least one of the cell ID or sector ID;

modifying, by the second device, the call initiation message to include the identified location ID;

forwarding, by the second device, the modified call initiation message to the first device;

identifying, by the first device, a call type associated with the call; and

identifying, by the first device, a first mobile switching center to which the call initiation message is to be forwarded based on the call type and call location information.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

inserting, by the second device, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) associated with the first mobile switching center into the modified call initiation message;

forwarding the modified call initiation message with the FQDN associated with the first mobile switching center toward the first mobile switching center; and

forwarding, by the first mobile switching center, the call to the final destination.

13. A system comprising:

at least one device configured to;

receive a session initiation protocol (SIP) Invite message associated with a call from a caller,

determine that the call involves location based processing, wherein the location based processing includes routing the call to a final destination based on a location of the caller,

identify the caller'"'"'s location based on header information included in the SIP Invite message, wherein the header information includes at least one of a cell identifier (ID) or a sector identifier (ID),

access a first database to identify a location identifier (ID) corresponding to the caller'"'"'s location based on at least one of the cell ID or sector ID, and

insert the identified location ID in the SIP Invite message.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one device is further configured to:

identify a call type associated with the call, and

access a second database to identify a first mobile switching center based on a cell ID, a sector ID and the call type associated with the call.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one device is further configured to:

insert a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) associated with the first mobile switching center into the SIP Invite message, and

forward the SIP Invite message including the location ID and the FQDN associated with the first mobile switching center to the first mobile switching center.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one device is further configured to:

examine a request Uniform Resource Identifier header of the SIP Invite message to determine whether the call comprises a toll free call, a short code call or an N11 call, where N represents an integer.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein when identifying the caller'"'"'s location, the at least one device is configured to:

examine a P-Access Network Identifier header of the SIP Invite message to identify a cell ID and sector ID.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one device is further configured to:

access a second database to identify a ten digit telephone number associated with call information input by a user placing the call, and

insert the ten digit telephone number in the SIP Invite message.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one device comprises:

a call session control function component, and

a telephone application component.