Methods, systems, and computer program products for decentralized processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment

• US 20070168421A1
• Filed: 03/29/2006
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: Bantukul, Apirux, Kalyanpur, Gaurang, Benedyk, Robby, Liley, Lane, Marsico, Peter, Wadhwa, Amrit, Raghavan, Suchetha
• Granted Patent: US 8,050,253 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0025 Provisions for signalling

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer program products for decentralized triggerless processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment. According to one method, a signaling message is received at a screening module. At least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message is determined from a screening policy. The signaling message is modified to include application routing information to allow the at least one application to complete signaling message routing. The signaling message is forwarded to, and routed by, the at least one application using the application routing information.

Claims

1. A method for decentralized processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a signaling message at a screening module;

(b) determining, from a screening policy, at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message;

(c) modifying the signaling message to include application routing information to allow the at least one application to complete signaling message routing;

(d) forwarding the signaling message to the at least one application; and

(e) at the least one application, routing the signaling message using the application routing information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the signaling message includes receiving a message selected from a group consisting of an ISDN user part (ISUP) message, a telephone user part (TUP) message, a transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message, and a session initiation protocol (SIP) message.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the signaling message comprises a SIP INVITE message and wherein modifying the SIP INVITE message includes modifying at least one of a SIP VIA parameter and a SIP ROUTE parameter in a header of the SIP INVITE message to include the application routing information.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising, at the at least one application, adding to the SIP VIA parameter an address of the at least one application.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the signaling message at the screening module includes receiving the signaling message at a screening module that is co-located with a network element.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the network element includes a network element selected from a group consisting of a signal transfer point (STP), a signaling system number 7 (SS7) Internet protocol (IP) signaling gateway (SG) (SS7-IP SG), an SS7 gateway, a SIP server, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) call state control function (CSCF) element, a short message gateway (SMG), a softswitch (SS), and a media gateway controller (MGC).

7. The method of claim 1 comprising identifying, as part of the screening policy, a sequence in which the at least one application should process the signaling message.

8. The method of claim 1 comprising implementing, as part of the screening policy, on behalf of an end office in the form of a proxy service, a network feature selected from a group consisting of intelligent network (IN) and advanced IN (AIN) features.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the signaling message includes modifying at least one signaling message parameter selected from a group consisting of a destination point code (DPC) field of a message transfer part (MTP) routing label, an origination point code (OPC), a circuit identification code (CIC), a signaling indicator (SI), a message type, a called party number (CdPN), a calling party number (CgPN), a carrier ID, and a SIP VIA parameter.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the signaling message includes creating at least one temporary data structure that includes information which maps at least one application identifier for the at least one application to an address selected from a group consisting of a session initiation protocol (SIP) address, an internet protocol (IP) address, and an SS7 point code (PC) associated with the at least one application.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining from a screening policy at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message includes creating at least one temporary call detail record (CDR) data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message uniquely identifying the call.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein creating the at least one temporary CDR data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message uniquely identifying the call includes creating a CDR including at least one of origination point code (OPC) information, destination point code (DPC) information, circuit identification code (CIC) information, and call-ID information, at least one of which correlates with at least one of a subsequent address message, an address complete message, an answer message, and a release complete message associated with the same call.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein creating the at least one temporary CDR data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message uniquely identifying the call includes creating a CDR including information identifying at least one application to which previous messages related to the same call were sent for processing.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the signaling message includes creating at least one temporary stateful call detail record (CDR) data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message identifying call state.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, from the screening policy, at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message includes identifying at least one of a pre-paid services application, a number portability service application, a location portability service application, a usage measurements services application, a billing application, and an advanced intelligent routing services application to process the signaling message.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the at least one signaling message parameter includes placing a list of pointcodes (LOP) parameter into the signaling message.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein placing the LOP parameter into the signaling message includes creating at least one of an application point code field, an application ID field, a last application field, and a dirty bit field.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein creating the application ID field includes formatting the application ID field with formatting selected from a group consisting of a binary format, a hexadecimal format, and a character string format.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein creating the application point code field includes formatting the application point code field with formatting selected from a group consisting of 24-bit American National Standards Institute (ANSI) format and 14-bit International Telecommunication Union (ITU) format.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein creating the last application field associated with a last application includes providing an indication alerting the last application to remove the LOP parameter from the signaling message.

21. The method of claim 17 wherein creating the last application field associated with a last application includes providing an indication alerting the last application to replace the destination point code (DPC) field of a message transfer part (MTP) routing label within the signaling message with an original DPC parameter from the signaling message included as the last entry of the LOP parameter.

22. The method of claim 17 comprising modifying the dirty bit field at the at least one application to indicate that processing by the at least one application is complete.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one application comprises a plurality of applications and wherein the application routing information includes network addresses usable by the applications to route the signaling message between the applications and to a destination.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the message processing performed on the signaling message includes triggerless message processing.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the message processing performed on the signaling message includes triggered message processing.

26. A method for decentralized processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a signaling message at a signaling message routing node;

(b) determining, based on a parameter in the signaling message, eligibility for screening by a screening module;

(c) in response to determining that the message is eligible for screening by the screening module, forwarding the signaling message to the screening module;

(d) at the screening module, determining from a screening policy, at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message;

(e) modifying the signaling message to include application routing information to allow at least one application to complete the signaling message routing;

(f) forwarding the signaling message to the at least one application; and

(g) at the least one application, routing the message using the application routing information.

27. A system for decentralized processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment, the system comprising:

(a) a communication module for receiving a signaling message; and

(b) a screening module associated with the communication module for;

(i) determining from a screening policy at least one of a plurality of applications to perform message processing on the signaling message;

(ii) modifying the signaling message to include application routing information to allow at least one of the plurality of applications to complete signaling message routing; and

(iii) forwarding the signaling message the at least one of the plurality of applications.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the communication module is adapted to receive a signaling message selected from a group consisting of a triggerless signaling message, an ISDN user part (ISUP) message, a telephone user part (TUP) message, a transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message, and a session initiation protocol (SIP) message.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the signaling message comprises a SIP INVITE message and wherein the screening module is adapted to modify at least one of a SIP VIA parameter and a SIP ROUTE parameter, associated with each of the plurality of applications, in a header of the SIP INVITE message.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein the screening module and the communication module are co-located with a network element.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the network element includes a network element selected from a group consisting of a signal transfer point (STP), a signaling system number 7 (SS7) Internet protocol (IP) signaling gateway (SG) (collectively SS7-IP SG), an SS7 gateway, a SIP server, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) call state control function (CSCF) element, a short message gateway (SMG), a softswitch (SS), and a media gateway controller (MGC).

32. The system of claim 27 wherein the screening module is adapted to, based upon the screening policy, identify a sequence in which at least one of the plurality of applications should process the signaling message.

33. The system of claim 27 wherein the screening module is adapted to implement, as part of the screening policy, on behalf of an end office in the form of a proxy service, a network feature selected from a group consisting of intelligent network (IN) and advanced IN (AIN) features.

34. The system of claim 27 wherein the screening module is adapted to modify at least one parameter in the signaling message selected from a group consisting of a destination point code (DPC) field of the message transfer part (MTP) routing label, an origination point code (OPC), a circuit identification code (CIC), a signaling indicator (SI), a message type, a called party number (CdPN), a calling party number (CgPN), a carrier ID, and a SIP VIA parameter.

35. The system of claim 27 wherein, in modifying the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to create at least one temporary data structure that includes information which maps at least one application identifier for at least one of the plurality of applications to an address selected from a group consisting of a session initiation protocol (SIP) address, an internet protocol (IP) address, and an SS7 point code (PC) address associated with the at least one of the plurality of applications.

36. The system of claim 27 wherein, in determining from a screening policy at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to create at least one temporary call detail record (CDR) data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message uniquely identifying the call.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the temporary CDR includes at least one of origination point code (OPC) information, destination point code (DPC) information, circuit identification code (CIC) information, and call-ID information, at least one of which correlates with at least one of a subsequent address message, an address complete message, an answer message, and a release complete message associated with the same call.

38. The system of claim 36 wherein the temporary CDR includes information identifying at least one application to which previous messages related to the same call were sent for processing.

39. The system of claim 27 wherein, in modifying the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to create at least one temporary stateful call detail record (CDR) data structure that includes information extracted from the signaling message identifying call state.

40. The system of claim 27 wherein the plurality of applications include at least one of a pre-paid services application, a number portability service application, a location portability service application, a usage measurements services application, a billing application, and an advanced intelligent routing services application.

41. The system of claim 27 wherein, in modifying the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to place a list of pointcodes (LOP) parameter into the signaling message.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the LOP parameter includes at least one of an application point code field, an application ID field, a last application field, and a dirty bit field.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein the application ID is formatted with a formatting selected from a group consisting of a binary format, a hexadecimal format, and a character string format.

44. The system of claim 42 wherein the application point code field is formatted with a formatting selected from a group consisting of 24-bit American National Standards Institute (ANSI) format and 14-bit International Telecommunication Union (ITU) format.

45. The system of claim 42 wherein the last application field associated with a last application includes an indication alerting the last application to remove the LOP parameter from the signaling message.

46. The system of claim 42 wherein the last application field associated with a last application includes an indication alerting the last application to replace the destination point code (DPC) field of a message transfer part (MTP) routing label within the signaling message with an original DPC parameter from the signaling message included as the last entry of the LOP parameter.

47. The system of claim 42 wherein each of the plurality of applications are adapted to modify the dirty bit field to indicate that processing by each of the plurality of applications is complete.

48. The system of claim 27 wherein the at least one of a plurality of applications comprises a plurality of applications and wherein the application routing information includes network addresses usable by the applications and wherein the applications are adapted to use the network addresses to route the signaling message between the applications and to a destination.

49. The system of claim 27 wherein, in determining from the screening policy at least one of a plurality of applications to perform message processing on the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to determine from the screening policy at least one of the plurality of applications to perform triggerless message processing on the signaling message.

50. The system of claim 27 wherein, in determining from the screening policy at least one of a plurality of applications to perform message processing on the signaling message, the screening module is adapted to determine from the screening policy at least one of the plurality of applications to perform triggered message processing on the signaling message.

51. A system for decentralized processing of signaling messages in a multi-application processing environment, the system comprising:

(a) a communication module for receiving a signaling message;

(b) a first screening module for analyzing at least one parameter in the signaling message and determining eligibility for further screening of the signaling message; and

(c) a second screening module for;

(i) determining from a screening policy at least one of a plurality of applications to perform message processing on the signaling message;

(ii) modifying the signaling message to include application routing information to allow at least one of the plurality of applications to complete signaling message routing; and

(iii) forwarding the signaling message the at least one of the plurality of applications.

52. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions embodied in a computer-readable medium for performing steps comprising:

(a) receiving a signaling message at a screening module;

(b) determining from a screening policy at least one application to perform message processing on the signaling message;

(c) modifying the signaling message to include application routing information to allow the at least one application to complete signaling message routing;

(d) forwarding the signaling message to the at least one application; and

(e) at the least one application, routing the signaling message using the application routing information.