OAMP FOR DISTRIBUTED MOBILE ARCHITECTURE

• US 20100008306A1
• Filed: 07/11/2008
• Published: 01/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lemko Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lemko Corporation
• Inventors: Pan, Shaowei
• Granted Patent: US 8,107,409 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A method of routing calls includes receiving a first call at a first distributed mobile architecture gateway (dMAG) from a legacy communication network. A routing path for the first call is determined based on register data associated with a mobile station, the routing path including at least one component of each of the first dMAG, a first dMA node, and a private Internet Protocol (IP) network. One or more command messages are sent to reserve the components of the first dMAG, the first dMA node, and the private Internet Protocol (IP) network. One or more confirmation messages are received indicating that components of the first dMAG, the first dMA node, and the private IP network are reserved to route the first call. The first call is connected to the mobile station via the reserved components of the first dMAG, the first dMA node, and the private IP network.

Claims

1. A method of routing calls via a communications network, the method comprising:

receiving a first call at a first distributed mobile architecture gateway (dMAG) from a legacy communication network, the first call placed to a mobile station accessible via the first dMAG;

determining a routing path for the first call based on register data associated with the mobile station, the routing path including at least one component of the first dMAG, at least one component of a first dMA node, and at least one component of a private Internet Protocol (IP) network;

sending one or more command messages to reserve the at least one component of the first dMAG, the at least one component of the first dMA node, and the at least one component of a private Internet Protocol (IP) network along the routing path;

receiving one or more confirmation messages indicating that the at least one component of the first dMAG, the at least one component of the first dMA node, and the at least one component of the private IP network are reserved to route the first call; and

connecting the first call to the mobile station via the reserved at least one component of the first dMAG, the reserved at least one component of the first dMA node, and the reserved at least one component of the private IP network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the register data indicates that the first dMA node is included in a home dMA register of a second dMAG.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the register data indicates that the first dMA node is roaming with respect to the second dMAG and that the first dMA node is included in a visitor dMA register of the first dMAG.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing path is established based on call traffic data associated with the private IP network, the call traffic data indicating at least a second routing path associated with a second call routed via the private IP network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second call is routed from the first dMAG to a second dMA node via the private IP network.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a plurality of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to display the first routing path, the second routing path, or any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a master agent of the first dMAG sends a first resource allocation query to the at least one component of the first dMAG, a second resource allocation query to the at least one component of the private IP network, and a third resource allocation query to the at least one component of the first dMA node, and wherein the first resource allocation query is related to requesting to route the first call via the at least one component of the first dMAG, the second resource allocation query is related to requesting to route the first call via the at least one component of the private IP network, and the third resource allocation query is related to requesting to route the first call via the at least one component of the first dMA node.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the master agent of the first dMAG receives first resource allocation data after sending the first resource allocation query, second resource allocation data after sending the second resource allocation query, and third resource allocation data after sending the third resource allocation query and wherein the first resource allocation data indicates the availability of the at least one component of the first dMAG to route the first call, the second resource allocation data indicates the availability of the at least one component of the private IP network to route the first call, and the third resource allocation data indicates the availability of the at least one component of the first dMA node to route the first call.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first resource allocation query, the second resource allocation query, and the third resource allocation query are sent by the master agent before the first call is received at the first dMAG or after the first call is received at the first dMAG.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending first configuration data to the at least one component of the first dMAG, second configuration data to the at least one component of the private IP network, and third configuration data to the at least one component of the first dMA node, and wherein the first configuration data indicates one or more settings of the at least one component of the first dMAG, the second configuration data indicates one or more settings of the at least one component of the private IP network, and the third configuration data indicates one or more settings of the at least one component of the first dMA node.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first configuration data, the second configuration data, and the third configuration data are sent before the first call is received at the first dMAG or after the first call is received at the first dMAG.

12. A distributed mobile architecture gateway (dMAG), comprising:

a data storage device;

a legacy network interface adapted to communicate with a legacy communication network;

a home distributed mobile architecture (dMA) register including a list of a first group of dMA nodes, wherein the dMAG is designated to route calls directed to one or more mobile stations served by the first group of dMA nodes and to store performance data associated with each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes;

a visitor dMA register including a list of a second group of dMA nodes, wherein each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes is roaming with respect to the dMAG and the dMAG is adapted to temporarily route calls directed to one or more mobile stations served by the second group of dMA nodes;

a master agent adapted to receive performance data from each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes and each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes; and

an operations module adapted to;

store the performance data from each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes in the data storage device; and

send the performance data from each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes to one or more additional dMAGs via a private IP network;

wherein at least a portion of the calls routed by the dMAG are communicated via the legacy network interface.

13. The dMAG of claim 12, further comprising a management information database (MIB), the MIB including performance requirements associated with the dMAG, the private IP network, each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, or any combination thereof.

14. The dMAG of claim 13, wherein the operations module is adapted to analyze performance data of a particular component of the dMAG, a particular component of the private IP network, or a particular component of one of the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes with respect to a corresponding performance requirement to identify when an error condition occurs with respect to the particular component of the dMAG, the particular component of the private IP network, or the particular component of the one of the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

15. The dMAG of claim 14, wherein the operations module is adapted to provide error condition data indicating an error condition with respect to the particular component of the dMAG, the particular component of the private IP network, or the particular component of the one of the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

16. The dMAG of claim 15, wherein the error condition data includes a message to re-route a particular call.

17. The dMAG of claim 15, wherein the error condition data is sent to a technician, an error log stored at the dMAG, or both.

18. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the performance data relates to a plurality of performance metrics.

19. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the master agent is adapted to receive the performance data from one or more sub-agents of each component of the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

20. The dMAG of claim 19, wherein the master agent, the one or more sub-agents of each component of the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes, and the MIB communicate according to simple network management protocol (SNMP).

21. The dMAG of claim 19, wherein the master agent, the one or more sub-agents of each component of the dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, and the MIB communicate according to agent-X protocol.

22. The dMAG of claim 12, further comprising a maintenance module adapted to send software to the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

23. The dMAG of claim 22, wherein the software includes updates to previous versions of software executed by the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

24. The dMAG of claim 22, wherein the software replaces previous versions of software executed by the dMA nodes of the first group of dMA nodes.

25. The dMAG of claim 22, wherein the maintenance module is adapted to produce a backup copy of data stored in the MIB.

26. The dMAG of claim 13, wherein the performance data is stored in the MIB, the data storage device, or any combination thereof.

27. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the legacy communication network is a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an integrated services digital network (ISDN), a wide-area wireless network, or a public IP network.

28. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the performance data is associated with a wireless transceiver interface of each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, a wireless transceiver interface of each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes, a wireless transceiver of each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, a wireless transceiver of each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes, a data network connection of each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, a data network connection of each dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes, or any combination thereof.

29. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the dMAG includes a graphical user interface (GUI) module adapted to produce at least one GUI related to presenting the performance data of each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, managing components of each dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, managing components of the private IP network, presenting a configuration of a particular component of a dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, presenting a configuration of a particular component of the dMAG, presenting a configuration of a particular component of the private IP network, or any combination thereof.

30. The dMAG of claim 29, wherein the at least one GUI is accessible via a display device coupled to the dMAG.

31. The dMAG of claim 29, wherein the at least one GUI is accessible via a display device located remotely from the dMAG.

32. The dMAG of claim 29, wherein the at least one GUI is accessible via an Internet portal.

33. The dMAG of claim 29, wherein the at least one GUI is configured according to an applet executable via a web browser.

34. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the master agent is adapted to query at least one component of a particular dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes for specified performance data.

35. The dMAG of claim 12, wherein the dMAG includes an administration module adapted to generate and store billing information associated with calls directed to the one or more mobile stations served by the first group of dMA nodes.

36. The dMAG of claim 12, further comprising a provisioning module adapted to reserve resources of the dMAG, resources of the private IP network, resources of at least one dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, resources of the at least one dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes, or any combination thereof, to route calls from the dMAG to the at least one dMA node of the first group of dMA nodes, to the at least one dMA node of the second group of dMA nodes, or both, based on the performance data.

37. A method of routing calls via a communications network, the method comprising:

receiving a resource allocation query command message at a first distributed mobile architecture (dMA) node from a first distributed mobile architecture gateway (dMAG), the first dMA node roaming with respect to the first dMAG and the resource allocation query being related to a call directed to a mobile station adapted to communicate via the first dMA node;

sending a response message to the first dMAG from the first dMA node, response message indicating that one or more components of the first dMA node are reserved for the call;

receiving one or more packets related to the call at the first dMA node from the first dMAG via a private Internet Protocol (IP) network;

sending one or more signals associated with the one or more packets related to the call to the mobile stations via a wireless transceiver integrated with the first dMA node.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the one or more components of the first dMA node are reserved based on call traffic data at the first dMA node.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the call traffic data relates to one or more additional calls routed via the first dMA node.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising determining that insufficient resources are available at the first dMA node to route a particular additional call directed to an additional mobile stations adapted to communicate via the first dMA node.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the first dMA node sends an indication to the first dMAG that the particular additional call cannot be routed to the additional mobile station via the first dMA node.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein the first dMA node is included in a home dMA register of a second dMAG.

43. The method of claim 37, further comprising converting the one or more packets related to the call to one or more signals compatible with the mobile station.

44. A distributed mobile architecture (dMA) node, comprising:

a data network connection adapted to communicate with a private Internet protocol (IP) network; and

a performance module adapted to;

send first performance data to a first distributed mobile architecture gateway (dMAG) via the private IP network when the dMA node is in a first communication range of the first dMAG, the first performance data related to components of the dMA node and related to first calls routed via the dMA node when the dMA node is in the first communication range; and

send second performance data to a second dMAG via the private IP network when the dMA node is in a second communication range of the second dMAG, the second performance data related to components of the dMA node and related to second calls routed via the dMA node when the dMA node is in the second communication range;

wherein the dMA node is included in a home dMA register of the first dMAG when the dMA node is in the first communication range and when the dMA node is in the second communication range and wherein the dMA node is included in a visitor dMA register of the second dMAG when the dMA node is in the second communication range.

45. The dMA node of claim 44, further comprising a wireless transceiver interface, a processor, a memory, a data storage device, or any combination thereof.

46. The dMA node of claim 45, further comprising one or more sub-agents adapted to monitor the performance of the data network connection, the wireless transceiver interface, the processor, the memory, the data storage device, or any combination thereof.

47. The dMA node of claim 44, further comprising a configuration module adapted to:

store configuration data related to the data network connection, the wireless transceiver interface, the processor, the memory, the data storage device, or any combination thereof, and

receive configuration data related to the data network connection, the wireless transceiver interface, the processor, the memory, the data storage device, or any combination thereof, from the first dMAG.

48. The dMA node of claim 44, further comprising a maintenance module adapted to receive software updates from the first dMAG, the software updates related to the data network connection, the wireless transceiver interface, the processor, the memory, the data storage device, or any combination thereof, and the software updates based on the first performance data, the second performance data, or any combination thereof.