Web gateway multi-carrier support

• US 7,519,654 B1
• Filed: 11/22/2000
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Richard A., Bhadange, Nikhil
• Primary Examiner(s): Barqadle; Yasin M
• Application Number:
  US09/716,944
• Time in Patent Office: 3,065 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/204, 709/205, 709206-207, 709217-219, 709229-230, 455/412.1, 455/414.3, 455/432.2, 455/466, 455/432, 455/445, 455/412
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

The present invention provides multi-carrier support in a wireless Internet gateway (WIG) that allows the WIG to send messages to any number of ‘peer’ gateways on the Internet in a conveniently reconfigurable manner. The disclosed embodiments include a ‘Message Distribution Center’ (MDC), through which short messages can be routed to the gateways of other wireless carriers based on carrier formats stored in an abstracted carrier format table. The conventional technique of separate classes written for each carrier is replaced by entries in a look-up table format, to provide a more easily adaptable wireless gateway. Thus, occasional updates of the carrier format table need only be updated, rather than the wireless Internet gateway program, reducing down time for updates, reducing the complexity of updates, and improving the reliability of a wireless Internet gateway in the face of changes for one or more carriers in a wireless network.

Claims

1. A message distribution center, comprising:

a plurality of protocol receivers to receive messages from users of at least one carrier destined for routing via an Internet to a different, destination carrier having a different format;

an incoming message queue to queue said received messages;

a dynamically updateable carrier message format table comprising carrier specific format information for each possible different destination carrier; and

a destination link interface to transparently route said received and queued messages to external remote destination carrier gateways representing each possible peer gateway, said destination carrier gateways being selected for each said received message based on carrier specific information obtained from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table;

wherein said dynamically updateable carrier message format table is adapted to be dynamically updated to include an up-to-date list of possible destination carrier gateways.

2. The message distribution center according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of protocol receivers comprise:

an email message receiver.

3. The message distribution center according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of protocol receivers comprise:

an HTTP protocol message receiver.

4. The message distribution center according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of protocol receivers comprise:

an SMPP protocol message receiver.

5. The message distribution center according to claim 1, further comprising:

an area code/exchange number to destination carrier mapper to map an area code/exchange number of a message received in said incoming message queue to a destination carrier'"'"'s gateway format.

6. The message distribution center according to claim 1, wherein said destination link further comprises:

an interface to an Internet.

9. The message distribution center according to claim 1, wherein said dynamically updateable carrier message format table comprises:

a universal resource locator (URL) of a relevant destination carrier;

form field information; and

a communication protocol of said relevant destination carrier.

7. A method of abstracting destination carrier format from a wireless Internet gateway, comprising:

receiving an incoming short message from a user of a first carrier;

retrieving destination carrier information from said incoming short message;

retrieving destination carrier message format information from a dynamically updateable carrier message format table comprising carrier specific format information for each possible different destination carrier; and

routing said received short message to an external remote destination carrier gateway selected based on carrier specific information obtained from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table;

wherein said dynamically updateable carrier message format table is adapted to be dynamically updated to include an up-to-date list of possible destination carrier gateways.

8. The method of abstracting destination carrier format from a wireless Internet gateway according to claim 7, further comprising:

generating a peer destination class based on said carrier specific information retrieved from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table.

10. Apparatus for abstracting destination carrier format from a wireless Internet gateway, comprising:

means for receiving an incoming short message from a user of a first carrier;

means for retrieving destination carrier information from said incoming short message;

means for retrieving destination carrier message format information from a dynamically updateable carrier message format table comprising carrier specific format information for each possible different destination carrier; and

means for routing said received short message to an external remote destination carrier gateway selected based on carrier specific information obtained from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table;

wherein said dynamically updateable carrier message format table is adapted to be dynamically updated to include an up-to-date list of possible destination carrier gateways.

11. The apparatus for abstracting destination carrier format from a wireless Internet gateway according to claim 10, further comprising:

means for generating a peer destination class based on said carrier specific information retrieved from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table.