Web gateway multi-carrier support

• US 9,002,951 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2007
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• 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
• Application Number:
  US11/902,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20080313288A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,751 Days
• Field of Search: 709203-207, 709238-245, 709217-229
• US Class Current: 709/206
• 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

Wireless Internet gateway (WIG) providing multicarrier support that allows the gateway to send message to other peer gateways including a Message Distribution Center (MDS) trough which short messages are routed to other carriers based on carrier formats stored in a lookup table. Carrier format tables may be updated rather than employing an Internet gateway program thereby reducing downtime for updating, reducing the complexity of updates, and improving reliability during changes in a subscriber carrier. The WIG communicates with other carrier gateways utilizing different or varying protocols. Information regarding other carriers may be added, changed, and/or removed by modifying a configuration property file relating to the message format for other carriers, rather than by providing each carrier with its own class thereby avoiding a need to reprogram sending gateways.

Claims

1. A gateway, comprising:

a dynamically updateable carrier format table associating a plurality of carriers serviced by said gateway and network types and protocols of particular ones of said plurality of carriers;

a physical message distribution center to interrogate an incoming message to said gateway to determine an external remote physical destination carrier gateway;

a destination identification addressing module to address said incoming message to said external remote physical destination carrier gateway in accordance with information retrieved from said dynamically updateable carrier format table; and

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

2. The gateway according to claim 1, further comprising:

at least one protocol receiver.

3. The gateway according to claim 1, further comprising:

an email message receiver.

4. The gateway according to claim 1, further comprising:

an HTTP protocol message receiver.

5. The gateway according to claim 1, further comprising:

an SMPP protocol message receiver.

6. The gateway according to claim 1, wherein said destination identification addressing module comprises:

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 format of said external remote physical destination carrier.

7. The gateway according to claim 1, further comprising:

an interface to an Internet.

8. The gateway according to claim 1,

wherein:

said gateway is a wireless internet gateway.

9. A method of facilitating movement of a message between networks, comprising:

accessing a dynamically updateable carrier format table associating a plurality of carriers serviced by a physical message distribution center gateway and network types and protocols of particular ones of said plurality of carriers;

interrogating an incoming message at said physical message distribution center to determine a destination address associated with said incoming message;

interrogating said dynamically updateable carrier format table to determine an external remote physical destination carrier gateway associated with said destination address;

addressing said incoming message to said external remote physical destination carrier gateway in accordance with information retrieved from said dynamically updateable carrier format table; and

transparently routing said addressed incoming message to said external remote physical destination carrier gateway, said external remote physical destination carrier gateway being selected for each said incoming message based on carrier specific information obtained from said dynamically updateable carrier message format table.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

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