Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Auxiliary data signaling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-19
2003-03-18
Urban, Edward F. (Department: 2685)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Auxiliary data signaling
C455S412100, C455S560000, C379S088220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06535746
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to wireless network services, and more particularly to the Short Message Service (SMS) feature and its implementation in a Wireless Number Portability (WNP) environment.
Several FCC Orders on Telephone Number Portability, CC Docket No. 95-116 (i.e.,
First Report and Order
, released Jul. 2, 1996
; First Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration
, released Mar. 11, 1997; and
Second Report and Order
, released Aug. 18, 1997) mandate that all Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) providers participate in Number Portability (NP), i.e., provide the capability to deliver calls from their networks to ported numbers. NP in wireless networks is referred to as Wireless Number Portability (WNP). Because wireless subscribers are mobile and are not associated with any fixed location or serving switch, there are many special considerations when implementing number portability in the wireless environment.
The purpose of WNP is to allow a wireless subscriber to change its subscription to a different wireless service provider while the number that callers dial to reach the subscriber remains unchanged. Prior to number portability in the wireless arena, service providers used a single number—the Mobile Identification Number (MIN)—not only for delivery of calls to the wireless subscriber, but also for registration and authentication when the wireless subscriber moves from one service area to another. For a 10-digit MIN of the form NPA-NXX-XXXX (traditional North American Numbering Plan format), the first six digits were sufficient to route a call and to register a subscriber, i.e., to determine the service provider and home network of the subscriber. If the single MIN became portable, six digits would no longer be sufficient, and registration would require a 10-digit translation or database dip.
To solve this problem, the wireless industry has decided to assign two independent numbers to a subscriber—a Mobile Directory Number (MDN) and a Mobile Station Identification Number (MSID). The MDN is a dialable number in the NPA-NXX-XXXX format. The MSID can be in the format of either a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) or an International Mobile Station Identification (IMSI). The MDN will be portable so that when a subscriber changes service providers, the MDN can be retained by the subscriber. The MSID belongs to a specific service provider's network, so that when the subscriber changes service providers, it receives a new MSID. Before a particular subscriber is ported, the MDN and MSID will most likely be identical, if the MSID is in MIN format. When a subscriber ports to a new service provider, it surrenders its old MSID to the donor network and receives a new MSID from the network of the new service provider. The ported subscriber's MDN remains unchanged. Mobile registration continues to use the first six digits of the MSID to determine the subscriber's home network.
For call routing in a WNP environment, the wireless industry has agreed to use the wireline call routing technique, known as Location Routing Number (LRN) Routing. The LRN is a 10-digit number in NPA-NXX-XXXX format that identifies the subscriber's serving switch. A.Number Portability database (NP-DB) maintains a mapping of ported MDN numbers to their serving switch LRNs. The NP-DB may be, for example, a Service Control Point (SCP). During call routing and processing, the network queries the NP-DB for the serving switch LRN corresponding to the subscriber's MDN.
The Short Message Service (SMS) feature provided by wireless networks provides short text massaging from or to a wireless device. Before the implementation of WNP, a calling party using the SMS feature initiates a short message and provides the called party's MIN to the originating network. The originating network then routes the short message to the destination home system using the dialed MIN. In a pre-WNP environment, the first six digits of the dialed MIN provide sufficient routing information for the short message to be delivered to the destination home system of the short message receiver.
FIG. 1
illustrates the network components that may be involved in routing and delivering a short message in a pre-WNP environment. The procedures to process and deliver an SMS message are defined in Interim Standard 41 (IS-41) Revision C, a signaling protocol used in wireless networks. Referring to
FIG. 1
, within network
10
, a short message originates at a subscriber in originating system
12
and is destined for a mobile station (MS) currently served by destination serving system
14
. Destination home system
16
is the home system of the destination MS. Communications regarding routing and delivery of the short message, as well as delivery of the short message itself, occur over signaling network
18
. The originating subscriber, not particularly shown for the sake of clarity, is served by Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
20
in originating system
12
. Originating home system
13
contains Message Center (MC)
22
for storing short messages. The destination MS, not particularly shown for the sake of clarity, is served by MSC
24
in destination serving system
14
. Destination home system
16
contains MC
26
, which is coupled to Home Location Register (HLR)
28
, a database that stores subscriber information for wireless networks. Alternatively, if MC
26
and HLR
28
are not co-located, they may communicate via signaling network
18
.
FIGS. 2 and 3
illustrate two existing methods of routing an SMS message in a pre-environment, known in the art as direct routing and force indirect routing, respectively. In direct routing, the short message is sent to the destination home MC directly from the sender's serving MSC. In force indirect routing, the short message is routed from the sender's serving MSC through the sender's home MC to the destination home MC.
FIG. 2
illustrates the existing, procedures for delivering an SMS message using direct routing. With reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, originating system MSC
20
routes an SMS Delivery Point to Point (SMDPP) message over signaling network
18
directly to destination home MC
26
by performing an MIN
receiver
-to-MC mapping, i.e., mapping the MIN of the destination provided by the originating subscriber to the address of the destination home System MC associated with that MIN. This mapping requires only the first six digits of the MIN, which uniquely define the destination home system. The mapping is done via Global Title Translation (GTT) at a Signaling Transfer Point (STP) in signaling network
18
(not shown), via an internal table at originating system MSC
20
(not shown), or via a third party performing similar functions (not shown). Destination home MC
26
responds with an smdpp positive acknowledgmnent over signaling network
18
. When destination home MC
26
receives the SMDPP request, it contacts HLR
28
to obtain an SMS routing address for destination MSC
24
. “SMSREQ[MIN]” in
FIG. 2
corresponds to the MC
26
request from HLR
28
. If HLR
28
has a current SMS routing address for MSC
24
, HLR
28
returns the address to destination home MC
26
. This is noted in
FIG. 2
as the “smsreq[SMSADDR]” between HLR
28
and MC
26
. Otherwise, HLR
28
requests an SMS routing address from destination MSC
24
, which request is designated in
FIG. 2
by “SMSREQ[MIN, ESN], and returns that address, SMSADDR, to destination home MC
26
. This is noted in
FIG. 2
by the “smsreq[SMSADDR]” flowing from MSC
24
to HLR
26
to MC
26
. Destination home MC
26
then forwards the SMDPP toward destination MSC
24
using the SMS routing address, SMSADDR.
FIG. 3
illustrates the existing procedures for delivering an SMS message using force indirect routing. With reference to
FIGS. 1 and 3
, originating system MSC
20
routes an SMDPP indirectly to originating home MC
22
by performing an MIN
sender
-to-MC mapping, i.e., mapping the MIN of the originating subscriber to the MC o
Chan May Y.
Yu I-Hsiang
Craver Charles
Suchyta Leonard Charles
Urban Edward F.
Verizon Laboratories Inc.
Weixel James K.
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