Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Auxiliary data signaling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-11
2003-10-14
Bost, Dwayne (Department: 2685)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Auxiliary data signaling
C455S414200, C455S412100, C455S461000, C455S426100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06633764
ABSTRACT:
FIELD
The present invention applies to Mobile Originating Short Message Service in the new scenario appearing as a result of the introduction of Number Portability in mobile networks like, for example, a GSM network.
BACKGROUND
Regulators, first in North America and later Europe, are making efforts to decrease telecommunication costs for society and to facilitate selection of alternative Network Providers as a way to (re)-regulate the industry in order to increase competition.
The disadvantage of having to change a telephone number when moving a subscription to a new network operator has represented a major barrier to the creation of a truly competitive environment. Network Provider Number Portability is therefore being required by regulators, both in mobile and fixed networks. Number Portability allows the end user to keep his/her telephone number when moving the subscription from one network provider to another. Operators are reluctant to introduce Number Portability, and especially, in as much as not all the issues are clear enough to ensure that they will not give services for free to any exported subscriber (that is, to a subscriber who has moved his or her subscription from his or her first network provider to another network provider or operator).
Network Provider Number Portability for mobile networks will be implemented during the next few years, depending on national requirements, although some countries in Europe have already implemented it, with the corresponding great advantages, especially for the end users.
Therefore, most of mobile systems suppliers are now in an intense period of discussing, offering and implementing Number Portability support for a number of customers, namely operators, with mobile network.
The introduction of Network Provider Number Portability in any mobile network implies that the Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network number (hereinafter MSISDN) from a subscriber does not any more indicate the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) where the subscription is currently kept.
Now, when implementing Mobile Number Portability (hereinafter MNP), problem could arise in connection with the inter-working of MNP with the storage of Short Messages in the Short Message Service Center (hereinafter SC) of the PLMN.
The Short Message Service Center performs the collection and storage of Short Messages, and forwards the Short Messages to the destination end user. Such a Service Center, in charge of storing the Short Messages (hereinafter SM) before said SM are sent to the destination end user, is the Service Center addressed by the subscriber generating and sending the Short Message (i.e., the A-subscriber), and normally the Service Center belonging to the network to which the A-subscriber belongs. This network, in an environment that does not support MNP, can be directly identified by the MSISDN of the A-subscriber.
The Short Messages are stored on a per mobile subscriber basis, wherein each subscriber is identified by his or her MSISDN.
The Mobile Number Portability has been or is going to be introduced in quite a few countries in Europe by law regulations. This forces the suppliers to provide, at least, complete national solution, especially due to the national applicability of regulations.
However, the areas covered by mobile networks do usually or frequently nor coincide exactly with the areas in which a specific national law is enforceable. So, the final solution should not merely work on national premises, but should also fulfill the service performance requirements when the subscriber roams outside his or her Home Public Land Mobile Network (hereinafter Home-PLMN) and/or his or her own Home-PLMN country.
So far, all the efforts made have been focused on normal voice or data calls and the associated signaling, as well as on giving all the required support for the signaling associated to the Subscriber Mobility. As a matter of fact, most of or all the Mobile Terminating Call related signaling and procedures have been solved in one manner or another. In this respect,
FIG. 1
shows one possible solution for Mobile Terminating Call signaling further commented hereinafter as Related Art for the present invention.
However, there are still pending issues associated to the Originating side, that is, A-subscriber related features, and especially for Mobile Originating Short Messages, which are not completely solved nowadays under the new scenario turning up once the Mobile Number Portability is introduced.
As already commented, when a mobile subscriber initiates the sending of a Short Message, said Short Message is sent to the SC addressed by said mobile subscriber. According to the new glossary of terms turning up as a result of the introduction of Number Portability, the term “Donor Network” identifies the network from which a subscriber Is ported: the ported number originally belonged to the MSISDN number series assigned to this Donor Network. The term “Recipient Network” corresponds to the network to which the subscriber is ported. Still another interesting term around Number Portability is Portability Domain, which is used to designate the area of the network in which a certain subscriber can move and require Number Portability support.
Once Number Portability is fully supported, the MSISDN will not any longer identify the network holding the subscribers subscription. The subscriber still makes use of his or her original MSISDN, but he or she could hold the subscription with a network operator other than the one indicated by such an MSISDN.
FIG. 2
illustrates how a Mobile Switching Center (hereinafter MSC) will communicate with the SC addressed by the originating subscriber via an inter-Working-MSC. At present, if Number Portability is introduced in a conventional prior art PLMN system, a network operator who does not hold the subscription for a certain mobile subscriber any longer could, however, be giving service for Mobile Originating Short Message Service to said subscriber without getting incomes for such a service. This is a serious problem at present, and a reason for the operators to preclude the introduction of Mobile Number Portability. The present invention has been conceived in order to solve this problem.
Finally, it should be observed that the interface between IWMSC and SC is not standardized, but rather an implementation dependent issue. In most of the implementations for the different markets, and from the different Suppliers, both entities (IWMSC and SC) are co-located in the same node.
RELATED ART
As schematically illustrated in
FIG. 2
, the Mobile Originating Short Message Service procedure is used to forward a Short Message from a mobile subscriber to a Service Center. An extract from section 23.2 of GSM 09.02 version 7.2.0, Release 1998, has been taken for clarification, and is illustrated in
FIG. 2
, showing how the following sequence of protocol signaling is sent and received by the intervening entities:
Pr21-
Short Message (GSM 04.11)
Pr22-
MAP_SEND_INFO_FOR_MO_SMS (*)
Pr23-
MAP_SEND_INFO_FOR_MO_SMS_ACK (*)
Pr24-
MAP_MO_FORWARD_SHORT_MESSAGE
Pr25-
Short message (TS GSM 03.40)
Pr26-
Short message Acknowledgement (TS GSM 03.40)
Pr27-
MAP_MO_FORWARD_SHORT_MESSAGE_ACK
Pr28-
Short Mesage Acknowledgement (GSM 04.11)
(*) Messages Pr22) and Pr23) are not used by SGSN
Another extract from the standard mentioned above (GSM 09.02 version 7.2.0, Release 1998, Section 17.76) is shown in
FIG. 3
, illustrating relevant parameters for this discussion. In connection with
FIG. 3
, please, note the following:
SM-RP-DA: In the mobile originating SM transfer this parameter contains the Service Center address received from the mobile station.
SM-RP-OA: The MSISDN received from the Visitor Location Register (hereinafter VLR) or from the Serving GPRS Support Node (hereinafter SGSN) is inserted in this parameter in the mobile originating SM transfer.
SM-RP-UI: The short message transfer protocol data unit received from the Service Center in inserted in this parameter.
The flow diagram in
FIG. 2
, in accordance with section 17.7.6 fr
Bost Dwayne
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Iqbal Khawar
Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ)
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