Telephonic communications – Special services – Provisioning
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-11
2003-01-14
Matar, Ahmad F. (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Special services
Provisioning
C379S201020, C379S201030, C455S419000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06507645
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for changing service data that are set up in one or more subscriber register nodes of a telecommunications network, that contain subscription-related data concerning subscribers of the network, and that can be altered by at least one message of a functional protocol, which message is sent to the or to one of the subscriber register nodes.
Telecommunications networks, in particular, telephone networks, are constructed as fixed networks or mobile radio networks. Such networks have inter-networked switching devices and other network nodes that serve for establishing and maintaining call connections between the subscribers of a network and for controlling and managing these functions and supplementary services realized in the network. In mobile radio networks, respective base stations are connected to the switching devices. With the aid of the switching devices, base station telecommunications terminals can be connected through a radio interface. These terminals enable network access for a subscriber of a mobile network. Furthermore, the switching devices are also set up for the gateway to further networks, e.g., a data transmission network or a fixed network.
One example of a mobile radio network is the prior art Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”) network. The GSM network discloses the principle of realizing memory units in the network nodes within a mobile network, subscriber-specific data concerning the network-specific services being stored in each case in the memory units. One of these memory units is the home location register (“HLR”), which is generally situated at a fixed, defined location and in which the subscription data of the subscriber are stored. The subscription data relate to the registration of the subscriber and also the intelligent services to which the latter has subscribed and the service features assigned thereto. The subscriber identifies him/herself to the mobile network by a specific Subscriber Identity Module (“SIM”) identifier stored, for example, in his/her mobile unit or in a SIM card inserted into the terminal that is currently being used.
The signaling between the network nodes is effected with the aid of functional protocols provided for this purpose, depending on the fixed or mobile network under consideration, such as, e.g., the Intelligent Network Application Part (“INAP”) protocol, the CAMEL Application Part (“CAP”) protocol, or the Mobile Application Part (“MAP”) protocol, in accordance with the prior art GSM standards.
In many telecommunications networks, not only the basic services are set up, such as, e.g., the telephone and facsimile service of a telephone network, but also further services are set up. These further services are referred to below as supplementary services. A network subscriber can address the supplementary services if the subscriber has subscribed to them. Supplementary services may be, inter alia, services that supplement the basic services, e.g., call diversion, management-oriented services, e.g., interrogation of the call charges accrued by a subscriber, or application services based on the basic services, e.g., a bank accounting service. In an intelligent network there is often a dedicated network node provided for management and implementation of the services. The network node is referred to as a service control station or Service Control Point (“SCP”) or, in particular, in the CAMEL standard for GSM networks, a CAMEL Service Environment (“CSE”). The service control station is generally different from the switching devices of the intelligent network.
Specific service-related data can be changed by the relevant subscriber him/herself. This applies, in particular, to the data concerning the supplementary services to which the subscriber has subscribed. The services are changed, after all, by the subscriber in the course of activating/deactivating a supplementary service, e.g., when setting up a call diversion, the service data specifying the presence of a call diversion and also the associated destination address.
In this regard, service data change is performed by the subscriber by a message exchange in the telecommunications network between the subscriber, through the subscriber's terminal, and the telecommunications network. The messages in the network ultimately are forwarded to the home location register assigned to the subscriber, where they are processed.
During the change of the subscription data, the message exchange is effected with the aid of dedicated user-service signaling. For example, the use of a dual-tone multi-frequency method (“DTMF”) interface is known, in which, however, only numbers and a few special characters can be transmitted. In a GSM network, the service of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (“USSD”) can be used, for example. The use involves special signaling, which can be initiated in phase
2
of the USSD service in both directions between terminal and network service. A further example is the use of message elements of the Intelligent Network Application Part protocol (“INAP”). The protocol was originally designed for network-internal communication between switching centers and a service control station, but can also be used for user-service signaling. The various signaling possibilities can, in principle, be combined with one another.
It is not readily possible for a subscriber to change the service data associated with his/her subscriber connection from a third-party connection, that is to say, a different terminal or a terminal having a third-party SIM identifier. Setting-up of an uncomplicated possibility of this type, which should also allow cross-network messaging, has not been implemented previously because those skilled in the art considered that changes to the programming of the home location registers would be necessary for this purpose. Such changes would have entailed, overall, an unacceptable complexity on the part of the network operators.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for changing service data that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and that demonstrates a way in which the change of service data can be carried out, in particular, for supplementary services from a third-party connection, without the change necessitating intervention in the programming or hardware of the relevant home location register.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for changing service data, including: setting up service data in at least one of subscriber register nodes of a telecommunications network, the service data containing subscription-related data concerning subscribers of the network and the service data to be altered by at least one message of a functional protocol; sending the at least one message of a functional protocol to the at least one of the subscriber register nodes; generating with a terminal of the network a handler message, based on a specific command input by a user on the terminal, the handler message being independent of the functional protocol and having identification information concerning a subscriber of the network and change information regarding a nature and scope of a change of the service data of the subscriber; sending the handler message with the terminal to a service control point of the network; using, with the service control point, the handler message to determine the identification information and the change information and, based on the identification information and change information, generating at least one protocol message corresponding to the functional protocol and containing command information for changing the service data, and sending the at least one protocol message to at least one of one of the subscriber register nodes and a subscriber register node to which the subscriber is assigned; and evaluating, with the at least one subscr
Leitgeb Manfred
Swetina Jörg
Agdeppa Hector
Matar Ahmad F.
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