Markport Limited

Accuris Technologies Limited

Aidan Dillon

Joseph Cunningham

Augustine Collins

David C Doran

Robert Ryan

Ian Smith

Louis Corrigan

David James Aitken

Neillus O'Shea

Neillus O'shea

A roaming gateway has at least one IP network interface, and at least one cellular network interface, and inter-working functions for inter-working between a wireless IP network and a cellular network. The inter-working functions communicate with user devices in an IP network according to a machine-level subscribe-and-notify event package protocol for managing handover of mobile devices roaming between IP and cellular networks. They also poll a cellular network for subscriber status on that cellular network in the absence of a mobility event package. The inter-working functions comprise HSS functionality programmed to access data on a HLR of a cellular network and to perform HSS operations using said data. The gateway applies routing policies specific to call types, allowing or disallowing the anchoring of calls originating in either an IP network or a cellular network based on number prefixes. The inter-working functions comprise an application server programmed to communicate with a user device as a client. The server provides a staging point for cellular supplementary services while anchoring calls, retrieving configurations from cellular network elements and applying appropriate routing based on these configurations and the current state of a call.

Roaming gateway

A gateway () resides in an IP-based network. It acts as a controlling or home HLR for a mobile device roaming in this network, emulating an MSC or VLR to the home network HLR. Thus, as far as the home network HLR is aware, the subscriber is roaming in a foreign network of equivalent type of technology. Meanwhile, the gateway of the invention manages a subscriber profile and authentication as if the visited network were the home network. In fact, the gateway in combination with the home network HLR acts as an IMS-standard HSS. The gateway () enables wireless carriers to use existing legacy network infrastructure to provide a smooth evolution to the next generation network architecture, and it supports voice and data inter-working between existing 2/2.5G networks and next-generation IP based networks. For inter-standard roaming, the gatewayextends the existing roaming footprint of an ANSI-41 subscriber roaming in GSM foreign mode. In GSM foreign mode, the ANSI-41 subscriber may roam onto alternative access networks using a sponsor GSM IMSI.

A wireless mobility services platform () has a high-speed network interconnecting an operations and maintenance processor () for performing platform administration and management functions, a network access processor for handling signalling traffic, and a database server () comprising a memory subscriber database distributed across hardware platforms according to a fault-tolerant redundancy scheme. A platform software layer () comprising common communication and database access functions is hosted on the operations and maintenance processor, the network access processor, and on the database server. A signal relay layer () is hosted on the network access processor.

Wireless mobility services platform with package-based database structure

A roaming interworking gateway has a modular unit associated with an IS.41 system, a modular unit associated with a FSM system, and a translation function. The translation function accesses a database which stores subscriber data upon registration of a subscriber in a roamed mobile system. Each modular unit comprises an authentication center to perform authentication before registration. The RIG is implemented on a distributed hardware structure having a high-speed network to which are connected network access processors (NAP), database servers, and an operations and maintenance processor. Each modular unit resides on a single network access processor. The translation function has a module residing on the NAP of each associated modular unit.

Roaming interworking gateway for mobile telecommunications systems

A HLR ( ) has a bus ( ) which interconnects a NAP layer ( ), a DBS layer ( ) and an OMP layer ( ). All accesses to a memory database ( ) are through a single channel&mdash;the associated DBS ( ) with associated databases ( ). Each NAP ( ) has a directory service ( ) identifying the active DB ( ) for each item of subscriber data. Each DBS ( ) has a shadow DBS ( ) to which it automatically writes for real time synchronization.

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Dublin, Ireland

Aidan Dillon