Patent · US Expired

Methods and systems for routing messages in a communications network

US6836477B1 · kind B1 · utility

56Cited by
48References
76Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 1999
Grant dateDec 28, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04Q3/0025
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A flexible routing node for re-directing signaling messages in a communications network is disclosed. Re-direction or re-routing of signaling message packets is accomplished through the use of a range or block-based database in conjunction with an exception-based database. The range-based routing instruction databases incorporates a data structure that maps ranges or blocks of mobile identification numbers (MINs) to a single destination network address, while the exceptions database stores any exceptions to these range or block-based rules. The pair of routing databases is implemented such that, when a signaling message is received that requires re-direction, the exception-based database is queried first. If a match is found in the exceptions database, the signaling message is modified using the returned routing instructions and transmitted into an associated communication network. If no match is found in the exception-based database, a default query is performed against the range-based database. The signaling message is then modified using the routing instructions returned by the range-based database and transmitted into an associated communication network.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.