SERVICE CONTROL AGGREGATION GATEWAY

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a gateway and a procedure to, in real time, link together a plurality of session interfaces for communication for supplying of two or more services to one single control interface to a network for telecommunication, to which at least one service user is connected.

PRIOR ART A large number of telecommunications operators are today changing from circuit switched networks to IP-based networks, that is, networks for telephony over Internet by utilization of IP (Internet Protocol). During a period of transition, both types of networks will exist side by side. Today most users and telecommunications services are in circuit switched networks, but in the future the situation will be different and the majority of, or all, users and services will be in IP-based networks. During a period of transition, however, there will be users in circuit switched networks who shall be served by services in IP-based networks, and vice versa. To make possible for this purpose needed communication between such different types of networks, there exist different types of gateways.

In US 2004/0264405 creation of service use registrations is described which summarizes use of mobile data communications services. Packets of messages, which pass through a signal link between a service support node and a gateway support node, including packets for tunneling data, are put through by a mobile data communications service. The address in each packet of message is controlled. If the address is a gateway support node, the packet is characterized as emanating from mobile, and if the address is a service support node, the end address is characterized as mobile.

US 6 934 530 describes a communications network which provides user selection of network access, control or direction and selection of services. By a mobile telephone it will be possible to communicate with access nodes, which supply information about possibilities and costs of available control and service selection, and by the mobile telephone it will be possible to communicate with one of the access nodes for selection of call control and service selection.

In US 2002/0075881 a transaction manager for coordination and cooperation of different networks is described. The transaction manager is preferably arranged in a

gateway which links the networks. The transaction manager is flexible and possible to configure and is operated by data, such as parameters from incoming inquiries, parameters in the gateway configuration, and parameters direct from in the transaction included activities.

US 2003/0031165 describes VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol)-networks to check the allowableness of a call from a user to one by him/her specifed number. After the specified call having been found allowable, it will be connected to a distant place, and there a connection is established between the user and the specified destination of the call, however not by the distant place.

If a user need to be served by two telecommunications services at the same time and these services are implemented in different types of network, a more complex situation will occur. One example of such a situation occurs if a GSM-user with pre-paid account, for instance Telia Refill, will utilize a function based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), which, for instance, need to know about when the mobile telephone is busy. In this case, both an IN (Intelligent Network)-service, namely the refill-service, and a SIP-service shall, at the same time, control the telephone call. To then make the network first "wake up" the IN-service and then control the call via a gateway to a SIP- network, in order to also to the SIP-network provide control over the call, results in problems with debiting and with finding a suitable gateway function. The latter problem will especially occur when a mobile user visits another operator's mobile network.

The aim of the present invention is to solve the above discussed problem.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This aim is achieved by a gateway and a procedure of in the introduction indicated type, with in the patent claim 1 respective 8 specified characteristics.

By the present invention, consequently a network function is achieved to link together, in real time, a plurality of session interfaces from two or more services to one single control interface to the telecommunications network, where the user is. This aggregation function implies that, at reception of service call or other control signaling, this is sent to the services and reply is awaited from the services. Depending on these replies, then a reply is generated to the telecommunications network. According to the invention, consequently an aggregation function is used instead of the telecommunications network itself sequentially effecting a plurality of services. The

aggregation function accordingly can add intelligent, service interaction managing logic, which the network itself is lacking.

According to advantageous embodiments of the gateway according to the invention, the logic unit is arranged to send a service call or other control signaling sequentially to the services, and the logic unit is arranged to await the reply from a service before the service call or the control signaling is sent to next service. The logic unit further can be arranged to influence the control signaling to a subsequent service depending on the reply from a previous service. The reply from the previous service consequently can influence which parameters, etc., that the gateway sends in the control signaling to the subsequent service. A reply to the telecommunications network then only is generated when the last service has replied.

The services in question can be implemented in different types of networks for telecommunication. According to one advantageous embodiment of the gateway according to the invention, interface adapters for that reason are arranged in the signaling paths of the session interfaces to access and link together services from the different types of networks. Such interface adapters in the signaling paths can substantially change the signaling, both regarding type of message, information content, and message sequences. The establishing of interface adapters consequently results in that also services in other types of networks can be accessed, and an aggregation function is realized which makes grouping together of services from a plurality of different types of networks possible.

According to another embodiment of the gateway according to the invention, the logic unit is arranged to put through from the services initiated control signaling via said control interface to the telecommunications network, that is, in the opposite direction compared with the above described signaling direction at service call and control signaling from the telecommunications network where the user is.

According to yet another embodiment of the gateway according to the invention, the logic unit is arranged to manage and modify control signaling depending on information about a permission model of to the telecommunication networks connected sessions. The according to the invention realized aggregation function consequently has a permission model of established sessions in the network, so that control signal messages can be managed in appropriate way and be modified when required.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

In order to more exactly explain the invention, now, as an example, a selected embodiment of the gateway according to the invention will be described more in detail with reference to the enclosed drawing, which shows, in form of block diagram, an embodiment of a gateway according to the invention, connected to a telecommunications network and possible to connect to a number of services.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

In the figure is illustrated an embodiment of an aggregation gateway 6, according to the invention, for control of services. It is, via a control interface a, connected to a telecommunications network 2, in which there is at least one user. Via a number of session interfaces b,...,n, the gateway 6 further is connected to a plurality of services, Service 1 ,..., Service n.

Gateway 6 includes a logic unit 4 to realize an aggregation function for service control. At reception of a service call, or other control signaling on the interface a, the logic unit 4 sends the call or the signaling sequentially or parallelly further to the services Service 1 Service n. The logic unit awaits reply from the services Service

1 Service n, or corresponding service suppliers, links the replies together, and after that generates a reply to the network 2 via the interface a.

At sequential transmission of control signaling to the services, the logic unit 4 awaits the reply from a service, before it sends corresponding control signaling to next service. The reply from the previous service can influence which parameters etc the unit 4 transmits in the control signaling to subsequent service. A reply to the network 2 via the interfaces a is generated only when the last service has replied.

A control signaling process also can be initiated in the opposite direction, that is, it can be initiated by a service Service 1 ,..., Service n, whereupon the logic unit 4 puts through the control signaling further to the network 2 via the interface a.

The logic unit 4 further includes information about a permission model of established sessions in the network 2, so that it in an appropriate way can manage and, when need arises, modify control signaling messages.

The interfaces a, b,..., n are advisably of well known types.

The services in question can be implemented in different types of networks, and to make it possible to access services in other types of networks, and to make it

possible to bring together services from a plurality of different networks in an aggregation procedure, interface adapters Adapter 1 Adapter n, are arranged in the signal paths of the session interfaces b n. These adapters Adapter 1 ,..., Adapter n, can change the signaling markedly, both regarding type of message, information content and message sequences.

The interface adapters can be based on in themselves known technology. Thus, the interface adapter Adapter 1 can, for instance, be a SPIRITS (Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting InTemet Service)- gateway if interface a is an INAP (Intelligent Network Application Protocol), and b a SIP. Alternatively, the interface adapter Adapter 1 , can be a PARLAY-X gateway if the interface a is an INAP or SIP, and interface b a PARLAY-X.

PSTN above stands for Public Switched Telephone Network, and IN Intelligent Network. SPIRITS is standardized by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force, and PARLAY-X is a specification for interconnection of telecommunication and IT (Information Technology), standardized by the Parlay Group.

The invention primarily is of importance in circuit switched mobile networks where the user has a pre-paid service, for instance Telia Refill, which requires control from an IN-service, such as CAMEL (Customised Applications for Mobile Enhanced Logic), at the same time as the user wants to utilize a service from the rapidly growing supply of SIP/IMS- and PARLAY-X-based services. IMS stands for IP Multimedia Subsystems. In this case, both the interface a and the interface n are constituted by the IN-protocol CAP (Common Alerting Protocol)(CAMEL), whereas the interface b is constituted by SIP or PARLAY-X. For the interface b, then an interface adapter is required.

Future services will require on-line debiting directly to the customer's account, also in the case that billing after that is done periodically (post-paid). Also for this application the invention is of importance. In this case, CAMEL-control of the mobile is required in all cases. The number of cases where the customer wants a combination of a CAMEL-service and a SIP- or PARLAY-X-based service consequently will increase.