Network-Based System and Method for Global Roaming

1 . A method for mobile communication roaming where a subscriber's home network and the roaming network used by the subscriber do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

sending a “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from a roaming network to a central system;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the central system to an alliance network;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the alliance network to a roaming gateway;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the roaming gateway to the home network;

sending an authentication response to the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the home network to the roaming network via the roaming gateway, alliance network, and central system;

sending a “Update Location” request from the roaming network to the central system;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the “Update Location” request with the VLR address of the central system to create a modified update request;

sending the modified update request from the central system to the alliance network;

sending the modified update request from the alliance network to the roaming gateway;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the modified update request with the VLR address of the roaming gateway to create a twice modified update request;

sending the twice modified update request from the roaming gateway to the home network; and

sending an update response to the twice modified update request from the home network to the roaming network via the roaming gateway, alliance network, and central system.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

placing a call by the subscriber.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a SMS message by the subscriber.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an incoming call for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the home network to the roaming gateway;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming gateway, acting as a home locator register(HLR), to the alliance network;

sending the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the alliance network to the central system;

sending the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the central system, acting as HLR, to the roaming network;

sending a provide number response to the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming network to the home network via the central system, alliance network, and roaming gateway; and

connecting the subscriber to the in coming call.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an incoming SMS message for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the home network to the roaming gateway;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming gateway, acting as home locator register(HLR), to the alliance network;

sending the “MT Forward SM” request from the alliance network to the central system;

sending the “MT Forward SM” request from the central system, acting as HLR to the roaming network;

delivering the SMS message to the subscriber; and

sending an SMS response to the “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming network to the home network via the central system, alliance network, and roaming gateway.

6 . A method for mobile communication roaming where a subscribers home network and the roaming network used by the subscriber do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

replacing the subscriber's primary IMSI with a secondary IMSI on a mobile communication device;

sending a “Send Authentication/Parameters” request, based on the secondary IMSI, from the roaming network to the roaming gateway;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the roaming gateway to an alliance network;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the alliance network to a central system;

replacing the secondary IMSI with the primary IMSI in the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the central system to the home network;

sending an authentication response to the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the home network to the roaming network via the central system, alliance network, and roaming gateway;

sending a “Update Location” request from the roaming network to the roaming gateway;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the “Update Location” request with the VLR address of the roaming gateway to create a modified update request;

sending the modified update request from the roaming gateway to the alliance network;

sending the modified update request from the alliance network to the central system;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the modified update request with the VLR address of the central system to create a twice modified update request;

sending the twice modified update request from the central system to the home network; and

sending an update response to the twice modified update request from the home network to the roaming network via the central system, alliance network, and roaming gateway.

7 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

placing a call by the subscriber.

8 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

sending a SMS message by the subscriber.

9 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving an incoming call for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the home network to the central system;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the central system; acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the alliance network;

sending the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the alliance network to the roaming gateway;

sending the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming gateway, acting as HLR, to the roaming system;

sending an provide number response to the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming network to the home network via the roaming gateway, alliance network, and central system; and

connecting the subscriber to the in coming call.

10 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving an incoming SMS message for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the home network to the central system;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the central system, acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the alliance network;

sending the “MT Forward SM” request from the alliance network to the roaming gateway;

sending the “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming gateway, acting as HLR to the roaming system;

delivering the SMS message to the subscriber; and

sending an SMS response to the “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming network to the home network via the roaming gateway, alliance network, and central system.

11 . A method for mobile communication roaming where a subscriber's home network and a roaming network used by the subscriber do not have a roaming agreement, and the home network and the roaming network are connected with a backbone, the method comprising:

sending a “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the roaming network to an intelligent roaming system on or attached to the backbone;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the intelligent roaming system to the home network;

sending an authentication response to the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the home network to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system;

sending an “Update Location” request from the roaming network to the intelligent roaming system;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the “Update Location” request with the VLR address of the intelligent roaming system to create a modified update request;

sending the modified update request from the intelligent roaming system to the home network; and

sending an update response to the modified update request from the home network to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system.

12 . The method of claim 11 further comprising:

placing a call by the subscriber.

13 . The method of claim 11 further comprising:

sending a SMS message by the subscriber.

14 . The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving an incoming call for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the home network to the intelligent roaming system;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the intelligent roaming system; acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the roaming network;

sending an provide number response to the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming network to the home network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system; and

connecting the subscriber to the in coming call.

15 . The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving an incoming SMS message for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the home network to the intelligent roaming system;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the intelligent roaming system, acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the roaming network;

delivering the SMS message to the subscriber; and

sending an SMS response to the “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming network to the home network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system.

16 . A method for mobile communication roaming where a subscribers home network and a roaming network used by the subscriber do not have a roaming agreement, and the home network and the roaming network are connected with a backbone, the method comprising:

replacing the subscribers primary IMSI with a secondary IMSI on a mobile communication device;

sending a “Send Authentication/Parameters” request, based on the secondary IMSI, from the roaming network to an intelligent roaming system on the backbone;

replacing the secondary IMSI with the primary IMSI in the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request;

sending the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the intelligent roaming system to the home network;

sending an authentication response to the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the home network to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system;

sending a “Update Location” request from the roaming network to the intelligent roaming system;

replacing the visitor locator register (VLR) address in the “Update Location” request with the VLR address of the intelligent roaming system to create a modified update request;

sending the modified update request from the intelligent roaming system to the home network; and

sending an update response to the modified update request from the home network to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system.

17 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

placing a call by the subscriber.

18 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

sending a SMS message by the subscriber.

19 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving an incoming call for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the home network to the intelligent roaming system;

sending a “Provide Roaming Number” request from the intelligent roaming system, acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the roaming network;

sending an provide number response to the “Provide Roaming Number” request from the roaming network to the home network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system; and

connecting the subscriber to the in coming call.

20 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving an incoming SMS message for the subscriber by the home network;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the home network to the intelligent roaming system;

sending a “MT Forward SM” request from the intelligent roaming system, acting as a home locator register (HLR), to the roaming network;

delivering the SMS message to the subscriber; and

sending an SMS response to the “MT Forward SM” request from the roaming network to the home network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system.

21 . A method of billing a subscriber for roaming communications services when the subscribers home network and the roaming network do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

rating the communication by the roaming network;

sending a tapout file from the roaming network to a central system settlement house;

consolidating the tapout files by alliance network at the central system settlement house;

sending the consolidated tapout files to the respective alliance network;

regenerating the tapout file at the alliance network; and

sending the regenerated tapout file from the alliance network to the appropriate home network.

22 . A method of billing a subscriber for roaming communications services when the subscribers home network and the roaming network do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

rating the communication by the roaming network;

sending a tapout file from the roaming network to an alliance network;

consolidating the tapout files at the alliance network settlement house;

sending the consolidated tapout files to the central system;

translating the secondary IMSI to the primary IMSI

regenerating the tapout file at the central system; and

sending the regenerated tapout file from the central system to the appropriate home network.

23 . A method of billing a subscriber for roaming communications services when the subscribers home network and the roaming network do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

rating the communication by the roaming network;

sending a tapout file from the roaming network to a central system settlement house;

consolidating the tapout files by home network at the central system settlement house; and

sending the consolidated tapout files to the respective home network;

24 . A method of billing a subscriber for roaming communications services when the subscribers home network and the roaming network do not have a roaming agreement, the method comprising:

rating the communication by the roaming network;

sending a tapout file from the roaming network to an intelligent roaming system;

translating the secondary IMSI to the primary IMSI

regenerating the tapout file at the intelligent roaming system; and

sending the regenerated tapout file from the intelligent roaming system to the appropriate home network.