Changing a first subscriber identifier to a second identifier
View Patent ↗The invention relates to telecommunications systems, in which a subscriber is identified in a network with a first identifier and with a second identifier in a server providing services to the subscriber through the network. In the invention the first identifier is changed ( 3 - 3 ) in a message to be transferred to the server to a second identifier before transferring the message to the server. Thus the message received from the network can be associated with a particular subscriber in the server.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving a message at a node of a communications network, the message comprising a first unique subscriber identifier, wherein the first unique subscriber identifier comprises an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number or a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) number;
distinguishing the first unique subscriber identifier from the message;
searching for a subscriber identifier pair, wherein the subscriber identifier pair comprises a correlation of the first unique subscriber identifier and a second unique subscriber identifier, wherein the second unique subscriber identifier comprises a Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (MSISDN) number;
including the second unique subscriber identifier in the message; and
transmitting the message with the second unique subscriber identifier.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is transmitted from the node to a server of a service provider.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is transmitted from the node to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) server.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message further comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is received from a gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN).
6. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a message, the message comprising a first unique subscriber identifier, wherein the first unique subscriber identifier comprises an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number or a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) number;
distinguishing the first unique subscriber identifier from the message;
searching for a subscriber identifier pair, wherein the subscriber identifier pair comprises a correlation of the first unique subscriber identifier and a second unique subscriber identifier, wherein the second unique subscriber identifier comprises a Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (MSISDN) number;
including the second unique subscriber identifier in the message; and
transmitting the message with the second unique subscriber identifier.
7. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the message is transmitted from the node to a server of a service provider.
8. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the message is transmitted from the node to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) server.
9. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the message further comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
10. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the message is received from a gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN).
11. A method, comprising:
receiving a message at a first node of a communications network, the message comprising a first unique subscriber identifier, wherein the first unique subscriber identifier comprises an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number or a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) number;
sending a request message from the first node to a second node of the communications network, the request message comprising at least the first unique subscriber identifier;
receiving, at the first node, a response message comprising a second unique subscriber identifier, wherein the second unique subscriber identifier comprises a Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (MSISDN) number;
distinguishing the second unique subscriber identifier from the response message;
including the second unique subscriber identifier in the message; and
transmitting the message with the second unique subscriber identifier.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the message including the second unique subscriber identifier is transmitted to a server of a service provider.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the second unique identifier is a default value MSISDN.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the default value MSISDN is the same for all servers.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the default value MSISDN is specific to the server.
16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the request message comprises data about the server.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the request message comprises data about a service for which the second unique subscriber identifier is requested.
18. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a message, the message comprising a first unique subscriber identifier, wherein the first unique subscriber identifier comprises an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number or a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) number;
sending a request message to a second node of the communications network, the request message comprising at least the first unique subscriber identifier;
receiving a response message comprising a second unique subscriber identifier, wherein the second unique subscriber identifier comprises a Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (MSISDN) number;
distinguishing the second unique subscriber identifier from the response message;
including the second unique subscriber identifier in the message; and
transmitting the message with the second unique subscriber identifier.
19. The article of manufacture of claim 18 , wherein the message including the second unique subscriber identifier is transmitted to a server.
20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 , wherein the second unique identifier is a default value MSISDN.
21. The article of manufacture of claim 20 , wherein the default value MSISDN is the same for all servers.
22. The article of manufacture of claim 20 , wherein the default value MSISDN is specific to the server.
23. The article of manufacture of claim 19 , wherein the request message comprises data about the server.
24. The article of manufacture of claim 18 , wherein the request message comprises data about a service for which the second unique subscriber identifier is requested.