Systems, methods and computer program products supporting provision of web services using IMS
View Patent ↗A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message including an embedded web service request is received at an IMS network from a device. The received SIP message is protocol translated to generate a non-IMS message including the web service request. The non-IMS message is conveyed to a web service provider, and a requested web service corresponding to the non-IMS message is conveyed from the web service provider to the device. The SIP message may include a SIP INVITE message containing an embedded SOAP message.
1. A method of operating an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network to support provision of web services, the method comprising:
receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a device, the SIP message comprising an embedded web service request that requests a web service;
protocol translating the received SIP message to generate a non-IMS message including the web service request;
transmitting the non-IMS message to a web service provider; and
transmitting the requested web service corresponding to the non-IMS message from the web service provider to the device;
wherein receiving the SIP message comprising the embedded web service request from the device comprises receiving the SIP message at a Proxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF);
wherein protocol translating the received SIP message to generate the non-IMS message including the web service request is preceded by forwarding the received SIP message from the P-CSCF to a protocol translation SIP application server (AS);
wherein protocol translating the received SIP message to generate the non-IMS message including the web service request comprises generating the non-IMS message from the forwarded SIP message at the protocol translation SIP AS; and
wherein transmitting the non-IMS message to the web service provider comprises transmitting the non-IMS message from the protocol translation SIP AS to the web service provider.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the SIP message from the P-CSCF to the protocol translation SIP AS is preceded by validating the SIP message at the P-CSCF, and wherein forwarding the SIP message from the P-CSCF to the protocol translation SIP AS comprises forwarding the SIP message from the P-CSCF to the protocol translation SIP AS responsive to validation of the SIP message at the P-CSCF.
3. A method of operating an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network to support provision of web services, the method comprising:
receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a device, the SIP message comprising an embedded web service request that requests a web service;
protocol translating the received SIP message to generate a non-IMS message including the web service request;
transmitting the non-IMS message to a web service provider; and
transmitting the requested web service corresponding to the non-IMS message from the web service provider to the device;
wherein the SIP message comprises a first SIP message and wherein transmitting a requested web service corresponding to the non-IMS message from the web service provider to the device comprises:
transmitting a web service response providing the requested web service to the protocol translation SIP AS;
protocol translating the web service response to generate a second SIP message including the web service response; and
transmitting the second SIP message to the P-CSCF.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the web service request and web service response comprise respective Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SIP message comprises a SIP INVITE message.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein protocol translating the received SIP message to generate the non-IMS message including the web service request comprises:
extracting identification information from the SIP message; and
including the extracted identification information in a web services security element in a header of a SOAP message included in the non-IMS message.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the web service request comprises a SOAP message.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-IMS message conforms to a Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) or an MQ protocol.
9. A method of supporting web services in an IMS network, the method comprising:
receiving a SIP message comprising an embedded web service request from a P-CSCF of the IMS wherein the SIP message comprises a first SIP message;
protocol translating the received SIP message to generate a non-IMS message including the web service request;
transmitting the non-IMS message to a web service provider;
receiving a web service response providing a requested web service from the web service provider; and
protocol translating the web service response to generate a second SIP message including the web service response; and
transmitting the second SIP message to the P-CSCF.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein protocol translating the received SIP message to generate the non-IMS message including the web service request comprises:
extracting identification information from the SIP message; and
including the extracted identification information in a web services security element in a header of a SOAP message included in the non-IMS message.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the SIP message comprises a SIP INVITE message.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the web service request comprises a SOAP message.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the non-IMS message conforms to a Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) or an MQ protocol.
14. A method of operating an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network to support provision of web services, the method comprising:
receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a device, the SIP message comprising an embedded web service request that requests a web service;
protocol translating the received SIP message to generate a non-IMS message including the web service request;
transmitting the non-IMS message to a web service provider;
transmitting the requested web service corresponding to the non-IMS message from the web service provider to the device;
receiving an authentication request from the web service provider requesting authentication of the device;
sending an IMS authentication challenge to the device via the IMS network responsive to the authentication request;
receiving an IMS authentication request from the device via the IMS network; and
sending an authentication response to the web service provider responsive to the IMS authentication request.