Network traffic redirection (NTR) in long term evolution (LTE)
View Patent ↗The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for redirecting roaming network traffic in an LTE network. The methods include observing a registration process of a subscriber in a visited network. The methods further include, upon successful registration, sending one or more messages to the visited network to induce a re-registration attempt by the subscriber to another visited network.
1. A method for redirecting roaming network traffic in one or more telecommunication networks, the method comprising:
observing, by a module deployed in a home network, a registration process of a subscriber in a first visited network, the registration process including transmission of a Diameter Update Location Request message by the first visited network to the home network and transmission of a Diameter Update Location Update message by the home network to the first visited network;
identifying, by the module deployed in the home network, whether the subscriber is registered on a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network or a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network;
if the subscriber is registered on the LTE network, attempting to redirect the subscriber to a different LTE network;
if the subscriber is registered on the GSM network, then determining whether the registration of the subscriber is due to loss of LTE coverage or circuit-switched fallback (CSFB);
if the registration of the subscriber is due to CSFB, then allowing the subscriber to be registered on the GSM network; and
if the registration of the subscriber is due to the loss of LTE coverage, then sending, by the module deployed in the home network, one or more messages to the first visited network that includes a request with an operator determined barring (ODB) parameter that induces the first visited network to send a detach request to the subscriber to detach from the first visited network and attempt a registration with a second visited network.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more messages are one of Diameter InsertSubscriberData Request (IDR) message or Diameter CancelLocation Request (CLR) message.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending one or more messages further comprises sending a list of preferred visited networks to the subscriber while being in the first visited network, to induce the re-registration attempt by the subscriber to the second visited network.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the list of preferred visited networks is sent in response to an applet on subscriber's handset being able to detect one of roaming, network registration change, handset start, or activation timer, and opening a communication channel to get the list of networks.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the registration process is executed between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the first visited network and a home subscriber server (HSS) of the home network of the subscriber.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more messages are sent to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the first visited network.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising rejecting the registration of the subscriber in the first visited network when the registration invokes a radio technology change from LTE to GSM.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the registration of the subscriber is a dual registration for CSFB, over LTE network for data access and GSM network for voice access.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising discriminating between a dual registration or a consecutive registration of the subscriber, by analyzing a signaling pattern of the registration process.
10. A system for redirecting roaming network traffic in a telecommunication network, the system comprising:
a network traffic redirection (NTR) module deployed in a home network, the NTR module configured to:
observe a registration process of a subscriber in a first visited network, wherein the registration process includes transmission of a Diameter Update Location Request message by the first visited network to a home network and transmission of a Diameter Update Location Accept message by the home network to the first visited network;
identify whether the subscriber is registered on a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network or a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network;
if the subscriber is registered on the LTE network, attempt to redirect the subscriber to a different LTE network;
if the subscriber is registered on the GSM network, determine whether the registration of the subscriber is due to loss of LTE coverage or circuit-switched fallback (CSFB);
if the registration of the subscriber is due to CSFB, allow the subscriber to be registered on the GSM network; and
upon observing that the subscriber is successfully registered in the first visited network, send one or more messages to the first visited network that includes a request with an operator determined barring (ODB) parameter that induces the first visited network to send a detach request to the subscriber to detach from the first visited network and attempt a registration with a second visited network.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the NTR module is configured to send one of Diameter InsertSubscriberData Request (IDR) message or Diameter CancelLocation Request (CLR) message.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the NTR module is configured to send a list of preferred visited networks to the subscriber while being in the first visited network, to induce the re-registration attempt by the subscriber to the second visited network.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the NTR module is further configured to:
identify whether the subscriber registered on a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network or a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network;
if the subscriber registered on the GSM network, then the NTR module is configured to determine whether the registration of the subscriber is due to loss of LTE coverage or circuit-switched fallback (CSFB); and
if the registration of the subscriber is due to the loss of LTE coverage, then the NTR module is configured to send the one or more messages to the first visited network to induce the re-registration attempt by the subscriber to the second visited network.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the registration process is executed between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the visited network and a home subscriber server (HSS) of the home network of the subscriber.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the NTR module is configured to send the one or more messages to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) corresponding to the first visited network.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the NTR module is configured to reject the registration of the subscriber in the first visited network when the registration invokes a radio technology change from Long Term Evolution (LTE) to Global System for Mobile communications (GSM).