Steering of roaming in LTE and legacy network environment
View Patent ↗The present invention is directed towards a method and system for redirecting roaming network traffic in an LTE network. The method includes observing a registration process of a subscriber in a visited network. The method further includes sending one or more messages to the visited network to induce a re-registration attempt by the subscriber to another Radio Access Technology (RAT) network of the same visited network. The method further includes applying one or more legacy steering techniques to move the subscriber to a target visited network.
1. A method for redirecting roaming network traffic in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, the method comprising:
observing, by a home public mobile network associated with a subscriber, a registration process of the subscriber in a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) network within a non-preferred visited public mobile network;
before the subscriber registers in the first RAT network, repeatedly sending, by the home public mobile network, a plurality of messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network that induces a re-registration attempt by the subscriber to a second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, the second RAT network being a different type of network than the first RAT network;
while the subscriber attempts to register to the second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, sending, by the home public mobile network, one or more messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network to prevent the subscriber from registering in the second RAT network, such that the home public mobile network can steer the subscriber to a target visited public mobile network while the home public mobile network is preventing the subscriber from registering in the second RAT network; and
applying, by the home public mobile network, one or more steering techniques to force the subscriber to register with the target visited public mobile network that is different than the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of messages comprise at least one Diameter message selected from a group consisting of an InsertsubscriberDataRequest (IDR) message and a Cancel Location Request (CLR) message.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of messages comprise at least one Mobile Application Part (MAP) message selected from a group consisting of a MAP Process Unstructured Supplementary Services (SS) Request and a MAP Provide Subscriber Information message, followed by a MAP Cancel Location message.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending of the one or more messages further comprises: sending a message to a card of the subscriber modifying current location information stored with identifiers of the target visited public mobile network to force a registration attempt by the subscriber to the target visited public mobile network.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein information about the target visited public mobile network is sent in response to an applet on a handset of the subscriber being able to detect an item selected from a group consisting of roaming, network registration change, handset start, and activation timer, and being able to open a communication channel to obtain a list of networks.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the registration process is between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the target visited public mobile network and a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) of a home network of the subscriber.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of messages are sent to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)/Visited Location Register (VLR) corresponding to the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, prior to the sending the plurality of messages, a location of the subscriber in the non-preferred visited public mobile network; and
determining, based on the location, whether the subscriber is in a region where a radio coverage of a home network overlaps a radio coverage of the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assessing a compatibility of supported frequencies of a device of the subscriber and frequencies broadcast by the target visited public mobile network.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for redirecting roaming network traffic in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, comprising:
code for causing a computer to:
observe, by a home public mobile network associated with a subscriber, a registration process of the subscriber in a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) network within a non-preferred visited public mobile network;
before the subscriber registers in the first RAT network, repeatedly send, by the home public mobile network, a plurality of messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network that induces a re-registration attempt by the subscriber to a second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, the second RAT network being a different type of network than the first RAT network;
while the subscriber attempts to register to the second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, send, by the home public mobile network, one or more messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network to prevent the subscriber from registering in the second RAT network, such that the home public mobile network can steer the subscriber to a target visited public mobile network while the home public mobile network is preventing the subscriber from registering in the second RAT network; and
apply, by the home public mobile network, one or more steering techniques to force the subscriber to register with the target visited public mobile network that is different than the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the plurality of messages is selected from a group consisting of an InsertsubscriberDataRequest (IDR) message, a Cancel Location Request (CLR) message, a Mobile Application Part (MAP) Process Unstructured Supplementary Services (SS) Request, and MAP Provide Subscriber Information messages followed by a MAP Cancel Location message.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the one or more messages is sent to a card of the subscriber modifying current location information stored with identifiers of the target visited public mobile network to force a registration attempt by the subscriber to the target visited public mobile network.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein information about the target visited public mobile network is sent in response to an applet on a handset of the subscriber being able to detect an item selected from a group consisting of roaming, network registration change, handset start, and activation timer, and being able to open a communication channel to obtain a list of networks.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the registration process is between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the target visited public mobile network and a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) of a home network of the subscriber.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of messages are sent to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)/Visited Location Register (VLR) corresponding to the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
code for causing the computer to:
identify, prior to sending the plurality of messages, a location of the subscriber in the non-preferred visited public mobile network, and
determine, based on the location, determines whether the subscriber is in a region where a radio coverage of the home network overlaps a radio coverage of the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
code for causing the computer to:
assess a compatibility of supported frequencies of a device of the subscriber and frequencies broadcast by the target visited public mobile network.
18. A method for redirecting roaming network traffic in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, the method comprising:
observing, by a home public mobile network associated with a subscriber, a registration process of the subscriber in a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) network within a non-preferred visited public mobile network;
before the subscriber registers in the first RAT network, repeatedly sending, by the home public mobile network, a plurality of messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network that induces a re-registration attempt by the subscriber to a second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, the second RAT network being a different type of network than the first RAT network;
while the subscriber attempts to register to the second RAT network within the non-preferred visited public mobile network, sending, by the home public mobile network, one or more messages to the non-preferred visited public mobile network to prevent the subscriber from registering in the second RAT network, such that the home public mobile network can steer the subscriber to a target visited public mobile network; and
applying, by the home public mobile network, one or more steering techniques to force the subscriber to register with the target visited public mobile network that is different than the non-preferred visited public mobile network.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising steering, by the home public mobile network, the subscriber to the target visited public mobile network before the subscriber registers in the first and the second RAT networks.