Methods and systems for wireless local area network (WLAN)-based signaling network monitoring

1. A method for monitoring signaling message traffic in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a signaling message at a network routing node;

(b) generating a copy at least a portion of the signaling message;

(c) transmitting the copy to a network monitoring platform via a wireless communication link using a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol; and

(d) routing the received signaling message to a signaling node via a wireline signaling link.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the signaling message includes receiving the signaling message at a signaling link interface module located in the routing node.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein generating the copy includes generating the message copy on the signaling link interface module.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein transmitting the copy includes transmitting the message copy using a WLAN interface located on the signaling link interface module.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein transmitting the copy includes transmitting the message copy using a WLAN interface separate from the signaling link interface module.

6. The method of claim 1 generating the copy includes using link probes and a shelf external to the network routing node.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein transmitting the copy to the network monitoring platform includes transmitting the copy to the network monitoring platform using a WLAN interface located on the network monitoring shelf.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the copy to the network monitoring platform includes forwarding the copy to a WLAN router/access point and wherein the WLAN router/access point forwards the copy to the network monitoring platform.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the copy to the network monitoring platform includes establishing a secure connection with the network monitoring platform prior to transmitting the copy via the WLAN.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein establishing the secure connection includes performing an authentication sequence with the network monitoring platform.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein establishing the secure connection includes encrypting the message copied prior to sending the message copy over the WLAN.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein performing steps (a)-(c) includes performing steps (a)-(c) at a signal transfer point.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the WLAN protocol includes an 802.11x protocol.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the WLAN protocol includes at least one 802.16 protocol layer.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the WLAN protocol includes at least one 802.20 protocol layer.

16. The method of claim 1 including transmitting the copy from the network monitoring platform to a network monitoring application.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein transmitting the copy from the network monitoring platform to the network monitoring application includes transmitting the copy via the WLAN.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the signaling message comprises an SS7 signaling message.

19. A system for monitoring signaling message traffic in a telecommunications network, the system comprising:

(a) a network node for receiving a signaling message and routing the received signaling message to a signaling node via a wireline signaling link, the network node including a message copy function for copying at least a portion of the received signaling message and a first wireless local area network (WLAN) interface for transmitting the copy using a WLAN protocol; and

(b) a network monitoring platform operatively associated with the network node and including a second WLAN interface for receiving the copy and memory for storing the copy transmitted by the network node.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the network node comprises a signal transfer point including a link interface module, wherein the message copy function is located on the link interface module.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the first WLAN interface is located on the link interface module for transmitting messages copied by the link interface module.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the signal transfer point includes a network monitoring transport card for receiving messages copied by the message copy function and wherein the first WLAN interface is located on the network monitoring transport card.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the network monitoring platform includes an access point and wherein the second WLAN interface is associated with the access point.

24. The system of claim 19 wherein the WLAN protocol includes an 802.11x protocol layer.

25. The system of claim 19 wherein the WLAN protocol includes at least one 802.16 protocol layer.

26. The system of claim 19 wherein the wireless LAN protocol includes at least one 802.20 protocol layer.

27. The system of claim 19 wherein the network node comprises a network monitoring shelf for copying signaling messages from signaling links external to a network routing node.

28. The system of claim 19 wherein the first and second WLAN interfaces are adapted to perform an authentication sequence prior to transmission of the message copy.

29. The system of claim 19 wherein the first WLAN interface is adapted to encrypt the copy prior to sending a message copy to the second WLAN interface.

30. The system of claim 19 wherein the signaling message comprises an SS7 signaling message.

31. A network routing node for monitoring signaling message traffic in a telecommunications network, the network routing node comprising:

(a) a signaling link interface module for receiving a signaling message;

(b) a message copy function operatively associated with the signaling link interface module for creating a copy of at least a portion of the received signaling message; and

(c) a WLAN interface operatively associated with the signaling link interface module for transmitting the copy to an external receiver using a WLAN protocol,

wherein the network routing node routes the received signaling message to a signaling node via a wireline signaling link.

32. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the signaling link interface module, the message copy function, and the WLAN interface are components of a signal transfer point.

33. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the WLAN interface comprises an 802.11x interface.

34. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the WLAN interface comprise an 802.16 interface.

35. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the WLAN interface comprises an 802.20 interface.

36. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the message copy function resides on the signaling link interface module.

37. The network routing node of claim 36 wherein the WLAN interface resides on the signaling link interface module.

38. The network routing node of claim 36 comprising a network monitoring transport card operatively associated with the signaling link interface module, wherein the WLAN interface resides on the network monitoring transport card and is adapted to receive the copy from the message copy function.

39. The network routing node of claim 31 wherein the signaling message comprises an SS7 signaling message.

40. A system for monitoring signaling message traffic in a telecommunications network, the system comprising:

(a) a network node for receiving a signaling message and routing the received signaling message to a signaling node via a wireline signaling link, the network node including a message copy function for copying at least a portion of a received signaling message and a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface for transmitting the copy using a WLAN protocol;

(b) a wireless router/access point having a WLAN interface and a wired LAN interface, wherein the WLAN interface is adapted to receive the message copy from a wireless LAN and the wired LAN interface is adapted to transmit the message copy over a wired LAN; and

(c) a network monitoring platform for receiving the message copy from the wireless router/access point via the wired LAN.

41. A network routing node for monitoring signaling message traffic in a telecommunications network, the network routing node comprising:

(a) a plurality of signaling link interface modules for sending and receiving signaling messages;

(b) a plurality of message copy functions operatively associated with the signaling link interface modules for copying signaling messages sent or received by the signaling link interface modules; and

(c) a plurality of WLAN interfaces, each WLAN interface being associated with one of the signaling link interface modules for transmitting messages copied by the message copy functions to an external receiver using a WLAN protocol,

wherein the network routing node routes the received signaling messages to signaling nodes via wireline signaling links.