Extensions to standard diameter routing

1. A method performed by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the method comprising:

receiving the Diameter message at the DRA;

determining whether there is a destination selection associated with the Diameter message;

when a routing plugin determines that the destination selection is associated with the Diameter message, routing the Diameter message by determining, by the routing plugin, whether there is a routing configuration match by evaluating a set of filters in a list of routing configurations in the routing plugin; and

transmitting the Diameter message based on the evaluation.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation further comprises:

retrieving a destination specified in the destination selection; and

retrieving available peers, Diameter routes, and host routes which match the destination specified.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the evaluation further comprises:

when a matching peer or Diameter route or host route are of equal weighting, randomizing an order within a group of equal weight.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the evaluation further comprises:

when the matching peer or Diameter route or host route are not of equal weighting, identifying a peer that the request can be sent to.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the evaluation further comprises:

setting a destination host and a destination realm according to a currently chosen destination.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the evaluation further comprises:

sending the request to the peer,

sending the request to a different peer when a response indicates a resend should be attempted; and

determining whether more destinations are available.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

when the destination selection is absent, creating the destination selection based on values of the Destination-Host and Destination-Realm Attribute Value Pairs of the request.

8. A Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the DRA comprising:

a rule storage configured to store a plurality of sets of rules and plugins;

a Diameter stack configured to receive the Diameter message;

a message handler implemented as hardware and configured to determine whether there is a destination selection associated with the Diameter message, when a routing plugin determines that the destination selection is associated with the Diameter message, route the Diameter message by determining, by the routing plugin, whether there is a routing configuration match by evaluating a set of filters in a list of routing configurations in the routing plugin, and transmit the Diameter message based on the evaluation.

9. The DRA of claim 8 , wherein the message handler is further configured to retrieve a destination specified in the destination selection, and retrieve available peers, Diameter routes, and host routes which match the destination specified.

10. The DRA of claim 9 , wherein the message handler is further configured to, when a matching peer or Diameter route or host route are of equal weighting, randomize an order within a group of equal weight.

11. The DRA of claim 10 , wherein the message handler is further configured, when the matching peer or Diameter route or host route are not of equal weighting, to identify a peer that the request can be sent to.

12. The DRA of claim 11 , wherein the message handler is further configured to set the destination host and destination realm according to a currently chosen destination.

13. The DRA of claim 12 , wherein the message handler is further configured to send the request to the peer, send the request to a different peer when a response indicates a resend should be attempted, and determine whether more destinations are available.

14. The DRA of claim 8 , wherein the message handler is further configured to when the destination selection is absent, create the destination selection based on values of the Destination-Host and Destination-Realm Attribute Value Pairs of the request.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for execution by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the medium comprising:

instructions for receiving the Diameter message at the DRA;

instructions for determining whether there is a destination selection associated with the Diameter message;

instructions for when routing plugin determines that the destination selection is associated with the Diameter message, routing the Diameter message by determining, by the routing plugin, whether there is a routing configuration match by evaluating a set of filters in a list of routing configurations in the routing plugin; and

instructions for transmitting the Diameter message based on the evaluation of the routing plugin.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

instructions for retrieving a destination specified in the destination selection; and

instructions for retrieving available peers, Diameter routes, and host routes which match the destination specified.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:

when a matching peer or Diameter route or host route are of equal weighting, instructions for randomizing an order within a group of equal weight.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , further comprising:

when the matching peer or Diameter route or host route are not of equal weighting, instructions for identifying a peer that the request can be sent to.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising:

instructions for setting a destination host and a destination realm according to a currently chosen destination.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 , further comprising:

instructions for sending the request to the peer,

instructions for sending the request to a different peer when a response indicates a resend should be attempted; and

instructions for determining whether more destinations are available.