Reducing network protocol overhead

1. A method comprising, by a telephony application server (TAS), performing operations comprising:

receiving, from an originating terminal, a session-initiation request comprising an identification of a called party;

sending, to an information server, a first message comprising first structured text, wherein the first structured text comprises the identification of the called party and the first structured text comprises a textual representation of data of a GSM MAP anyTimeInterrogation query payload; and

subsequently, receiving, from the information server, a second message comprising second structured text, the second structured text comprising a textual representation of data of a GSM MAP sendRoutingInformation reply payload, wherein:

the second structured text comprises a destination-terminal address; and

the destination-terminal address is dynamically bound to a terminal associated with the called party.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the operations further comprising:

sending the first message via an Internet-Protocol-based Lightweight Protocol (IPLP); and

receiving the second message via the IPLP.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the IPLP comprises at least one of: HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP+Transport Layer Security (HTTPS).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:

the session-initiation request comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) INVITE request;

the first structured text comprises at least one of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Extensible Markup Language (XML); and

the second structured text comprises at least one of: JSON or XML.

5. The method according to claim 1 , the operations further comprising, after sending the first message and before receiving the second message:

receiving a third message comprising third structured text, wherein the third structured text comprises an address of a location registry; and

sending, to the information server, a fourth message comprising fourth structured text, wherein the fourth structured text comprises the identification of the called party.

6. The method according to claim 1 , the operations further comprising:

sending, to a core network device, a second session-initiation request comprising the destination-terminal address.

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

determining that at least:

the called party is not attached to a packet-switched (PS) domain; or

a circuit-switched retry timer has expired; and

in response, sending the first message.

8. At least one computer-readable medium (CRM) comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first message comprising first structured text, wherein the first structured text comprises an identification of a called party of a communication session and a textual representation of data of a GSM MAP anyTimeInterrogation query payload; and

in response, sending a second message comprising second structured text, wherein:

the second structured text comprises a destination-terminal address;

the destination-terminal address is dynamically bound to a terminal associated with the called party; and

the second structured text comprises a textual representation of data of a GSM MAP sendRoutingInformation reply payload.

9. The at least one CRM according to claim 8 , the operations further comprising:

receiving the first message via an Internet-Protocol-based Lightweight Protocol (IPLP); and

sending the second message via the IPLP.

10. The at least one CRM according to claim 9 , wherein the IPLP comprises at least one of: HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP+Transport Layer Security (HTTPS).

11. The at least one CRM according to claim 8 , wherein:

the first structured text comprises at least one of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Extensible Markup Language (XML); and

the second structured text comprises at least one of: JSON or XML.

12. The at least one CRM according to claim 8 , the operations further comprising, after receiving the first message and before sending the second message:

sending a third message comprising third structured text, wherein the third structured text comprises an address of a location registry; and

receiving a fourth message comprising fourth structured text, wherein the fourth structured text comprises the identification of the called party.

13. A telecommunications network comprising:

a telephony application server (TAS) communicatively connectable with a terminal; and

an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) gateway;

wherein the TAS is configured to perform first operations comprising:

receiving, from the terminal, an invitation request comprising USSD request data;

sending to the USSD gateway, via an Internet-Protocol-based Lightweight Protocol (IPLP), a request comprising first structured text indicating the USSD string and an identifier of the terminal;

receiving, from the USSD gateway in response to the request via the IPLP, a reply comprising second structured text representing USSD answer data; and

sending, to the terminal, a report message comprising the USSD answer data; and

wherein the USSD gateway is configured to perform second operations comprising:

receiving the request; and

sending, in response to the request, the reply.

14. The telecommunications network according to claim 13 , wherein:

the invitation request comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) INVITE request;

the IPLP comprises at least one of: HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP+Transport Layer Security (HTTPS);

the first structured text comprises at least one of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Extensible Markup Language (XML); and

the second structured text comprises at least one of: JSON or XML.

15. The telecommunications network according to claim 13 , wherein:

the report message comprises a SIP MESSAGE request; and

the first operations further comprise, after sending the report message, sending, to the terminal, a session-teardown message.

16. The telecommunications network according to claim 15 , wherein the session-teardown message comprises a SIP BYE request.

17. The telecommunications network according to claim 13 , wherein:

the report message comprises a SIP MESSAGE request; and

the first operations further comprise, after receiving the reply, sending, to the terminal, an establishment-status message.

18. The telecommunications network according to claim 13 , wherein the second structured text comprises a textual representation of the USSD answer data.