Patent Application
20120033681
The present invention relates to the field of data communications services, and more particularly, to LTE, 4G, NGN network services.
The known gateway servers which support communication between client nodes and provider servers require customization for configuring the gateway for adapting between the different protocols of the client peer nodes and provider's servers.
Diameter protocol is a flexible signaling protocol and can be dynamically customized and adjusted by the user according to his needs, by using Vendor Specific Attribute Value Pairs (AVP's).
This flexibility is one on the driving forces for Diameter protocol adoption. From the other hand, it introduces a large base of interoperability and security issues for telecommunication service providers implementing Diameter based functionalities in their networks with Diameter based interfaces.
When Diameter based signaling is performed between different telecommunication service providers—process named roaming, there is no guarantee that the network functionality that was validated in its home domain will perform reliably and securely for signaling incoming from other telecommunication service providers.
Since Diameter based roaming signaling is widely adopted, a home network is expected to receive Diameter commands from other networks (other telecommunication service providers) with varying messages structure, content types and content values. These introduce both security and interoperability problem.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a mediating method between signaling network peers of Diameter type, where each peer is associated with different telecommunication service providers network and/or different application vendors. The method comprise the steps of: identifying equipment application type and release version of each provider or vendor based on pre-defined automatic identification classification rules and profile, classifying the vendor of the implemented diameter application in each signaling peer, retrieving a first set of rules adapted for the identified source equipment type, intercepting messages of communication session between signaling peers of different providers, applying access control rules for validating intercepted messages, applying steering rules on outgoing requests for selecting the destination route of target peers, retrieving a second set of conversion rules adapted for the identified destination equipment type vendor application relating to messages structure, content types and content values, applying filtering rules on communication session data eliminating redundant information and applying all conversion rules on intercepted messages, for translating between messages formats of the different signaling peers.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the translating process includes converting the intercepted messages to normalized format, and retranslating the normalized massages according to the receiving signaling peer format.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the translation process includes testing that the message identified format is in compliance with conversion rules relating at least one provider, wherein non compliant messages are rejected.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the filtering rules include checking that each value of the messages fields, is in compliance with the Network functionality or Security requirements, and replacing non complaint values with a valid values corresponding to the receiving signaling peer format.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the access control rules include checking that each value of the messages fields, is in compliance with the Network functionality or Security requirements, and rejecting the message.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the step of applying at least one of compression rules, acceleration rules or optimization rules.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the peer application is MME or HSS, or any other types of peers.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the steering rules further apply routing policy and/or load balancing policy.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the step of applying at least one of compression, acceleration, or optimization rules on outgoing messages, wherein the rules are applied in accordance with path route to selected peer.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a mediating system between signaling network peers of Diameter type, where each peer is associated with different telecommunication service provider's network and/or different peer application vendors. The system comprise the modules of: first classification module for identifying equipment application type and release version of each provider or vendor based on pre-defined automatic identification classification rules (peer profile) and retrieving first set of conversion rules adapted for each identified equipment type, a second classification module for classifying the vendor of the implemented diameter application in each signaling peer and retrieving second set of conversion rules adapted for each identified vendor application relating to messages structure, content types and content values, a monitoring module intercepting messages of communication session between signaling servers of different providers, an authentication module applying access control rules validating intercepted messages, a steering module for applying steering rules on outgoing requests for selecting the destination rout of target peers, a conversion module applying all conversion rules on intercepted messages, for translating between messages formats of the different signaling servers and a security module for applying filtering rules on communication session data eliminating redundant information.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the translating process includes converting the intercepted messages to normalized format, and retranslating the normalized massages according to the receiving signaling server format.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the translation process includes testing that the message identified format is in compliance with conversion rules relating at least one provider, wherein non compliant messages are rejected.
According to some embodiments of the present invention the filtering rules includes checking that each value of the messages fields, is in compliance with the network functionality or security requirements, and replacing non complaint values with a valid values corresponding to the receiving signaling server format.
In the following detailed description of various embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, provides methods and systems for mediating method between signaling network peers of Diameter type of different providers. Each signaling peer may have different type of message formats and policy rules, hence when communicating between different peers it is required to mediate in between for enabling secure and optimized communication.
Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following invention and its various embodiments.
Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different elements, which are disclosed in above even when not initially claimed in such combinations. A teaching that two elements are combined in a claimed combination is further to be understood as also allowing for a claimed combination in which the two elements are not combined with each other, but may be used alone or combined in other combinations. The excision of any disclosed element of the invention is explicitly contemplated as within the scope of the invention.
The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word itself.
The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.
Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
Although the invention has been described in detail, nevertheless changes and modifications, which do not depart from the teachings of the present invention, will be evident to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are deemed to come within the purview of the present invention and the appended claims.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of Provisional patent application No. 61/344481 filed on Aug. 3 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61344481 | Aug 2010 | US |
