Patent Application
20150172993
The present invention generally relates to mobile communication. More specifically, the invention relates to handling mobile communication while roaming.
Roaming traffic contributes a significant percentage of an operator's revenue and even a better percentage of the operator's margin. With increasing competition and regulatory control, operators are being more pressured to increase their roaming revenue. Over the last few years, revenues to the network operators from home subscribers have consistently declined due to increased competition and resulting pricing pressures. On the other hand, revenues from roamers have consistently grown in the same period due to increased mobile penetration in local markets and an increase in travel.
As the global mobile roaming market business model is evolving, the industry understands the strategic importance of roaming to operator's revenues and profit margins and is adapting various newly proposed regulations. The operators understand that they must develop strategies for driving the number of roamers and roaming usage, while lowering tariff rates.
Amongst the roaming business, the average margins on inbound roaming revenue is around 80% and the average margins on outbound roaming revenue is around 20%. The key challenge lying before the operators is to maximize the outbound roaming revenues. While analyzing the outbound roaming revenues, it should be noted that on an average 40% of the outbound roaming revenues are contributed from Mobile Originated (MO) calls made by outbound roamers. Of these MO calls, almost 70% calls are back home and 10% are to other markets outside the current roaming destination of the subscribers. The revenue earned by the operator from these calls is minimal considering the revenue distribution between the current roaming network of the roamers and the destination network to where the call is made.
The roaming charges levied to a roamer for the outgoing calls made also constitute Inter Operator Tariffs and Retail Markups. The operators are increasingly coming under price pressure to offer better retail rates compared to wholesale tariff. The IOTs carry about 80% margin today whereas retail roaming charges carry only 20% margin. While the operators rely heavily on IOT discounting while setting up roaming agreements to maximize their roaming margins, the exception to the rule is outgoing international calls to other networks, the international outgoing calls continue to be expensive.
The key drivers constituting outbound roaming revenue are hence the Inter Operator Tariff, Termination Rates and Retail Markup. While the operator has little control on retail markup due to competitive pricing, it can leverage incremental revenue streams from the outgoing calls of the outbound roamers by routing the call through
Low cost path thus paying lower IOT
Terminating the calls destined to other networks in the home country in its own network and routing the call to the other network, thus earning the difference in higher international termination and lesser national termination
Current state of art can re-route a call by an outbound roamer via an alternative number of the home network and then reconciles the call at the home network to the original called number. While this can help with CLI delivery and produce some better arbitrage margins, it is not sufficient to deal with many beneficial situations where the alternative routes are not going through a home network number.
In accordance with the foregoing, there is a need in the art of a system, a method, for creating a solution that gives an operator the ways to leverage non-home network call routing such that call made by outbound roamers from the visited network are routed in an optimal manner via a non-home network number, with the aim of maximizing the margin that accrues to the home operator. While the focus of the invention is on roaming, the rerouting methods can be applied similarly to international calls too.
The present invention is directed towards a method and system for mobile communication where a first routing module at a first network facilitates routing of a subscriber's MO call to a called party through an alternative number assigned by a second routing module at a second network. This routing is done by the first routing module when the subscriber is present in a visited country or home country and the called party is present in same or different country from the subscriber. In other words, the subscriber initiates either an international or national roaming or long distance call from any network to a called party that may be in a network/country different from the subscriber. The alternative number maybe selected by the second routing module at a second network from either an operator in home country, or an operator in a third country, or a carrier cloud.
The present invention provides a Smart Re-Routing (SRR) service that is a network based solution for outbound roamers, inbound roamers or local subscribers that does not require a handset client application. It uses CAMEL control (as an example, while other call control examples can be SIP, WIN, IN/INAP etc) to turn an outbound roamer's call routing to a called number via an alternative number. Thereafter, when the call control reaches the alternative number, the call control is re-synced back to the called number.
The system and method of the present invention, in its various embodiments facilitate via the routing modules leveraging the arbitrage saving between two routes and also guarantee the quality and CLI of the call.
The system and method of the present invention, in its various embodiments provide the SRR service offering that leverages Roamware's partnership with leading signaling and voice service providers around the world, to re-route the call via a “Re-routing Hub” deployed within the carrier cloud. This re-routing hub can also act as the second routing module. The end-destination of such a call could be the home network or another service provider network within the home country, or a network in a third country. This variation enables the home operator to selectively determine whether a home-based or cloud-based route is most optimal, based on the overall business value taking into account the various cost/revenue elements of either model. The re-routing is achieved through intelligent use of the triggers generated by CAMEL-enabled (or SIP or ISUP or other call control protocols) visited operators back towards the home operator. The user experience for the roaming subscriber is not affected in any way, and he continues to enjoy normal roaming service while traveling.
While the example and focus will be on outbound roaming where the first routing module is associated with the home network where the call control is handled, the invention can be similarly applied to inbound roamers and local subscribers, in which case, the first routing module will be associated with the network where the call is originated and call control is handled. In both cases, the first routing module is associated with the network the call control is intended to be handled by the first routing module.
In the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers identify similar elements or acts.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one having ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified, so as not to obscure the present invention. Furthermore, reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic, described in connection with the embodiment, is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearance of the phrase “in an embodiment”, in various places in the specification, does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.
The present invention provides a system and a method for facilitating mobile communication for a subscriber of a Home Public Mobile Network (HPMN) roaming in a Visited Public Mobile Network (VPMN). In accordance with various embodiments, the present invention provides a method and system re-routing a subscriber's MO call to a called party using a first routing module associated with at a first network that facilitates routing of a subscriber's MO call to a called party through an alternative number that is assigned by a second routing module at a second network. The first network is the network from where the subscriber makes the MO call (either home network or visited network). The second network could be a network either in carrier cloud or third country or visited network. The first routing module is deployed in the first network, while the second routing module is deployed in the second network. This concept of re-routing MO call through the alternative number is hereinafter referred to as Smart Re-Routing (SRR) service.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the subscriber's MO call is a national or international call that is routed through an alternative number from the subscriber's home country, or third country or carrier cloud. In various embodiments of the invention, the SRR service may be used by local subscribers at home network making international calls or an inbound roamer making international call or an outbound roamer making a roaming call (national or international). In this embodiment, the called party can be present either in subscriber's present country or a different country, thus making the MO call either a national roaming call or an international roaming call. For sake of clarity the present invention is explained with international roaming scenarios, however, it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that this invention will be equally applicable while dealing with all national roaming scenarios.
The Smart Re-Routing (SRR) solution's first routing module is installed in a home network as a SCP for outbound roamers. The SRR solution maintains the following interfaces:
Interface with VLRs in the roaming partner network
Interface with MSCs in the roaming partner network
Interface with GMSC in the deploying network
Interface with international signaling gateways (or STPs that are connected to such gateways) in the deploying network
The SRR service is deployed at edge of roaming and interconnects domains as it enables the operator to capture more termination fees while enhancing the roamers customer experience and potentially, benefit from lower IOT when routing calls back home.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the SRR solution requires CAMEL partnership between HPMN and VPMN. The SRR solution interfaces with network over CAMEL and ISUP/INAP over SS7 or SIGTRAN. ISUP or INAP is only used for handling calls which have been routed to home network or carrier cloud infrastructure. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the SRR solution uses SIP or WIN profile of the outbound roamer to re-route the call control. The subscriber's profile may be statically assigned from the HLR of the outbound roamer. Alternatively, the profile is dynamically assigned based on registration attempt of the outbound roamer.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the SRR solution also support probing of roaming links for capturing subscriber profile parameters. The SRR solution supports updating the subscriber profile in VLR for gaining control of calls in order to perform smart re-routing. The O-CSI is set with SRR's routing module as SCP GT in roaming profile. Alternatively, DCG may be used for setting O-C SI triggers for out-roamers. However, if DCG is used, then probe is also installed. For billing reconciliation, the CDRs with originally dialed number are required at the MSC for billing and rating. The operator's MSC CDRs are to be modified with original called number.
In accordance with all embodiments of the present invention, the SRR service ensures that call made by outbound roamers from the visited network are routed in an optimal manner, with the aim of maximizing the margin that accrues to the home operator. The SRR service leverages Roamware's Carrier Service (RCS) Infrastructure that has partnership with a leading signaling and voice service provider, to re-route the calls via a “Hub” operated within the carrier cloud. The RCS consists of hubs at each partner international carrier and its associated local number presence at various countries. The end-destination of such a call could be the home network or another service provider network within the home country, or a network in a third country. This variation enables the home operator to selectively determine the most optimal cloud-based, based on the overall business value taking into account the various cost/revenue elements.
The SRR service leverages CAMEL partnership is used to bring the call control of outbound roamer's calls to home network. In one case, the operator provisions the O-CSI for all outbound roamers or uses the DCG is to set the O-CSI dynamically. Thereafter, upon origination of any MO or forwarded call, O-CSI is triggered and call control comes to the first routing module deployed at home network. The first routing module gets a temporary DNIS number allocated (from the second routing module) for the call and gets the call routed on the same. This DNIS number actually belongs to the second routing module (i.e., the SRR Hub) falling in desired path of the call. The ISUP call is thus routed via the second routing module that re-synchs the call to the original called number.
In accordance with various embodiment of the present invention, VPMN VLR 108 interacts with international STP 1112 via a switch 118. In one embodiment of the invention, switch 118 is a Local POP (Point-Of-Presence) in VPMN 106 although the Local POP can be in any visit country network or visit region network or any network in the world. The SRR service is handled by a first routing module 120 that resides in HPMN 104 (i.e., the first network) and a second routing module 122 that resides in a carrier partner network 124 (i.e., the second network). It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the first routing module 120 is present at the location from where the MO call is controlled. For example, for an outbound roamer, the first routing module 120 is present in first network, i.e., HPMN 104, while for inbound roamer or local subscriber the first routing module 120 is present first network, i.e., VPMN 106. The local POP (i.e. switch) 118 is country specific that is only a switching infrastructure that takes calls on certain DIDs (Direct Inward Dialing) that are local numbers specific to the country (anywhere in the world including visit country, home country or third country) that is associated with that local POP. The routing module 120 may be located at a hub location that can cater to multiple networks' local POP for re-routing the subscriber's outbound calls through SRR service. The second routing module 122 is present in the second network, which could be either a carrier cloud Hub network, or a network from a third country or a network in the visited country or a network from the home country or even the visited network itself. Basically both routing modules can be physically located anywhere in the world although their logical functions are described in this patent.
The representation of first routing module 120 and second routing module 122 in HPMN 104 and carrier partner network 124 respectively, is only exemplary and not limiting. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that HPMN 104 and VPMN 106 may follow their own interconnect routes to route calls to any local POP in the world.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, several routing modules can be used in RCS ecosystem that supports geographically redundant gateways around the world. Further several such ecosystems can form a meta-ecosystem. In various embodiments of the present invention, the first routing module 120 routes subscriber 102's MO international call to a called party (in destination network as shown in
The concept is illustrated for a scenario where the called party is in the home country of the calling party, by means of home country rerouting scenario to route a call back to the home network, but the mechanism can also apply to the case of re-routing to another (non-home) network in the home country or even to a network in the third-country.
The process flow in
The business case in carrier cloud based routing scenario is based on a substantially lower cost (thereby resulting in a lower TAP charge from VPMN to HPMN) or better quality (CLI, low latency and low congestion, better voice quality etc) of routing from VPMN 106 to the carrier cloud network. This is also supported by the fact that the carrier cloud offers very competitive rates for routing calls to the end destination, which are charged back to the home network. Effectively, the routing via the carrier cloud works out to be cheaper than the IOT between VPMN 106 and the actual destination network. The end-subscriber continues to pay the normal charge for the roaming call, which when coupled with the lower TAP charge (due to the rerouting to the carrier cloud network), gives a higher margin to HPMN 104 operator. The billing of these re-routed calls is reconciled to produce back billing records containing the alternative number.
The above call flow can be supported by a few use case scenarios. Let us assume a subscriber from India is roaming in UK, makes an MO call to Russia. In this case, the home network, HPMN is India, while visited network VPMN is UK and the destination network is a third country Russia. Now the first routing module 120 is deployed in India, while the second routing module 122 could be deployed anywhere in carrier cloud that offers an alternative number. The alternative number could be a number from US, any EU country or any other country. The selection of the alternative number is dependent on which country destination the UK operator has lower IOT. The location of second routing module 122 could be physically the same location from where alternative number is provided, or it could be in a central location which has the capability to receive call control from the alternative number. For example, in this case, a US alternative number is provided assuming that calls to US are having cheaper IOT for the UK operator and hence, the second routing module 122 is also present in US.
In a second scenario, let us assume a local subscriber in India at home network is making an international call to Russia. In this case, the HPMN is India and the first routing module 120 is deployed in India. Again, the alternative number could be selected from US knowing that charge of the IDD leg of calls to US from India are cheaper than the international charges for calls from India to Russia. In this case too, the second routing module 122 could be deployed in US or at a central hub location, say UK.
While the conventional art of smart routing is based on home routing involving one routing module associated with one network, the innovation here involves two routing modules associated with two different networks. The innovation can also be combined with home routing by first routing the call to an alternative number assigned by the second routing module and then have the second routing module route to another alternative number (e.g. a temporary called number) assigned by the first routing module (as in today's art of home routing) and then when the call on the second alternative number (ie. the temporary called number) reaches the home network, the first routing module can take over the call control and resynches the call back to the original called number. In this way, the home operator can benefit from cheaper IOT, better voice quality on a carrier route under its control rather than the VPMN control and at the same time, having the call back to the home network so to allow home operator having a call control (e.g. duration of the call) and international termination margin (as the call is terminated in home network before reaching the final destination).
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the SRR service is deployed for establishing a Termination Ecosystem (TE). The termination ecosystem is applicable for international MO calls of an inbound roamer or local subscriber, made to non-partner network in a country, where another partner network exists and there is a termination asymmetry in international and domestic termination. The termination ecosystem members provide pool of numbers to the SRR platform where the call can be terminated to leverage the termination asymmetry. The pool of numbers allocated is configured to check the actual destination number from the TE-HUB (i.e., SRR platform which is first routing module 120).
The logistics for setting up the Termination Ecosystem include setting up GMSC at the International Gateway to interface with TE-Hub over CAMEL trigger or ISUP loopback for all international calls. The CAMEL triggers carry call details to the TE-Hub. The TE-Hub recognizes the destination network (from CC/NDC of called number) and then provides an alternative number from appropriate pool of a partner network, where the call can be terminated. When the call is terminated on such an alternative number at the partner network, the GMSC of the partner is configured to check for final destination from the TE-Hub (CAMEL/IN trigger or ISUP loopback) and route the call appropriately to the called party (actual final destination).
The present invention is its various embodiments provide multiple advantages to the operator deploying the SRR service. The operator is able to garner the termination fee inflow and reap the benefits of substantially low tariffs for re-routing calls to networks within the home country. This re-routing typically yield higher margins based on tariff differences for calls routed to home and third countries. The operator is also able to assure delivery of CLI and RDN, especially for calls routed back to the home country, by compensating for any possible loss of the CLI and RDN when the call is connected from the visited to the home network.
This SRR service is also advantageous to the subscriber. The subscriber remains blissfully unaware of how the call is routed, both in terms of duration for call connection and tariff. In some cases, to further strengthen the business case, the operator may decide to pass on part of cost savings to subscriber by providing lower tariffs for these re-routed calls.
The SRR service can also be similarly applied for international calls by local subscribers or inbound roamers (rather than outbound roamers). The basic principle is the same where such international call controls maybe rerouted to an alternative number where the call is resynched back to the original-called-number so to either explore the arbitrage of the different routes or quality reason (e.g. CLI guarantee).
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art, that the present invention can also be applied to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)/American National Standards Institute #41D (ANSI-41D), and various other technologies such as, but not limited to, VoIP, WiFi, 3GSM and inter-standard roaming. In one exemplary case, a CDMA outbound roamer travels with an HPMN CDMA handset. In another exemplary case, the CDMA outbound roamer travels with an HPMN GSM SIM and a GSM handset. In yet another exemplary case, GSM outbound roamer travels with an HPMN CDMA RUIM and a CDMA handset. To support these variations, system 100 will have a separate SS7 and network interfaces, corresponding to both the HPMN and VPMN networks. It will also be apparent to a person skilled in the art that these two interfaces in different directions may not have to be the same technologies. Moreover, there could be multiple types of interface in both directions.
An exemplary list of the mapping between GSM MAP and ANSI-41D is described in the table below as a reference.
The present invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, software, including but not limited to, firmware, resident software, and microcode, implements the invention.
Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product, accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by, or in connection with, a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CDROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD).
The components of present system described above include any combination of computing components and devices operating together. The components of the present system can also be components or subsystems within a larger computer system or network. The present system components can also be coupled with any number of other components (not shown), such as other buses, controllers, memory devices, and data input/output devices, in any number of combinations. In addition, any number or combination of other processor-based components may be carrying out the functions of the present system.
It should be noted that the various components disclosed herein may be described using computer aided design tools and/or expressed (or represented), as data and/or instructions embodied in various computer-readable media, in terms of their behavioral, register transfer, logic component, transistor, layout geometries, and/or other characteristics. Computer-readable media in which such formatted data and/or instructions may be embodied include, but are not limited to, non-volatile storage media in various forms (e.g., optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage media) and carrier waves that may be used to transfer such formatted data and/or instructions through wireless, optical, or wired signaling media or any combination thereof.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but may not be limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “hereunder,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word “or” is used in reference to a list of two or more items, it covers all of the following interpretations: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.
The above description of illustrated embodiments of the present system is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present system to the precise form disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the present system are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the present system, as those skilled in the art will recognize. The teachings of the present system provided herein can be applied to other processing systems and methods. They may not be limited to the systems and methods described above.
The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made in light of the above detailed description.
Provided above for the edification of those of ordinary skill in the art, and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention, are detailed illustrations of a scheme for proactive roaming tests, discoveries of roaming partner services and discoveries of frauds in roaming using simulated roaming traffic. Numerous variations and modifications within the spirit of the present invention will of course occur to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the embodiments that have been disclosed. For example, the present invention is implemented primarily from the point of view of GSM mobile networks as described in the embodiments. However, the present invention may also be effectively implemented on GPRS, 3G, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMax etc., or any other network of common carrier telecommunications in which end users are normally configured to operate within a “home” network to which they normally subscribe, but have the capability of also operating on other neighboring networks, which may even be across international borders.
The examples under the system of present invention detailed in the illustrative examples contained herein are described using terms and constructs drawn largely from GSM mobile telephony infrastructure. However, use of these examples should not be interpreted as limiting the invention to those media. The system and method can be of use and provided through any type of telecommunications medium, including without limitation: (i) any mobile telephony network including without limitation GSM, 3GSM, 3G, CDMA, WCDMA or GPRS, satellite phones or other mobile telephone networks or systems; (ii) any so-called WiFi apparatus normally used in a home or subscribed network, but also configured for use on a visited or non-home or non-accustomed network, including apparatus not dedicated to telecommunications such as personal computers, Palm-type or Windows Mobile devices; (iii) an entertainment console platform such as Sony Playstation, PSP or other apparatus that are capable of sending and receiving telecommunications over home or non-home networks, or even (iv) fixed-line devices made for receiving communications, but capable of deployment in numerous locations while preserving a persistent subscriber id such as the eye2eye devices from Dlink; or telecommunications equipment meant for voice over IP communications such as those provided by Vonage or Packet8.
In describing certain embodiments of the system under the present invention, this specification follows the path of a telecommunications call, from a calling party to a called party. For the avoidance of doubt, such a call can be a normal voice call, in which the subscriber telecommunications equipment is also capable of visual, audiovisual or motion-picture display. Alternatively, those devices or calls can be for text, video, pictures or other communicated data.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and the figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur, or to become more pronounced, are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all of the claims.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/523,768 entitled “Smart Call Routing” filed Aug. 15, 2011, which is incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2012/050763 | 8/14/2012 | WO | 00 | 7/25/2014 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61523768 | Aug 2011 | US |
