Intermediary network system and method for facilitating message exchange between wireless networks

Abstract

Network System and Method for facilitating message exchange between mobile subscribers belonging to the same or different public land mobile networks, possibly incorporating different standards. Message exchange between two subscribers of the same or different networks may involve one or more lookups on subscription data, zero or more message transformations, one or more routing decisions including application of costing functions, and, storage and propagation of the message in one or more Core or Intermediary networks. The messages may be of type, among others, SMS (Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Message Service), or EMAIL.

1 - 42 . (canceled)  
   
   
       43 . A method of resolving routing for a message, wherein a destination of the message is based on a mobile telephone number, the method comprising: 
 determining if the telephone number is an international telephone number;    if the telephone number is an international telephone number: 
 obtaining a mobile country code;  
 determining whether the country associated with the country code supports number portability and, if so, performing a routing information lookup to extract a destination carrier ID and roaming information, and if not, obtaining a mobile network carrier ID based on the telephone number;  
   if the telephone number is not an international telephone number: 
 obtaining carrier ID information based on at least one of (i) NPA/NXX of the telephone number and (ii) an LSMS NPAC database dip;  
   obtaining a list of allowed routes for the destination carrier and a service ID;    resolving route addressing for the destination telephone number;    obtaining real time route performance metrics; and    solving a cost function to identify an appropriate route for the message.    
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the step of performing a routing information lookup comprises accessing an SS7 Global Title Translation database.  
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the step of resolving route addressing comprises accessing information from a mobile network home location register (HLR).  
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the step of obtaining real time route performance metrics comprises determining capacity of routes.  
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the cost function applied is different for different carriers.  
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the cost function takes into account quality of service.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising performing load balancing among a plurality of available routes.  
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein the step of load balancing comprises effecting a round robin routine.  
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein the step of load balancing comprises implementing random routing.  
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising delaying the delivery of the message consistent with a store and forward mechanism.  
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the message is an SMS message.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising: 
 establishing an intermediary that communicates with a first and a second gateway, the intermediary being a business entity different from an entity that operates the first and second gateways; and    virtually representing first users that pass messages through the first gateway as entities having addresses that are compatible with a method of communication used by second users who receive messages via the second gateway.    
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises address mapping.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises domain mapping.  
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises effecting a virtual roaming paradigm.  
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises mapping a telephone number to an email address.  
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises mapping an email address to a telephone number.  
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the step of virtually representing comprises communication with an SS7 gateway.  
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein a user of the second gateway replies to a user of the first gateway using a virtual address represented in the intermediary.  
   
   
       62 - 78 . (canceled)