Roaming Gateway Voucher System for Optimized Internet Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Internet routing when roaming into a guest operator's network is non-optimal, leading to higher costs and slower connections due to inefficient network usage, as the home operator often relies on their own access point, resulting in unnecessary bandwidth usage and increased expenses for both operators and subscribers.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that enable optimized network usage by allowing subscribers to access the Internet through either their home or foreign network, with a gateway that counts and deducts bytes from a voucher, ensuring cost control and efficient data transfer, utilizing Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Nodes (GGSN) to manage connections and billing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the home operator routes Internet traffic through their own access point when the mobile means is roaming in a foreign network, then the subscriber can maintain connection to the home network, but network bandwidth usage increases and connection speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a gateway in the foreign network that acts as an intermediary between the mobile means and the Internet. This gateway enables direct local Internet access while maintaining the home network's role in authentication and billing, thus resolving the contradiction by allowing fast local connection without sacrificing home network integration
2Reliability
If the home operator routes Internet traffic through their own access point when the mobile means is roaming in a foreign network, then the subscriber can maintain connection to the home network, but network bandwidth usage and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway in the foreign network serves as a mediator that enables local Internet access, preventing unnecessary bandwidth consumption on the home operator's network. The mobile means connects locally to the foreign network's Internet infrastructure, eliminating the need to traverse the home network's bandwidth resources while maintaining billing and authentication control
3Measurement precision
If the gateway counts and deducts bytes from a voucher, then accurate billing is ensured, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway performs automatic byte counting and voucher deduction without requiring manual intervention or complex centralized billing processing. The system autonomously tracks data usage and manages billing, simplifying the overall architecture while ensuring precise measurement and accurate charging
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a system (10) operable to enable shortest connection route for a mobile means (12) of a subscriber, when the mobile means (12) has roamed between a home network (14) comprised in the system (10), and a foreign network (16) comprised in the system (10). When the mobile means (12) requests connection to Internet, a serving means (18) comprised in the foreign network (16) is operable to communicate with, and to receive information regarding a voucher, representing an amount of money, regarding the foreign network (16), from a voucher registry means (20) comprised in the system (10). If a voucher, representing enough amount of money, is registered in the voucher registry means (20), the serving means (18) is operable to route a packet to a gateway means (22) comprised in the foreign network (16). The gateway means (22) is operable to allocate an IP address for the mobile means (12) and to function as an access point to Internet.