Roaming Location Cache for Direct Inter-Operator Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In roaming situations, communication traffic often unnecessarily routes through a user's home network, causing delays and inefficiencies, especially for real-time services like VoIP, as both parties are in the same country but the traffic circuits back to the home network instead of staying local.
Innovation Solution
A system that compares location and identification information of user equipment with a database to route traffic directly within the visited network, bypassing the home network for inter-operator communications, using a proxy in the IPX network to store and manage location information and route messages accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traffic routes through the home network for roaming users, then routing simplicity is maintained, but communication delay increases and real-time service quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a roaming location cache (RLC) as an intermediary component that stores location information of roaming users. When a user roams in a visited network, the RLC caches their location data, allowing subsequent traffic to be routed directly to the visited network instead of forcing traffic through the home network. This intermediary mechanism resolves the contradiction by enabling direct routing (reducing delay) while the cache manages the routing intelligence (controlling complexity).
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by caching location information of roaming users in advance. When a user first roams to a visited network, their location is cached in the RLC. This preliminary caching enables subsequent communications to be routed efficiently without real-time lookup delays, thus reducing communication delay while maintaining manageable routing complexity through pre-computed location data.
2Productivity
If traffic routes through the home network, then routing configuration is simple, but network resource consumption increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The roaming location cache acts as a mediator between the home network and visited networks. It stores location information and enables direct routing decisions, improving communication efficiency by eliminating unnecessary detours through the home network. The cache manages routing intelligence centrally, preventing complexity from spreading across the entire network infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts location information management from the complex home network routing process and places it in a dedicated roaming location cache. This extraction allows the home network to maintain simple routing configuration while the RLC handles location-based routing decisions, thereby improving efficiency without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
3Loss of time
If direct routing within visited network is implemented, then communication delay is reduced, but network infrastructure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The roaming location cache serves as a lightweight intermediary that enables direct routing without requiring complex modifications to existing network infrastructure. It provides location information that allows visited networks to route traffic directly, reducing transmission delay while the cache itself remains a relatively simple component that doesn't significantly increase overall infrastructure complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for optimising routing to a first user equipment (T1, T2) roaming in a visited net- work (OP B, OP C) in a communications system compris- ing at least a home network (OP A), a visited network (OP B, OP C) and a relaying network (IPX, IPX1, IPX2, IPX3, IPX4). The method of the invention comprises storing (2- 4, 3-2, 3-4, 3-6) a location information of a first user equip- ment (T1, T2) to a database (DB) external to the home network (OP A) and the visited network (OP B, OP C), the location information being associated with an identification information of the first user equipment (T1, T2); receiving (2-6, 3-10) a message from a second user equipment (T1, T2); recognizing (3-12) at least one identification informa- tion of the first user equipment (T1, T2) in the message; comparing (3-14, 3-16) the identification information stored in the database (DB) with the identification informa- tion received in the message; and if the both identification information matches, routing (2-8, 3-26) a communication according to the location information of the first user equipment (T1, T2).