Telephony Application Server Voicemail Pilot Number Caching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing VoLTE systems require the Telephony Application Server (TAS) to send an SS7 query to obtain a subscriber's voicemail pilot number every time a subscriber wants to deposit or retrieve voicemail messages, leading to excessive signaling and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
The TAS retrieves the pilot number during the registration, refresh, or update procedure using Diameter messages, eliminating the need for routine SS7 queries by maintaining the pilot number locally and using attribute-value pairs in subscriber notification and push notification messages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the TAS sends an SS7 query to obtain the pilot number every time a subscriber wants to deposit or retrieve voicemail messages, then the pilot number can be obtained accurately, but excessive signaling is generated and network efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by retrieving the pilot number during the initial registration procedure rather than at the time of voicemail operations. The HSS proactively provides the pilot number to the TAS when the UE first registers, so the number is already cached and available when needed for deposit or retrieve operations, eliminating the need for repeated SS7 queries
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a local copy of the pilot number at the TAS during registration. Instead of repeatedly querying the HSS for the original pilot number, the TAS maintains a cached copy in its local memory, allowing rapid access without generating additional signaling traffic to the HSS or voicemail server
2Reliability
If the TAS sends an SS7 query to obtain the pilot number for each voicemail operation, then the most current pilot number is retrieved, but the signaling overhead and network load increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The pilot number is retrieved in advance during the registration procedure, which occurs before any voicemail operations. This preliminary retrieval ensures the TAS has the current pilot number without needing to query again for each deposit or retrieve operation, improving operational efficiency while maintaining reliability through the registration-based update mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The pilot number is refreshed periodically when the UE performs registration or re-registration with the network. This periodic update mechanism ensures the TAS maintains an current pilot number without requiring continuous or on-demand queries, balancing reliability with reduced signaling overhead between operations
3Ease of operation
If routine SS7 queries are sent to obtain the pilot number, then the voicemail service can be provided, but the network load and signaling requirements become excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pilot number retrieval operation from the voicemail deposit and retrieve procedures. By obtaining the pilot number separately during the registration procedure, the complex SS7 query mechanism is removed from the routine voicemail operations, simplifying their signaling requirements while maintaining service availability
Solution Approach 2:
The HSS acts as an intermediary by providing the pilot number to the TAS during registration. This intermediary action establishes a cached relationship between the TAS and pilot number, eliminating the need for direct SS7 queries between the TAS and voicemail server during routine operations, thereby reducing overall signaling complexity
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed implementations include a method performed on a telecommunications network. A Telephony Application Server (TAS) can receive a first message associated with an operation unrelated to a voicemail service, where the first message is associated with a user equipment (UE) on the telecommunications network. The TAS can send a second message to a home subscriber server (HSS) in response to the first message, where the second message includes a request for a voicemail pilot number. The TAS can receive a third message from the HSS in response to the second message, where the third message includes the voicemail pilot number. A voicemail service is thus proactively enabled with the voicemail pilot number stored at the TAS.