Telecom Third Party Access Gateway Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing telecommunications service provider architectures lack a secure and flexible mechanism for third-party access to internal functionalities, hindering the development of new revenue channels and efficient service provisioning.
Innovation Solution
A third-party access gateway and profiling database are introduced to provide secure and controlled access, authenticating and authorizing third-party requests through interfaces for various services, and a data model that supports independent authorization criteria for diverse service requesters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If third party access is enabled to internal functionalities, then new revenue channels and service opportunities are created, but security risks and unauthorized access increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway as an intermediary component between third parties and the telecommunications service provider's internal functionalities. This gateway acts as a mediator that receives requests from third parties, authenticates them, authorizes access, and forwards legitimate requests to internal services while blocking unauthorized access. The gateway thus enables third party access capability while mitigating security risks through centralized control and verification mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple types of service requesters are supported with independent authorization criteria, then flexibility and adaptability improve, but device complexity and architecture complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authorization functionality into distinct components: a profiling database that stores authorization criteria for different requester types, and a service request handler that applies these criteria. The data model is divided into separate tables (service requesters table, service providers table, services table) with specific authorization fields for each requester type. This segmentation allows independent authorization criteria for different requester types while managing complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway is designed as a universal access point that handles multiple types of service requesters (individual users, company applications, service providers) through a single unified architecture. The service request handler can process different types of requests (communication network access requests, exposed service requests) using the same authentication and authorization framework, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems for each requester type.
3Reliability
If secure authentication and authorization mechanisms are implemented, then security and control are improved, but processing time and system response time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-storing authorization criteria and service provider mappings in the profiling database before requests arrive. When a third party sends a request, the system can quickly retrieve pre-configured authorization information and service routing details from the database rather than performing complex authorization decisions in real-time. This pre-preparation of authorization data reduces processing time while maintaining strong security controls.
Data Source
AI summary
A telecommunications architecture exposes telecommunications services to third parties through a secure access gateway. The third parties may be other telecommunications service providers who employ the services to support their own products and services. The access gateway provides a secure, standardized, and controlled access platform for the exposed services, and addresses the technical problems associated with such access. In addition to providing technical solutions for efficient and secure access to exposed services, the architecture also provides an additional revenue channel for existing telecommunication service providers.