Method and apparatus for supporting cellular data communication to roaming mobile telephony devices

A network having home mobile devices and able to allow connections with non-home mobile devices, the network having a data interface for supporting data communication involving said non-home devices, said non-home devices being associated with respective home networks and with respective service profiles specifying service networks providing data services to said non-home devices, said data interface comprising:

• a data request analyzer, for analyzing requests for data services from said non-home mobile devices;
• a service network selector associated with said data request analyzer, for using said request analyses together with respective service profiles to select a corresponding service network;
• and
• an interfacing engine associated with said service network selector, for introducing said non-home mobile devices to said identified service networks, for directing said data requests to network servers of said service networks, and for directing corresponding data responses from network servers of said service networks to said requesting non-home mobile devices.

A system for supporting roaming data communication, said system comprising a network having home users and non-home users and a data interface, said interface being operable to support data communication between one of said non-home users having a roaming mobile device and a requested data service, said roaming mobile device being associated with a home network and with a service profile specifying service networks providing data services to said device, wherein said interface comprises:

• a data request analyzer, for analyzing requests for data services from said mobile device;
• a service network selector associated with said data request analyzer, for using said request analyses together with said service profile to select a corresponding service network;
• and
• an interfacing engine associated with said service network selector, for introducing said mobile device to said identified service networks, for directing said data requests to network servers of said service networks, and for directing corresponding data responses from network servers of said service networks to said mobile devices.

A method for supporting cellular data communication between a mobile telephony device roaming within a first network and having a home network, said mobile telephony device being associated with a service profile specifying service networks providing data services to said device, and a requested data service, said method comprising:

• receiving a data request for a data service from said mobile device;
• analyzing said data request to determine said data service and to identify said mobile device;
• identifying a service profile associated with said identified mobile device;
• using said request analysis together with said service profile to select a corresponding service network;
• introducing said mobile device to said service network;
• and
• forwarding said data request to said service network.