Methods and systems for automatically provisioning address translation information in a mobile services node address translation database

A method for automatically provisioning a mobile services node address translation database with records matching mobile subscriber identifiers to mobile services node network addresses, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving signaling messages at a routing node, each signaling message having an IMSI;
• (b) adding entries corresponding to the IMSIs to a mobile service node address translation database located in the routing node;
• (c) adding an entity address of a default mobile service node to each entry;
• (d) routing the signaling messages to the default mobile services node;
• (e) at the default mobile services node, for each signaling message, accessing a mobile subscriber database and determining whether a record corresponding to the IMSI exists;
• (f) in response to failing to locate a record corresponding to the IMSI, inserting an entity address in the message corresponding to a second mobile services node and routing the signaling message to the second mobile services node via the routing node;
• and
• (g) at the routing node, receiving the signaling message for which a record corresponding to the IMSI did not exist at the default mobile services node and updating an entry corresponding to the IMSI in the mobile services address translation database to include the entity address inserted by the default mobile services node.

An auto-provisioning routing node comprising:

• (a) a first communications module for sending and receiving signaling messages over external signaling links;
• (b) a mobile services node address translation database for storing mappings between mobile subscriber identifiers in the signaling messages and network addresses of destination mobile services nodes for the signaling messages;
• and
• (c) an auto-provisioning function operatively associated with the mobile services node address translation database for comparing first and second identifiers in the signaling messages, and, in response to determining that the first and second identifiers in the signaling messages do not match, updating records in the mobile services node address translation database to include the first identifiers as mobile services node network addresses corresponding to the second identifiers.