Provision of public service identities

A serving entity assignable for handling a service identified by a Public Service Identity, the serving entity comprising:

• means for receiving an invocation of a service identified by a given Public Service Identity
• means for receiving with the invocation an identifier of a ‘Wildcard PSI’ range which the given Public Service Identity belongs to;
• means for informing to a Home Subscriber Server holding Public Service Identities in a network of being the serving entity currently holding the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range;
• and
• means for receiving from the Home Subscriber Server a common service profile associated with the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range.

A routing entity for routing an invocation of a service identified by a Public Service Identity in a network towards a serving entity assignable for handling the service, the routing entity having:

• means for receiving an invocation of a service identified by a given Public Service Identity (PSI-id, PSI-id-2];
• means for obtaining from a Home Subscriber Server holding the given Public Service Identity either an identifier of a serving entity already assigned for the given Public Service Identity, or capabilities required for selecting a serving entity;
• means for receiving, from a network entity holding the given Public Service Identity, an identifier of a ‘Wildcard PSI’ range. which the given Public Service, Identity belongs to;
• and
• means for forwarding the received invocation of service towards a selectable serving entity;
• and
• means for including in the invocation forwarded towards the serving entity the identifier of the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range, which the Public Service Identity belongs to.

A method for invoking a service identified by a Public Service Identity in a network, the service being handled by a serving entity and the Public Service Identity being held at a Home Subscriber Server, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving an invocation of a service identified by a given Public Service Identity at a routing entity;
• interrogating c′ Home Subscriber Server holding the given Public Service Identity about a serving entity assignable for handling the given Public Service Identity;
• forwarding the received invocation of service towards the assignable serving entity;
• and
• answering the interrogation with an identifier of a ‘Wildcard PSI’ range which the given Public Service Identity belongs to;
• forwarding the identifier of the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range towards the assignable serving entity;
• assigning at the Home Subscriber Server a common service profile to the ‘Wildcard PSI’ to be applicable for Public Service Identities included in the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range;
• and
• providing the common service profile associated with the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range to the serving entity, upon receipt of an indication from the serving entity of being currently holding the ‘Wildcard PSI’ range.