# US 2013/0159520 A1 · System and method for non-ims application service access over ip multimedia subsystem > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0159520 A1 - Document ID: US20130159520A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/329,163 - Filed: 2011-12-16 - Published: 2013-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2011-12-16 - Assignees: T-Mobile USA, Inc. - Inventors: Robert L. Engelhart - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130159520A1 ## CPC - H04L 65/1016: IP multimedia subsystem [IMS] - H04L 65/104: {in the network} - H04L 67/02: based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A system and method to enable mobile devices to access non-IMS application services over an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is described herein. In order to access a non-IMS application service via the IMS, messages in a format that are suitable for exchange with the non-IMS application service are encapsulated by the mobile device user agent into SIP messages. The SIP messages are then routed by the IMS to a services gateway. The services gateway extracts the application service messages from the SIP messages and provides the extracted messages to the appropriate application service. In this fashion, the mobile device is able to request services from an application service via SIP messaging, even if the requested application service does not support SIP messaging. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A services gateway to enable subscribers to access application services over an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), the services gateway comprising: a dataset that, for each of a plurality of subscribers, indicates those application services to which access is allowed or denied for each subscriber; an access control module that is configured to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a subscriber via an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), the SIP message intended for a non-IMS application service, the access control module accessing the dataset and allowing access to the non-IMS application service by the subscriber if the dataset indicates access is allowed and denying access to the non-IMS application service by the subscriber if the dataset indicates access is denied; an extractor that is configured to extract non-SIP messages from the. SIP messages and forward the non-SIP messages to the intended non-IMS application service if access to the application service is allowed by the access control module; and an encapsulator that is configured to receive non-SIP messages from an application service, encapsulate the non-SIP messages into SIP messages, and forward the SIP messages to an appropriate subscriber via the IMS. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The services gateway of claim 1, wherein the non-SIP messages are hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messages. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The services gateway of claim 1, wherein the access delivery module assesses whether a subscriber is permitted to access a particular application service based on a unique identifier associated with the subscriber. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The services gateway of claim 3, wherein the unique identifier is a Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MSISDN). ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The services gateway of claim 1, wherein the application services include application services that are accessible via SIP messaging and application services that are not accessible via SIP messaging. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The services gateway of claim 1, wherein the access control module further provides information about whether a subscriber is allowed access to an application service to a serving call session control function (S-CSCF) server. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The services gateway of claim 1, wherein the application services include social networking services, e-commerce services, mobile gaming services, location-based services, or enterprise application services. ### Claim 8 A services gateway for connecting to an internet protocol multimedia subsystem, the services gateway comprising: a plurality of input and output ports that connect to proxy and serving call session control functions of an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) and a plurality of non-IMS application services servers; an extractor that is configured to extract a non-SIP message from a SIP message, the non-SIP message originating from a subscriber and encapsulated into the SIP message by a user agent at the subscriber before being routed via the IMS to the services gateway, the non-SIP message being forwarded by the services gateway to one of the plurality of non-IMS application services servers; and an encapsulator that is configured to encapsulate a non-SIP message into a SIP message, the non-SIP message originating from one of the plurality of non-IMS application services servers, the SIP message being routed by the services gateway to an appropriate subscriber via the IMS. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The services gateway of claim 8, wherein the non-SIP messages are hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messages. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The services gateway of claim 8, further comprising: a user information storage unit that includes a database that associates the subscriber with a set of authorized services; and an access control module that authorizes subscriber access to application services based on the database. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The services gateway of claim 8, wherein the services gateway provides authorization information of the subscriber to the serving call session control function of the IMS. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The services gateway of claim 8, wherein the extractor and encapsulator are incorporated in a single unit. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The services gateway of claim 8, wherein one of the plurality of application servers enables one or more of social networking services, e-commerce services, mobile gaming services, location-based services, or enterprise application services. ### Claim 14 A method for connecting a subscriber to an application service via an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), the method comprising: receiving an encapsulated message from a subscriber via an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), the encapsulated message intended for a non-IMS application service and comprising a non-SIP message within a SIP message; extracting the non-SIP message from the SIP message to obtain an extracted message; and forwarding the extracted message to the intended non-IMS application service. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the non-SIP message is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining whether the subscriber is authorized to use the non-IMS application service; and refraining from forwarding the extracted message to the intended non-IMS application service if the subscriber is not authorized to use the non-IMS application service. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the determination of whether the subscriber is authorized to use the non-IMS application service is based on a Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MSISDN) of the subscriber. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving a second non-SIP message from a non-IMS application service, the second non-SIP message intended for a subscriber; encapsulating the second non-SIP message into a SIP message to generate a second encapsulated message; and forwarding the second encapsulated message to the intended subscriber over the IMS. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the encapsulated message is generated by a user agent on the sending subscriber. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the non-IMS application service is a social networking service, e-commerce service, mobile gaming service, location-based service, or enterprise application service.