Roaming management
AssigneeBritish Telecommunications public limited company
InventorsStephen JOHNSON, Stephen DYETT
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of operating an interconnect server for a roaming network, the roaming network having a plurality of cellular networks and a plurality of hotspot networks formed of wireless access points, the interconnect server being connectable to a routing server within each of the plurality of cellular networks and to a routing server within each of the plurality of hotspot networks, wherein the plurality of hotspot networks are operable to allow subscriber devices of the plurality of cellular networks to connect to a wireless access point forming part of the hotspot network and access the device's subscriber cellular network, is disclosed.
Claims11
A method of operating an interconnect server for a roaming network, the roaming network having a plurality of cellular networks and a plurality of hotspot networks formed of wireless access points, the interconnect server being connectable to a routing server within each of the plurality of cellular networks and to a routing server within each of the plurality of hotspot networks, wherein the plurality of hotspot networks are operable to allow subscriber devices of the plurality of cellular networks to connect to a wireless access point forming part of the hotspot network and access the subscriber cellular network of the subscriber devices, comprising:
- receiving from at least one routing server of the plurality of cellular networks an access list specifying access permissions identifying at least one hotspot network which can be used by subscribers for data roaming;
- storing the access list received from at least one cellular network;
- processing the access list to generate, for each hotspot network, a routable roaming list identifying cellular networks that can be reached via the interconnect server;
- and
- sending the generated routable roaming lists to the respective hotspot network,
- wherein the generated routable roaming lists are for configuring the hotspot network to route traffic of subscriber devices of the cellular networks in accordance with the access permissions received from the at least one plurality of cellular networks.
An apparatus for a roaming network, the roaming network having a plurality of cellular networks and a plurality of hotspot networks formed of wireless access points, wherein the plurality of hotspot networks are operable to allow subscriber devices of the plurality of cellular networks to connect to a wireless access point forming part of the hotspot network and access the subscriber cellular network of the subscriber devices, comprising:
- a first network interface for connecting to a routing server within each of the plurality of cellular networks;
- a second network interface for connecting to a routing server within each of the plurality of hotspot networks;
- a receiver for receiving from at least one routing server of the plurality of cellular networks an access list specifying access permissions identifying at least one hotspot network which can be used by subscribers for data roaming;
- a data store for storing the access list received from at least one cellular network;
- a processor for processing the access list to generate, for each hotspot network, a routable roaming list identifying cellular networks can be reached via the interconnect server;
- and
- a data sender for sending the generated routable roaming lists to the respective hotspot network,
- wherein the generated routable roaming lists are for configuring the hotspot network to route traffic of subscriber devices of the cellular networks in accordance with the access permissions received from the at least one plurality of cellular networks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.