Mobile station identification system and method

A system using a data structure for identifying a mobile communications device in a cdma2000 network, the data structure comprising at least one of a first field, a second field, and a third field, wherein:

• the first field comprises an X-digit mobile country code (MCC) for identifying a country to which the mobile communications device belongs;
• the second field comprises a Y-digit mobile network code (MNC) for identifying a network to which the mobile communications device belongs, when Y is not greater than length of the second field;
• the second field comprises at least a first part of the Y-digit MNC, when Y is greater than length of the second field;
• and
• the third field comprises:
• a second part of the Y-digit MNC, when Y is greater than length of the second field;
• a Z-digit mobile station identification number (MSIN) for identifying the mobile communications device in the network;
• and
• padding bits, when Z+ length of the second part of the Y-digit MNC is smaller than length of the third field (IMSI_S).

A method for identifying a mobile communications device in a mobile communications network, the method comprising:

• determining an identifier for a mobile communications device, the identifier comprising at least one of a first field, a second field, and a third field;
• including in the first field a mobile country code (MCC) for identifying a country to which the mobile communications device belongs;
• including in the second field a mobile network code (MNC) for identifying a network to which the mobile communications device belongs in the country;
• including in the third field a mobile station identification number (MSIN) for identifying the mobile communications device in the network;
• and
• including padding values in the third field when length of the MSIN is less than length of the third field, the padding values added to the most significant portion of the third field when the length of the MNC is not larger than length of the second field.