KR100621325B1 - Load-Sharing Type Short Message Service System by Using Signaling System 7 Gateway and Process Method for SMS Message - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a load balancing short message service system using an SS7 gateway and a method of processing an SMS message using the same.

A mobile communication terminal for transmitting or receiving an SMS message; A mobile communication network including a wireless access network, a mobile switching center and a home location register that handles the sending and receiving of SMS messages; An STP for relaying and distributing the SMS message in a No. 7 signaling scheme; An SS7 gateway for receiving and transmitting the SMS message from the STP using the No. 7 signaling method; And an SMSC group unit in which at least one SMSC for receiving and processing the SMS message from the SS7 gateway is connected in a group unit.

According to the present invention, by changing the SMSC system in a load balancing manner, even if a failure occurs in a particular SMSC equipment can provide a seamless SMS service, there is an effect that can increase the configuration efficiency and operation rate of the SMSC system.

SMSC, Active-Standby Redundancy, Load Balancing, SS7 Gateway, No.7 Signaling

Description

Load-Sharing Type Short Message Service System by Using Signaling System 7 Gateway and Process Method for SMS Message}

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a redundant structure using an active standby method in a conventional SMSC system;

2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an SMSC system employing a load balancing scheme according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

3A is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an SMSC is connected to a typical SS7 gateway, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an SMSC is connected to an SS7 gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing an SMS message in an SMSC system using a load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing an SMSNotification message in an SMSC system using a load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110, 210: mobile communication terminal 120: mobile communication network

130, 250: STP 140, 272 ~ 278: SMSC

141, 142: TSU 143, 146: server

144, 147: stack 145, 148: packaging

150: switching hub 220: wireless access network

222: base station transmitter 224: base station controller

230, 232: mobile switching center 240: home location register

260, 262: SS7 Gateway 270: SMSC Group Division

280: Switching Hub

The present invention relates to a load balancing short message service system using an SS7 gateway and a method of processing an SMS message using the same. More specifically, add an SS7 gateway for distributing SS No. 7 signals to the short message service system, and connect one or more short message service centers connected by LAN to the SS7 gateway to handle SMS messages in a load balancing manner. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of processing an SMS NOTIfication message using a broadcasting method.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a text service that allows users of mobile communication terminals to exchange short sentences of about 40 characters (about 80 Bytes) without additional equipment. As the spread of mobile phones is rapidly spreading, more and more users are using SMS services, which are used as useful communication means because contents can be delivered almost simultaneously with the time of sending, unlike e-mail.

Basically, the SMS service provides a function of transmitting a reply number and a message between terminals, provides weather forecast and stock information, and allows a user to directly search for various information and select only necessary information. In particular, since information is provided interactively for the convenience of the user, anyone can easily use it, and the use of middle-aged and middle-aged people who are outside the use of information other than simple voice calls is gradually increasing.

The core equipment necessary for providing such an SMS is a Short Message Service Center (SMSC). SMSC stores short messages sent to the called party that cannot be received at any moment until the subscriber can receive them and forwards them when they can be received. It is a system having a function of doing so. SMSC provides a function of sending and receiving numbers and letters bidirectionally between various text delivery systems (PC communication system, Internet system, mobile phone, etc.) and subscribers using a mobile communication network.

The conventional SMSC system for the SMS described so far uses a redundant structure to operate the system stably and provide a seamless service in the event of a failure.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a redundant structure using an active-standby method in a conventional SMSC system.

The duplicated SMSC system using the conventional active standby method includes a mobile communication terminal 110, a mobile communication network 120, an STP 130, an SMSC 140, and a switching hub unit 150.

In a conventional SMSC system, a redundant structure using an active standby method refers to a structure in which a server of the SMSC 140 is dually configured so that one server operates in an active state and the other server waits in a standby state. The server operating in the active state processes a series of operations such as receiving, storing, and sending a short message performed by the SMSC, and the server waiting in the standby state is changed to the active state when a failure occurs in the active server. Perform the operation as.

On the other hand, each of the servers A and B 143 and 146 constituting the SMSC has a stack 144 and 147 and a packaging (144 and 147) for receiving, processing and transmitting SMS messages transmitted from the TSUs 141 and 142, respectively. Packing 145 and 148 and the like are connected to each other in a LAN. Here, the TSUs 141 and 142 are equipments used to connect a link of a physical layer (Layer 1) between communication equipments using No. 7 signaling.

In addition, the stack refers to a protocol stack, and means that each of the seven layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is grouped to perform necessary tasks. Each layer of the protocol stack receives services from its immediate lower layer and provides services to the layer directly above it. In other words, for communication between two communication devices, the same protocol stack must be operated in each communication device. Therefore, in order for the server A 143 and the server B 146 to operate in a redundant structure, the stacked stack A 144 and the stack B 147 must be identical.

In addition, packaging is an application that refers to packaging software, and packaging software refers to grouped software for receiving, analyzing, and processing SMS messages. Like the stacks 144 and 147, the packaging A 145 and the packaging B 148 installed in the server A 143 and the server B 146 may be the same for the redundancy function.

On the disk 149, the SMS message received by the SMSC 140 is stored, and the SMS message which is not normally transmitted to the called terminal is stored for a predetermined period of time. In addition, various temporary data generated during the operation of the SMSC 140 and a failure message may be stored.

The switching hub unit 150 is composed of two switching hubs A and B 151 and 152. Each port of the switching hub operating in the data link layer, which is the second layer of the OSI model, increases the total bandwidth by identifying a medium access channel (MAC) address of a device connected to it and transmitting a packet only to a designated port.

In order to describe the duplication operation of the conventional SMSC with reference to FIG. 1, it is assumed that the server A 143 operates in the SMSC 140 and the server B 146 stands by in the standby state. do. The server A 143, which is active, receives the short message transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 110 through the mobile communication network 120 and the STP 130. Here, the STP (Signaling Transfer Point) 130 is a signal relay station that relays and exchanges signaling messages in the common line signaling scheme of the ITU-T. The signal network constructed by using the STP 130 is operated in a non-corresponding mode in which the call line and the signal link do not correspond, and various signals are transmitted via the STP 130 other than the switching center having the call line, so that economic efficiency and reliability are achieved. Greatly improved.

The server A 143 operating as active receives the SMS message from the STP 130 and performs a normal SMS message processing procedure. However, when a specific failure occurs in server A 143, server B 146, which has been waiting for standby, becomes active, and SMS messages being processed by server A 143 are downloaded to disk and uploaded to a memory database after switching. ) Is sent to Server B 143. The disk 149 that has been mounted with the server A 143 is also mounted with the server B 146 which is switched to the active state after disconnecting the mount connection with the server A 143. Server B 146, which has been switched to active, drives packaging B 148, reads the SMS message received from disk 149, and processes the SMS message.

However, the redundancy structure of the SMSC 140 described in FIG. 1 enables a normal response to hardware failures and application failures such as a system down, a main processor down, and a LAN failure occurring in the system. If a failure such as Up) occurs, there is a problem that a normal automatic switching is not performed between the active server and the standby server. That is, if a hangup occurs in the active server system due to various reasons such as a disk 149 failure or flooding of SMS messages processed by the SMSC 140, the entire system operates at all because automatic switching is not performed to the standby server system. It causes fatal problems such as not being able to.

In particular, when a hang-up occurs in the active system and the operator recovers the system hang-up manually, the system is automatically rebooted or a specific processor does not run. There is a problem that it takes a long time to recover from the failure occurs.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adds an SS7 gateway for distributing SS No. 7 signals to the short message service system, and connects one or more short message service centers connected by LAN to the SS7 gateway to distribute the load. It is an object of the present invention to present a method for processing an SMS message in a method, and in particular, an SMS NOTIfication message using a broadcasting method.

According to a first object of the present invention, there is provided a load balancing short message service system for processing an SMS message, comprising: a mobile communication terminal for transmitting or receiving the SMS message; A mobile communication network including a wireless access network, a mobile switching center and a home location register that handles the sending and receiving of SMS messages; An STP for relaying and distributing the SMS message in a No. 7 signaling scheme; An SS7 gateway for receiving and transmitting the SMS message from the STP using the No. 7 signaling method; And an SMSC group unit in which at least one SMSC for receiving and processing the SMS message from the SS7 gateway is connected in a group unit.

According to a second object of the present invention, there is provided a load balancing short message service system for processing an SMS message, comprising: a mobile communication terminal for transmitting or receiving the SMS message; A mobile communication network including a wireless access network, a mobile switching center and a home location register that handles the sending and receiving of SMS messages; An STP for relaying and distributing the SMS message in a No. 7 signaling scheme; An SS7 gateway for receiving and transmitting the SMS message from the STP using the No. 7 signaling method; An SMSC group unit for receiving and processing the SMS message from the SS7 gateway, but in the case of an SMSNotification message, one or more SMSCs transmitted to a specific device are connected in groups; And a switching hub receiving the SMSNotification message from a specific SMSC and broadcasting the remaining SMSCs belonging to the SMSC group unit.

According to a third object of the present invention, an STP and SS7 gateway for distributing SMS messages using a mobile communication terminal, a mobile switching center, a home location register, and a No.7 signaling method, and at least one SMSC for distributing and processing the SMS messages are provided. A method for processing an SMS message, comprising: an SMSC group unit connected to a group, the method comprising: (a) receiving the SMS message transmitted from the mobile communication terminal through a mobile communication network; (b) randomly selecting a specific SMSC to transmit the SMS message, receiving an SMSREQ message from the specific SMSC, and transmitting the SMSREQ message to the home location register; (c) receiving a first return message from the home location register and sending it to the specific SMSC; (d) receiving a SMDPP message from the specific SMSC and sending it to a specific mobile switching center; And (e) receiving a second return message from the specific mobile switching center and transmitting the second return message to the specific SMSC.

Finally, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an SMSC group unit in which an SS7 gateway, which receives an SMSNotification message from a mobile switching center and / or a home location register via No. 7 signaling via STP, and one or more SMSCs are grouped together. A method for processing an SMSNotification message, comprising: a switching hub connected to the SMSC, the method comprising: (a) a specific SMSC receiving the SMSNotification message forwarding the SMSNotification message to the switching hub; (b) receiving, by the remaining SMSC belonging to the SMSC group unit, the SMSNotification message from the switching hub; (c) the remaining SMSC searching each SMS message database to determine if there is an SMS message associated with the SMSNotification message; And (d) processing the SMSNotification message by a target SMSC storing the SMS message related to the SMSNotification message.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First of all, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used as much as possible even if displayed on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an SMSC system 200 employing a load balancing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

SMSC system 200 adopting a load balancing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a mobile communication terminal 210, wireless access network 220, mobile switching center (230, 232), home location register 240, STP (250) ), The SS7 gateways 260 and 262, the SMSC group unit 270, the switching hub 280, and the like.

The mobile communication terminal 210 is a terminal that can use the SMS service, and provides a function of creating a short message and transmitting the message through a mobile communication network or receiving and displaying a short message from the mobile communication network.

A radio access network (RAN) 220 processes a connection request of the mobile communication terminal 210 and performs a handoff and a radio resource management function. The radio access network 220 includes a base station transmitter 222 and a base station controller 224 and supports both synchronous and asynchronous mobile communication systems. Here, in the synchronous mobile communication system, the base station transmitter 222 is a base transceiver station (BTS), the base station controller 224 is a base station controller (BSC), and in the case of an asynchronous mobile communication system, the base station transmitter 222 is an RTS ( The Radio Transceiver Subsystem and the Base Station Controller 224 are RNCs (Radio Network Controllers). Of course, the wireless access network 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the CDMA network, but may include a GSM network and an access network of a fourth generation mobile communication system to be implemented in the future.

The base station transmitter 222 receives the clip transmission request signal from the mobile communication terminal 210 through the traffic channel of the signal channel and transmits it to the base station controller 224. The base station controller 224 controls the base station transmitter 222, assigns and releases radio channels for the mobile communication terminal 210, controls the transmission output of the mobile communication terminal 210 and the base station transmitter 222, and soft cell off between cells. (Soft Handoff) and Hard Handoff decision is performed. The base station controller 224 forwards the SMS message transmission request signal received through the base station transmitter 222 to the mobile switching center 230, 232.

Mobile switching centers (MSCs) 230 and 232 are equipped with a plurality of exchanges to handle basic and additional services, incoming and outgoing call processing of subscribers, location registration and handoff procedures, interworking with other networks, etc. Do this. Mobile switching centers 230 and 232 according to an embodiment of the present invention support both IS (Interim Standard) -95 A / B / C systems and third and fourth generation mobile communication networks. To this end, the mobile switching centers 230 and 232 are responsible for the access switching subsystem (ASS), which performs distributed call processing, the INS (interconnection network subsystem), which performs centralized call processing, and the centralization of operation and maintenance. It includes a subsystem such as a Central Control Subsystem (CCS), a Location Registration Subsystem (LRS) that performs a function of storing and managing information on a mobile subscriber.

The home location register (HLR) 240 receives the location information of the mobile communication terminal 210 and performs functions such as location registration, registration deletion, and location verification. In addition, the home location register 240 stores profile information of the mobile communication terminal 110. Here, the profile information refers to a mobile identification number (MIN), an electronic serial number (ESN), and subscribed additional service information of the mobile communication terminal.

As described with reference to FIG. 1, the STP 250 performs signaling and relaying operations. The STP 250 transmits the SMS message received from the mobile switching centers 230 and 232 to the SS7 gateway 260 or the SMS message received from the SMSC group unit 270 to the mobile communication terminal 210.

Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) gateways 260 and 262 are No. It is installed in the communication network using 7 signaling method and serves as a bridge between IP network, ISDN equipment, and SS7 equipment. It is a core equipment used to construct IP-based communication services such as location-based service and SMS message processing. Here, No. 7 Signaling system is a communication line in which a communication network is divided into a communication network that transmits and receives only data and a signal line that transmits and receives actual data traffic. 7 Signaling method used in common line signal network. In particular, No. 7 The signaling network may consist of multiple STPs. No. 7 signal method has the advantage that high speed data transmission is possible as call line and signal line are separated, and that many call lines can be controlled by one signal line.

No. 7 Signaling protocol architecture (Message Protocol) (MTP), Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP), Transaction Capability Application Part (TCAP), Application Part (AP) and ISDN User Part / Telephone User Part). In particular, TCAP is controlled between exchanges, exchanges and control stations to provide a signaling system that can be commonly used among various application units for inquiries, registrations, and updates among databases of service control stations requested from exchanges. It serves to provide the procedures between stations.

The SS7 gateways 260 and 262 randomly select one SMSC among four SMSCs 272 to 278 grouped in the SMSC group unit 270 to transmit the SMS message received from the STP 250. At this time, the SS7 gateway 260 checks the traffic load on each SMSC 272 to 274 belonging to the SMSC group unit 270 and distributes the SMS message so that the traffic is efficiently distributed.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the SS7 gateways 260 and 262 according to the embodiment of the present invention have a duplex structure of the SS7 gateway A 260 and the SS7 gateway B 270. That is, SS7 gateways A and B 260 and 270 are connected to a LAN for data communication, and the same stack is installed. In other words, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the SS7 gateways 260 and 262 have an active-standby redundant structure. Accordingly, when a specific SS7 gateway that is active among two SS7 gateways 260 and 262 fails, the remaining SS7 gateways waiting for standby are automatically switched to perform reception, distribution, and processing of SMS messages. .

In order to explain the operation of the SS7 gateways 260 and 262, it is assumed that the SS7 gateway A 260 is active. The SS7 gateway A 260 which is active operates the SMS message received from the STP 250 and checks the traffic level of each SMSC device belonging to the SMSC group unit 270 to select an arbitrary SMSC and transmit the SMS message. . The SS7 gateway A 260 which has transmitted the SMS message should receive an acknowledgment message from the SMSC which has transmitted the SMS message. If the SMSC has a failure, for example, a system hangup, the SS7 gateway A 260 does not receive the response message.

In this case, the SS7 gateway A 260 determines that a failure has occurred in the corresponding SMSC, and no longer transmits an SMS message unless a failure recovery completion signal is transmitted from the failed SMSC. However, in the conventional SMSC system, since the SMSC is connected to the STP 250 which simply performs the relaying and exchanging of the signaling message, the SMSC does not grasp the failure of the SMSC. Therefore, there is a problem in that the quality of service is reduced due to the continuous transmission of SMS messages to the failed SMSC. That is, according to an embodiment of the present invention, even if a failure occurs in a specific SMSC of the load balancing scheme employing the SS7 gateway 260, the SMS service can be processed without a hitch.

Meanwhile, in the SMSC system 200 adopting the load balancing method illustrated in FIG. 2, the SS7 gateway A 260 may generate an SMS message generated and received by each SMSC 272 to 278 belonging to the SMSC group unit 270. Assign and process a transaction ID. The transaction ID assigned by the SS7 gateway A 260 is used to identify the SMSC to which the return message is sent when receiving a return message for the SMS message sent by the specific SMSC. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4.

The switching hub 280 transmits an SMS message received from a specific SMSC belonging to the SMSC group unit 270 to a device having a designated port. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2, the switching hub 280 may be connected to one or more SMS servers (not shown) that handle calls sent from the Internet. The SMS server is a device that generates and transmits an SMS containing various information such as stock information, news, and weather forecast through the Internet.

3A is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an SMSC is connected to a typical SS7 gateway, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an SMSC is connected to an SS7 gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 In general, in a communication system using the SS No. 7 signaling scheme, the number of devices that can be connected as a subsystem to a communication device having a stack is limited to a maximum of 15 devices per stack. Accordingly, the SS7 gateways 260 and 270 in which the stack is mounted in FIG. 2 are also limited to 15 devices that can be connected to the subsystem. Typically, one SMSC has four application service entity (ASE) modules built into the subsystem due to the limitation of the traffic processing capacity. Therefore, the number of SMSCs that can be connected to the SS7 gateway is limited to three (3 × 4 = 12). Here, the ASE module is hardware that performs various functions of SMSC by loading packaging software, which is an application mounted on SMSC.

On the other hand, if four SMSCs are connected, 4 SMSC × 4 ASE = 16, which exceeds the maximum number of 15 subsystems that can be connected per stack, thereby preventing normal operation. As such, the load balancing SMSC system adopting the SS7 gateway simply has only three types of SMSCs connected to one SS7 gateway, which may have a disadvantage in that efficiency is reduced in terms of system configuration and multiplexing.

In order to compensate for this disadvantage, in the embodiment of the present invention, among the various functions handled by the four ASE modules included in the SMSC, only the function responsible for the interface with the SS7 gateway equipped with the SS7 stack is separated and SS7_INF ( Interface is configured separately. When SS7_INF is configured as a subsystem, up to 15 SS7_INFs can be connected to one SS7 gateway because the stack-mounted SS7 gateway and SS7_INF correspond one-to-one. In other words, since one SS7_INF is connected to one SMSC, up to 15 types of SMSCs may be connected to one SS7 gateway, thereby greatly increasing system configuration efficiency and multiplexing efficiency. Of course, seven SMSCs may be connected even when two ASE modules are connected without connecting four ASE modules to one SS7_INF in consideration of the processing capacity of SS7_INF.

On the other hand, SS_INF is the SS No. from the SS7 gateway. 7 Receives and decodes a message transmitted from the TCAP (hereinafter, referred to as a 'TCAP message') in the protocol layer configuration. SS_INF determines which SMS message the decoded TCAP message is and transmits an SMSNotification message to a connected switching hub (not shown) in the case of an SMSNotification (NOTIfication) message. Here, the SMSNotification message is a kind of a pending message for processing the SMS message when the SMS message is not normally transmitted to the called terminal. The processing of the SMSNotification message according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing an SMS message in an SMSC system using a load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The SMS message created by the mobile communication terminal 210 to transmit the SMS message is transmitted to the mobile communication network (S400). SMS messages sent to mobile network are No. 7 is transmitted to the SS7 gateway A 260 that is active via the STP 250 via the signal network (S402). The SS7 gateway A 260 transmits the received SMS message to any SMSC included in the SMSC group unit 270 connected thereto (S404).

Upon receiving the SMS message, the SMSC transmits the SMSREQ message to the home location register 240 to determine the location of the called terminal (S406). Here, the SMSREQ message transmitted to the home location register 240 includes a transaction ID generated by the SS7 gateway A 260. That is, the SS7 gateway A 260 allocates a transaction ID for distinguishing the SMSREQ message received from the SMSC and transmits the transaction ID to the home location register 240 through the STP 250.

The home location register 240 receiving the SMSREQ message detects the location of the called terminal by using a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of the called terminal. The home location register 240 that grasps the location of the called terminal generates a return message and transmits it to the SS7 gateway A 260 (S408). Receiving the return message, SS7 gateway A 260 extracts the transaction ID included in the return message, identifies the specific SMSC to which the return message is to be sent, and sends the return message.

The SS7_INF of the specific SMSC that receives the return message from the SS7 gateway A 260 decodes the TCAP of the return message to determine whether the return message is an SMSREQ Ack message or an SMSNotification message (S410). Here, the SMSREQ Ack message includes code information of the mobile switching center where the called terminal is located in response to the SMSREQ message, and the SMSNotification message is a message generated by the home location register 240 and does not determine the location of the called terminal. Information is included. For example, the SMSNotification message is generated when the terminating terminal is powered off.

If the SS7_INF determines that the SMSREQ Ack message is determined as a result of step S410, the SS7_INF instructs the processing of the SMSREQ Ack message to a specific ASE among four connected ASEs (S412). The ASE, instructed to process the SMSREQ message, transmits an SMSPP (SMS Delivery Point to Point) message to the mobile switching center where the called terminal is located by using the code information of the mobile switching center included in the SMSREQ Ack message (S414). At this time, the SS7 gateway located on the transmission path of the SMDPP message transmits the SMDPP message by generating and assigning a transaction ID to the SMDPP message as in step S406.

The mobile switching center receives and processes the SMDPP message, generates a return message according to the processing result, and transmits the return message to the SS7 gateway A 260 (S416). Receiving the SMDPP message from the mobile switching center, the SS7 gateway A 260 determines the corresponding SMSC using the transaction ID included in the return message (S418). The SS7 gateway A 260 transmits a return message to the SMSC identified in step S418 (S420).

SS7_INF of the SMSC receiving the return message decodes the TCAP of the return message as in step S410 and analyzes whether the received return message is an SMDPP Ack message or an SMSNotification message (S422). Here, the SMDPP Ack message is a message returned when the received SMS message is normally transmitted to the called terminal and a normal received signal is received from the called terminal. On the other hand, the SMSNotification message is a message generated when it is determined that the called terminal has not received the SMS message by entering the radio range.

If the SMSC determines that the SMDPP Ack message is a result of analyzing the return message in step S422, the SMSC classifies the message being stored in the memory database into a processing completion message and stores the message on the disk and deletes the message from the memory database. Proceed to the process of processing SMSNotification message described in (5).

Similarly, even when it is determined that the SMSNotification message is a result of analyzing the TCAP of the return message in step S410, the process proceeds to the processing of the SMSNotification message described in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing an SMSNotification message in an SMSC system using a load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As a result of decoding and analyzing the TCAP of the return message received in steps S410 and S422 of FIG. 4 described above, SS7_INF transfers the SMSNotification message to the switching hub 280 (S500). The switching hub 280 that receives the SMSNotification message from the SS7_INF broadcasts the SMSNotification message to another SMSC grouped into one group (S502). Therefore, a plurality of SMSCs (minimum 7 meals and maximum 15 meals) grouped in one group receive an SMSNotification message (S504).

Each SMSC that receives the SMSNotification message searches for an SMS message database held by the SMSC (S506). Each SMSC uses the search result in step S506 to determine whether the SMSNotification message is for an SMS message transmitted by the SMSC (S508). Here, each SMSC determines whether the received SMSNotification message is a response message to the SMS message transmitted by the SMSC using the MIN of the calling terminal included in the SMSNotification message and the time when the request for the transmission of the SMS message occurred. can do.

When the SMSC determines that the received SMSNotification message is for the SMS message transmitted by the SMSC as a result of the determination in step S508, each SMSC processes the SMSNotification message using an algorithm of processing the SMSNotification message of the embedded ASE module (S510). ). Here, since the algorithm for processing the SMSNotification message performed by the ASE is well known to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, each SMSC deletes the received SMSNotification message from the database if it is determined that the received SMSNotification message is not for the SMS message transmitted by the SMSC as a result of the determination in step S508 (S512).

The above description is merely illustrative of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may various modifications without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to limit the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited by these embodiments. It is intended that the scope of the invention be interpreted by the following claims, and that all descriptions within the scope equivalent thereto shall be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the SMSC system having a conventional redundancy structure has a problem that the entire SMSC system does not operate when a hangup occurs in one system, but according to an embodiment of the present invention, the SS7 gateway operates normally by adopting the SS7 gateway. Since SMSC only requests the processing of SMS messages, SMS services can be provided without interruption.

Also, considering the failure of the network in the network, the SS7 gateway is designed in a redundant structure of active-standby, so that even if the active SS7 gateway fails, the SS7 gateway, which is waiting for standby, is automatically switched to the active system. It can be greatly increased.

In addition, by separating only the interface function part of the ASE module embedded in the SMSC into the SS7 gateway as a separate device and connecting one-to-one with the SS7 gateway, it overcomes the disadvantage of the stackable system that can only connect the three SMSCs. Since 15 types of SMSCs can be configured, the system configuration efficiency can be dramatically increased.

In addition, the SS7 gateway distributes SMS messages appropriately in consideration of the traffic processing capacity of each SMSC in the SMSC group, thereby enabling more stable and efficient system operation and increasing the system utilization rate to 80% or more. .

Claims (32)

A load-sharing short message service system for processing SMS messages, A mobile communication terminal for transmitting or receiving the SMS message; A mobile communication network including a radio access network (RAN), a mobile switching center (MSC), and a home location register (HLR) for handling the transmission and reception of the SMS message; Signaling Transfer Point (STP) for relaying and distributing the SMS message in No. 7 signaling; A Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) gateway for receiving and transmitting the SMS message from the STP using the No. 7 signaling method; And Including at least one SMSC group unit for receiving and processing the SMS message from the SS7 gateway is connected in a group unit, The SS7 gateway is a load message type short message service system using an SS7 gateway, characterized in that two SS7 gateways are connected to each other by a LAN. delete The method of claim 1, One of the two SS7 gateways SS7 gateway is active (Active), and the other SS7 gateway is a redundant message waiting for standby (Standby) characterized in that the short message service of the load balancing method using the SS7 gateway system. The method of claim 3, wherein The load balancing short message service system using the SS7 gateway, characterized in that the standby SS7 gateway, which has been waiting for standby, automatically switches to the active state when a failure occurs in the active SS7 gateway that is active. The method of claim 4, wherein The active SS7 gateway and the standby SS7 gateway is a load balancing type short message service system using the SS7 gateway, characterized in that the same protocol stack (Protocol Stack) built in to perform mutual communication. The method of claim 1, Each SMSC includes a separate SS7_INF (Interface) system that separates and implements an interface function with the SS7 gateway among the functions of the embedded ASE module. Short message service system. The method of claim 6, The interface system may be one or two in one SMSC, characterized in that the short message service system of the load balancing method using an SS7 gateway. The method of claim 6, And the interface system is directly connected to the SS7 gateway, and the interface system is connected to two or four ASE modules. The method of claim 6, The interface system decodes a Transaction Capability Application Part (TCAP) of the protocol hierarchy of No.7 signaling of an SMS message to determine the type of the SMS message. Short message service system. The method of claim 1, The SMSC group unit may include up to 15 SMSCs in a load balancing type short message service system using an SS7 gateway. A load balancing short message service system for processing SMS messages, A mobile communication terminal for transmitting or receiving the SMS message; A mobile communication network including a wireless access network, a mobile switching center and a home location register that handles the sending and receiving of SMS messages; An STP for relaying and distributing the SMS message in a No. 7 signaling scheme; An SS7 gateway for receiving and transmitting the SMS message from the STP using the No. 7 signaling method; An SMSC group unit for receiving and processing the SMS message from the SS7 gateway, wherein one or more SMSCs transmitted to a specific device in the case of an SMSNotification (Notification) message are connected in a group unit; And A switching hub for receiving the SMSNotification message from a specific SMSC and broadcasting to the remaining SMSCs belonging to the SMSC group, The SS7 gateway is a load message type short message service system using an SS7 gateway, characterized in that two SS7 gateways are connected by a LAN. delete The method of claim 11, The SS7 gateway of one of the two SS7 gateways is active, and the other SS7 gateway is a load balancing type short message service system using the SS7 gateway, characterized in that the standby standby. The method of claim 13, The load balancing short message service system using the SS7 gateway, characterized in that the standby SS7 gateway, which has been waiting for standby, automatically switches to the active state when a failure occurs in the active SS7 gateway that is active. The method of claim 14, And the active SS7 gateway and the standby SS7 gateway have the same protocol stack in order to communicate with each other. The method of claim 11, Each SMSC includes a separate interface system that separates and implements an interface function with the SS7 gateway among functions of an embedded ASE module, and load balancing type short message service system using an SS7 gateway. The method of claim 16, The interface system may be one or two in one SMSC, characterized in that the short message service system of the load balancing method using an SS7 gateway. The method of claim 16, And the interface system is directly connected to the SS7 gateway, and the interface system is connected to two or four ASE modules. The method of claim 16, The interface system load balancing short message service system using a SS7 gateway, characterized in that to determine the type of the SMS message by decoding the TCAP of the protocol hierarchy of No.7 signaling method of the SMS message. The method of claim 11, The SMSC group unit may include up to 15 SMSCs in a load balancing type short message service system using an SS7 gateway. STP and SS7 gateways for distributing SMS messages using telecommunication terminals, mobile switching centers, home location registers and No.7 signaling, and one or more SMSCs for receiving and processing the SMS messages, A method of processing an SMS message. (a) receiving the SMS message transmitted from the mobile communication terminal through a mobile communication network; (b) randomly selecting a specific SMSC to transmit the SMS message, receiving an SMSREQ message from the specific SMSC, and transmitting the SMSREQ message to the home location register; (c) receiving a first Return message from the home location register and sending it to the specific SMSC; (d) receiving an SMSPP (SMS Delivery Point to Point) message from the specific SMSC and transmitting it to a specific mobile switching center; And (e) receiving a second return message from the specific mobile switching center and sending it to the specific SMSC Short message service method of the load balancing method using an SS7 gateway comprising a. The method of claim 21, wherein in step (b), And the SS7 gateway generates, allocates and transmits a transaction ID to the received SMSREQ message and transmits the short message using the SS7 gateway. The method of claim 21, wherein in step (c) and step (c): The specific SMSC receiving the first return message and the second return message uses a built-in interface system to determine the type of the first return message and the second return message. A method of load balancing short message service. The method of claim 23, wherein The method of load balancing using an SS7 gateway, characterized in that the TCAP is decoded in the protocol hierarchy of the interface system interface system turn message and the second return message to determine the types of the first return message and the second return message. Short message service method. The method of claim 21, wherein in step (c), The first return message is one of a SMSREQ Ack (Acknowledge) message or SMSNotification message, characterized in that the load balancing method short message service method using the SS7 gateway. The method of claim 21 or 22, And the SS7 gateway identifies the specific SMSC to which the first return message is to be transmitted using the transaction ID included in the first return message. The method of claim 21, wherein in step (d), And the SS7 gateway generates, allocates and transmits a transaction ID to the received SMDPP message, and transmits the short message using the SS7 gateway. The method of claim 21 or 27, And the SS7 gateway identifies the specific SMSC to which the second return message is to be transmitted using the transaction ID included in the second return message. The process of claim 21, wherein in step (e), The second return message is a load balancing type short message service method using an SS7 gateway, characterized in that one of a SMDPP Ack message or an SMSNotification message. SMSNotification message, consisting of an SSC gateway that receives SMSNotification messages from mobile switching centers and / or home location registrars via STP in a No.7 signaling manner, an SMSC group unit in which at least one SMSC is grouped, and a switching hub connected to each of said SMSC As a method of processing (a) forwarding the SMSNotification message to the switching hub by a specific SMSC receiving the SMSNotification message; (b) receiving, by the remaining SMSC belonging to the SMSC group unit, the SMSNotification message from the switching hub; (c) the remaining SMSC searching each SMS message database to determine if there is an SMS message associated with the SMSNotification message; And (d) processing the SMSNotification message by a target SMSC storing an SMS message related to the SMSNotification message; Short message service method of the load balancing method using an SS7 gateway comprising a. The method of claim 30, wherein in step (c), The remaining SMSC determines whether to process or delete the SMSNotification message by using a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of the originating terminal included in the SMSNotification message and a time when a request for transmitting an SMS message is generated. A method of load balancing short message service. The method of claim 30, wherein in step (d), The remaining SMSC other than the target SMSC deletes the received SMSNotification message. 6.

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