How To Deploy, Provision, and Store Intial Filter Criteria in an IMS Network

In 3GPP IMS networks, so-called trigger points are used to delegate service execution to dedicated application servers. For service deployment and subscription, these trigger points need to be decomposed into user independent and user specific parts. We propose the concept of trigger point templates that capture the user independent part of a trigger point, and that can be instantiated to concrete trigger points, by filling in user specific parameters. Trigger point templates are defined and stored on the central IMS subscriber base, the HSS, at service deployment time. At service subscription time, user specific parameters are provisioned, and at the time of user profile download from the HSS to the S-CSCF, trigger point templates and user parameters are assembled into concrete trigger points. Our comparative analysis shows that trigger point templates are not only a natural way to provision services, but also a highly efficient mechanism, both in terms of storage and run-time efficiency.