Patent ID: 7035239

Claim:
A method for routing message to a short message service center (SMSC) in a network including a plurality of SMSCs, the method comprising: (a) receiving a message having a signaling connection control part and a mobile application part, the mobile application part having a mobile identification number (MIN) of an originating handset; (b) determining an entity type for the message based on the signaling connection control part; (c) in response to determining that the entity type indicates that the message is destined for an SMSC, performing a lookup in an address translation database using the MIN of the originating handset from the mobile application part of the message to locate an address for one of the SMSCs in the network, wherein performing a lookup in an address translation database using the MIN of the originating handset includes performing, using the MIN of the originating handset, a lookup in an exception-based database containing first packet routing rule records and, in response to failing to locate an address in the exception-based database, the method further comprises performing a lookup in a range-based database containing second packet routing rule records, wherein the first packet routing rule records represent packet routing rules that are exceptions to packet routing rules represented by the second packet routing rule records; and (d) in response to locating the address, routing the message based on the address.