Patent ID: 8295832

Claim:
A gateway for providing information about a wireless unit roaming in a visited system, the gateway comprising: an interface operative to receive a registration message with respect to the wireless unit from the visited system; and a translator functionally connected to the interface and operative to: determine a home system for the wireless unit based on the registration message, substitute (a) a point code for an element of the gateway as an originating point code in the registration message, and (b) a point code for the home system as the destination point code of the registration message, store an identification of a visited switching center of the visited system, cause the registration message to be routed to the home system, and include the identification of the visited switching center in the visited system in the registration message, wherein the translator being operative to include an identification of the visited switching center comprises the translator being operative to include an identification of a mobile switching center identification (MSCID), wherein the interface being operative to receive a registration message with respect to the wireless unit from the visited system comprises the interface being operative to receive a registration message with respect to the wireless unit from a first visited system; wherein the interface is also operative to receive a second registration message from a second visited system to which the wireless unit has moved; wherein the translator is operative to use the second registration message to determine that an authorization period assigned to the wireless unit is in effect; and wherein the translator is also operative to send a validation of the wireless unit to the second visited system.