Patent ID: 6990347

Claim:
A network element for receiving a signaling message containing mobile application part (MAP) protocol information and screening the message based on the MAP protocol information, the network element comprising: (a) a communication module capable of receiving from a communication network and transmitting to a communication network a signaling message including MAP information; (b) a signaling connection control part (SCCP) screening process for receiving the signaling message from the communication module and determining whether or not the signaling message is a candidate for MAP screening based on at least one SCCP parameter in the signaling message, wherein the SCCP process is adapted to forward the signaling message for MAP screening in response to a determination that the signaling message is a candidate for MAP screening and wherein the SCCP screening process is adapted to forward the signaling message for outbound routing in a manner that bypasses MAP screening in response to a determination that signaling message is not a candidate for MAP screening; and (c) a MAP screening process for, in response to a determination that the signaling message is a candidate for MAP screening, receiving the message from the SCCP screening process, analyzing the MAP information to determine whether authorization is required for routing the signaling message to a destination node.