An auto-provisioning routing node including a mobile services node network address
translation database and an auto-provisioning function for automatically provisioning
the database is disclosed. The auto-provisioning routing node receives signaling
messages that require network address translation services. The auto-provisioning
routing node routes messages for which no translations exist to a default mobile
services node and adds entries for the corresponding IMSIs in its mobile services
node network address translation database. The default mobile services node determines
whether it has records for these messages. If the default mobile services node
does not have records for these messages, the default mobile services node routes
the messages to a second mobile services node via the routing node. The routing
node updates entries for IMSIs in the mobile services node network address translation
database based on the information inserted by the default mobile services node.
This process may continue by mobile services nodes routing to subsequent nodes,
with the routing node continuing to update its database, until the mobile services
node containing the IMSI is found.