Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Auxiliary data signaling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-26
2004-06-08
Chin, Vivian (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Auxiliary data signaling
C455S445000, C455S417000, C455S414200, C455S426100, C455S550100, C455S412100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06748229
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a method and apparatus to be used in a mobile telecommunication system, for allowing inter-working of Short Message Services (hereinafter: SMS) between two Public Land Mobile Networks (hereinafter: PLMN) based an different standards, such as American standard versus Pan-European standard, or American standard versus Pan-Universal standards, and different mobile system generations.
More specifically, the present invention provides the necessary steps and means to allow the exchange of Short Messages between mobile users subscribing to mobile networks (PLMN) based on different standards and mobile system generations.
The mobile telephony has expanded greatly in recent years, and not only the mobile telephony as such, but also the data transmission and new emerging services in scenarios characterized by mobility. In parallel, and as a direct consequence of this huge market growth, different new technologies turn up, which further derive in new standards, on which different systems are based, and which different operators take into operation to offer a new generation of services.
Still another consequence of this expansion and continuous appearance of new technologies and standards is the evolution towards new generations of mobile systems and services.
Such an evolution is not carried out simultaneously for an entire system; instead, the evolution normally affects different parts of a system to a different extent, so that some parts of the system may be modified to a great extent or even replaced by completely new parts, whereas other parts of the system are not substantially affected or not affected at all by this evolution. Besides, national or other regulations force in some cases the operators to follow a particular standard, or at least, to introduce particular features which imply a different standard de facto.
As a result of this evolution, networks are sometimes identified by the systems on which said networks are based, whereas systems are sometimes identified by the latest technology that said systems have incorporated. Moreover, in some cases, networks are identified by said technology lately incorporated, even though such a technology just applies to a specific part of the system.
For example, the evolution from the 2
nd
generation (hereinafter referred as 2G) of some mobile systems to their corresponding 3
rd
generation (hereinafter referred as 3G) is a quite illustrative example of this naming principles. In particular, the American standard Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (hereinafter: D-AMPS), the Pan-European standard Global System Mobile (hereinafter: GSM), or the Japanese standard Personal Digital Communication (hereinafter: PDC), are all 2G systems using the access technology known as Time Division Multiple Access (hereinafter: TDMA). However, the evolution of the two former mobile systems towards their respective 3G deserves some additional explanation.
On the one hand, GSM 3G essentially assumes the new Pan-Universal standard known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (hereinafter: UMTS) wherein the access technology proposed is the Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (hereinafter: WCDMA). However, some technical communities and Telecommunication fora do not distinguish between access and other application layers, and they indistinctly refer to UMTS or WCDMA networks irrespective of whether the subjet refers to the access or to other issues. In addition, most of the Japanese mobile operators have also selected WCDMA to offer 3G services.
On the other hand, different trends turn up for the Pan-American 3G mobile systems. In principle, D-AMPS 3G assumes as the access technology the proposal from the Universal Wireless Radio Access Consortium in favor of American mobile standard IS-136 (hereinafter: UWC-136). Said UWC-136 belongs to the family of standards known as TDMA. In a manner analogous with the UMTS/WCDMA case mentioned above, some technical communities and Telecommunication for a indistinctly refer to D-AMPS 3G, or UWC-136, or simply TDMA networks, irrespective of whether the subject refers to the access or to other issues. Moreover, other American communities propose narrow-band air digital interfaces known as CDMA2000 for a standard system of 3G services. This CDMA2000 belongs to the family of standards known as Code Division Multiple Access (hereinafter: CDMA). Still further, efforts are made to develop what has been named the North American WCDMA (hereinafter: NA:WCDMA).
Nowadays, the International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (hereinafter: IMT-2000) is an initiative of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to provide radio access to a world wide telecommunication infrastructure through terrestrial and satellite systems. Said IMT-2000 proposes a multiple access structure for the radio interface wherein all the air interfaces will share a common core network. Such a common core network has not been achieved yet, but efforts are being made for this purpose. At present, IMT-2000 covers the development of the standard families referred to above, such as TDMA and CDMA.
The greater the variety of standards and mobile system generations are, the higher the need to provide for inter-working between them. In this respect, there are many aspects to consider when talking about inter-working.
The amount of different aspects to be taken into consideration in order to assure compatibility between networks based on different standards, makes the operators and suppliers of such networks to prioritize the most important aspects versus other aspects that are not so essential, not so attractive, or with lower commercial interest. For example, communication between subscribers belonging to a certain network but who are roaming in a network based on a different system and standards, or voice communication between subscribers to networks based on different standards, are aspects of a high priority and, consequently, the corresponding problems have already been solved in different manners.
However, one problem not previously solved relates to the exchange of Short Messages between users of networks based on different standards or different technologies.
The Short Message Service (hereinafter: SMS) provides for the transfer of Short Messages between a first Short Message Entity (SME-
1
) and a second Short Message Entity (SME-
2
) via a Short Message Service Center (hereinafter: SMSC). The Short Message Entity (hereinafter: SME) is an entity able to compose and decompose and send and receive Short Messages. For example, a Mobile Station (hereinafter: MS) is a sort of mobile SME that under some standards (like IS-41) is known as an MS-based SME. The Short Message Service Center (SMSC) is an intermediate entity for most of the mobile systems, in charge of storing Short Messages from originating users before said Short Messages being delivered to the destination users. The constitution of the SMSC is not always the same, as many important features of the SMSC depend on the specific standard on which the PLMN of the SMSC is based. For instance, the SMSC is supported in GSM 2G, or UMTS, or WCDMA networks by the Service Center (hereinafter: SC), which communicates with said GSM 2G, or UMTS, or WCDMA networks by means of a well-defined and known protocol and interface. However, such an SMSC is supported in D-AMPS or, more recently, in TDMA or CDMA2000 networks, by the Message Center (hereinafter: MC), which communicates with said D-AMPS, or TDMA, or CDMA2000 networks by means of another well-defined and known protocol, though different than the previous one.
The Short Message Services comprise two basic services:
Short Message Mobile originated (hereinafter SM-MO); and
Short Message Mobile Terminating (hereinafter SM-MT).
Short Message Mobile Originated (SM-MO) denotes the capability of the system to transfer a short Message submitted from a SME (the originating SME can be a mobile station and is hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as MS-
1
) to an SMSC and to provide information about the delivery of said Shor
Calatrava-Requena Odelin
Fernández-Alonso Susana
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Chin Vivian
Milord Marceau
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for mobile telecommunication does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for mobile telecommunication, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for mobile telecommunication will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3353930