Machine to Machine (M2M) Application Server, XDMS server, and Methods for M2M Applications Group Management

• US 20130013555A1
• Filed: 07/08/2011
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Foti, George
• Granted Patent: US 8,818,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/609
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

Methods and corresponding Machine-to-Machine Application Server (M2M-AS) and XML Data Management Server (XDMS) are provided for managing groups of M2M applications running on various devices. As groups of M2M applications are formed in a network, the group information comprising identities of the groups and identities of M2M applications belonging to each group is relayed to the M2M-AS. The later further sends such information to the XDMS server for storage. Requests for group membership related to M2M applications can then be handled. When a request for group membership related to an application is received at an M2M gateway or at the M2M-AS, the request is further sent to the XMDS server, which replies back to the requestor with identities of the group(s) that comprise the given M2M application, thus enabling, for example, the requestor to communicate not only with the application, but with entire groups comprising the application.

Claims

1. A method for the management of information related to groups of machine to machine (M2M) applications, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining by the M2M-AS information related to a group of M2M applications, the information comprising a group identity and identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group; and

updating by the M2M-AS an XDMS (XML Data Management Server) server with the group'"'"'s identity and with the identities of the plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

receiving a request at the M2M-AS for a group membership of one of the plurality of M2M applications;

interrogating the XDMS server for obtaining one or more identities of groups the one of the plurality of M2M applications is part of;

obtaining from the XDMS server the one or more identities of groups the one of the plurality of M2M applications is part of; and

responding by the M2M-AS to the request with the one or more identities of groups the one of the plurality of M2M applications is part of.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein steps a., b., and c. are performed in an M2M application server (M2M-AS), and wherein prior to step a., an M2M gateway that sends the announcement registers with the M2M-AS.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining information related to a group of M2M applications comprises the steps of:

receiving a group announcement from an M2M gateway comprising the group identity;

subscribing to obtain the identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group; and

obtaining the identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the step of obtaining the information related to a group of M2M applications, the step of:

obtaining identities of M2M applications of a network; and

triggering the XDMS server to create entries in the XDMS server for each one of the obtained identities of M2M applications of the network.

6. A machine to machine application server (M2M-AS) for use in M2M group management, the M2M-AS comprising:

a communications interface communicating with a network;

a processor operationally connected to the communications interface; and

an instructions repository storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the later to obtain information related to a group of M2M applications, the information comprising a group identity and identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group, and to update, via the communications interface, an XDMS server with the group'"'"'s identity and identities of the plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

7. The M2M-AS of claim 6, wherein the instructions repository further includes instructions, that when executed by the processor cause the later, when receiving a request for a group membership for one of the plurality of M2M applications, to interrogate, via the communications interface, the XDMS server for obtaining one or more identities of groups the one of the plurality of M2M applications is part of and to obtain from the XDMS server the one or more identities of groups the one of the plurality of M2M applications is part of, and further to respond to the request with the one or more group identities.

8. The M2M-AS of claim 6, wherein for obtaining information related to a group of M2M applications, the instructions repository comprise further instructions that when executed by the processor cause the later, when the communication interface receives from an M2M gateway a group announcement comprising the group identity, to instruct the communication interface to subscribe for obtaining the identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group, wherein responsive to the subscribing, the M2M-AS receives the identities of a plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

9. The M2M-AS of claim 8, wherein the announcement includes an indication that the M2M gateway is not registered with the M2M-AS, which triggers a registration of the M2M gateway with the M2M-AS.

10. The M2M-AS of claim 6, the M2M-AS first obtaining identities of M2M applications of a network and signals the XDMS server for creating entries in the XDMS server for each one of the obtained identities of M2M applications of the network.

11. A method for the management of information related to groups of machine to machine (M2M) applications, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at an XDMS (XML Data Management Server) server from an M2M application server (M2M-AS) an identity of a group of M2M applications and a plurality of identities of M2M applications that belong to the group of M2M applications; and

storing in a data repository of the XDMS the identity of the group and the identities of the plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a group membership for one of the plurality of M2M applications, the request comprising an identity of the one of the plurality of M2M applications;

determining the identity of at least one group of applications comprising the one of the plurality of M2M applications based on the identity of the one of the plurality of M2M applications;

responding to the request with the identity of the at least one group of applications that comprises the one of the plurality of M2M applications.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising before the step of receiving, the steps of:

obtaining identities of M2M applications of a network; and

creating entries for each one of the obtained identities of M2M applications of the network.

14. An XDMS (XML Data Management Server) server for use in M2M group management, the XDMS server comprising:

a data repository for storing information related to groups of M2M applications;

a communications interface communicating with a network;

a processor operationally connected to the communications interface and to the data repository; and

an instructions repository storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the later, when the communication interface receives from an M2M application server (M2M-AS) an identity of a group of applications and a plurality of identities of M2M applications that belong to the group, to store on the data repository the identity of the group and the identities of the plurality of M2M applications that belong to the group.

15. The XDMS server of claim 14, wherein the instructions repository further includes instructions, that when executed by the processor cause the later, when the communications interface receives a request for a group membership for one of the plurality of M2M applications, to retrieve from the data repository the identity of at least one group of applications comprising the one of the plurality of M2M applications using the identity of the one of the plurality of M2M applications, and to respond via the communications interface to the request with the identity of the at least one group of applications comprising the one of the plurality of M2M applications.

16. The XDMS server of claim 14, wherein the instructions repository further includes instructions, that when executed by the processor cause the later, when the communications interface receives identities of M2M applications of a network to create in the data repository entries for each one of the received identities of M2M applications of the network.