METHOD OF EXCHANGING SMS DATA IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

• US 20130115982A1
• Filed: 02/09/2011
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Stojanovski, Saso, Vedrine, Arnaud
• Granted Patent: US 8,831,650 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

The system comprises wireless user equipment (UE) and a core network unit interfaced with the UE through a wireless access network. A first short message relay (SMR) entity and a first short message control entity (SMC) are provided in the core network unit or the UE, the other one having a second SMR entity and a second SMC entity. The method of exchanging SMS data comprises, in the first SMC entity:—transmitting to the second SMC entity first control protocol data (CP_DATA) conveying relay protocol data (RP_DATA) provided by the first SMR entity,—receiving from the second SMC entity second CP_DATA conveying relay protocol acknowledgement information (RP_ACK) from the second SMR entity; and—retransmitting the first CP_DATA unless an acknowledgement is received from the second SMC entity before a timer expires. The second CP_DATA is interpreted as an acknowledgement for deciding whether the first CP_DATA is to be retransmitted.

Claims

1. A method of exchanging SMS data in a wireless communications system comprising wireless user equipment and a core network unit interfaced with the user equipment through a wireless access network,

wherein a first short message relay entity and a first short message control entity are provided in one of the core network unit and the user equipment, while a second short message relay entity and a second short message control entity are provided in the other one of the core network unit and the user equipment,

the method comprising, in the first short message control entity:

transmitting first control protocol data to the second short message control entity, the first control protocol data conveying relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity for the second short message relay entity;

receiving from the second short message control entity second control protocol data conveying relay protocol acknowledgement information from the second short message relay entity; and

retransmitting the first control protocol data unless a control protocol acknowledgement is received from the second short message control entity before a timer expires, wherein the second control protocol data is interpreted as a control protocol acknowledgement for deciding whether the first control protocol data is to be retransmitted.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein no explicit control protocol acknowledgement information is returned by the second short message control entity in response to reception of the first control protocol data.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first short message relay entity and the first short message control entity are provided in the core network unit, while the second short message relay entity and the second short message control entity are provided in the user equipment,

the method further comprising, in the first short message control entity:

in response to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information, transmitting to the second short message control entity further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or providing a message for releasing communication resources between the first and second short message control entities, without returning explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, in the second short message control entity:

retransmitting the second control protocol data unless a control protocol acknowledgement is received from the first short message control entity before a timer expires, wherein the further control protocol data is interpreted as a control protocol acknowledgement by the second short message control entity for deciding whether the second control protocol data is to be retransmitted.

5. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first short message relay entity and the first short message control entity are provided in the user equipment, while the second short message relay entity and the second short message control entity are provided in the core network unit,

the method further comprising, in the first short message control entity:

in response to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information, transmitting to the second short message control entity either further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, in the second short message control entity:

retransmitting the second control protocol data unless a control protocol acknowledgement is received from the first short message control protocol entity before a timer expires, wherein the further control protocol data is interpreted as a control protocol acknowledgement by the second short message control entity for deciding whether the second control protocol data is to be retransmitted; and

triggering release of communication resources between the first and second short message control entities in response to reception of the explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

12. The method of claim 2,

wherein the first short message relay entity and the first short message control entity are provided in the core network unit, while the second short message relay entity and the second short message control entity are provided in the user equipment,

the method further comprising, in the first short message control entity:

in response to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information, transmitting to the second short message control entity further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or providing a message for releasing communication resources between the first and second short message control entities, without returning explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

13. The method of claim 2,

wherein the first short message relay entity and the first short message control entity are provided in the user equipment, while the second short message relay entity and the second short message control entity are provided in the core network unit,

the method further comprising, in the first short message control entity:

in response to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information, transmitting to the second short message control entity either further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

15. The method of claim 3, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

17. The method of claim 5, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

18. The method of claim 6, wherein the user equipment is part of a machine type of device.

8. A wireless communication terminal, comprising:

a first short message relay entity for providing relay protocol data for a second short message relay entity of a core network unit and for receiving relay protocol acknowledgement information from the second short message relay entity; and

a first short message control entity for transmitting first control protocol data to a second short message control entity of the core network unit, the first control protocol data conveying the relay protocol data, and for receiving second control protocol data from the second short message control entity, the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgement information, wherein the first short message control entity is arranged for retransmitting the first control protocol data unless a control protocol acknowledgement is received from the second short message control entity before a timer expires, and for interpreting the second control protocol data as a control protocol acknowledgement for deciding whether the first control protocol data is to be retransmitted.

9. The wireless communication terminal of claim 8, wherein the first short message control entity is further arranged for responding to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information by transmitting to the second short message control entity either further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.

10. A unit of a packet core network, capable of communicating with wireless user equipment through a wireless access network, the core network unit comprising:

a first short message relay entity for providing relay protocol data for a second short message relay entity of the wireless user equipment and for receiving relay protocol acknowledgement information from the second short message relay entity; and

a first short message control entity for transmitting first control protocol data to a second short message control entity of the wireless user equipment, the first control protocol data conveying the relay protocol data, and for receiving second control protocol data from the second short message control entity, the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgement information,

wherein the first short message control entity is arranged for retransmitting the first control protocol data unless a control protocol acknowledgement is received from the second short message control entity before a timer expires, and for interpreting the second control protocol data as a control protocol acknowledgement for deciding whether the first control protocol data is to be retransmitted.

11. The packet core network unit of claim 10, wherein the first short message control entity is further arranged for responding to reception of the second control protocol data conveying the relay protocol acknowledgment information by transmitting to the second short message control entity further control protocol data conveying further relay protocol data provided by the first short message relay entity or by providing a message for releasing communication resources between the first and second short message control entities, without returning explicit control protocol acknowledgment information for the second control protocol data.