METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING MACHINE-TO-MACHINE COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20130188515A1
• Filed: 03/09/2011
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DRNC Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pinheiro, Ana Lucia, DiGirolamo, Rocco, Gauvreau, Jean-Louis, Podias, Nicholas J., Starsinic, Michael F., Seed, Dale N., Wang, Chonggang, Lu, Guang, Russell, Paul L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 10,404,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks

Abstract

Method and apparatus for supporting machine-to-machine (M2M) communications in a hierarchical network architecture including an M2M gateway are disclosed. An M2M entity, (such as M2M device, M2M gateway, or M2M network entity), may perform a service capability discovery procedure to discover an M2M service capability entity that may provide an M2M service capability, and register with the discovered M2M service capability entity. The address or identity of the service capability entity may be pre-configured or obtained from the dispatcher server. The M2M entity may indicate a support M2M service identifier and receive an identity or address of the M2M service capability entity mapping the service identifier. The gateway may advertise M2M service identifiers supported by the gateway so that the M2M device may access the gateway if there is a match. The address of M2M service capability entities may be obtained from the core network.

Claims

1. A method for supporting machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, the method comprising:

an M2M entity performing a service capability discovery procedure to discover an M2M service capability entity that provides an M2M service capability; and

the M2M entity performing registration with at least one of discovered M2M service capability entity using an identity or address obtained during the service capability discovery procedure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the registration is performed with a pre-configured identity or address.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the service capability discovery procedure comprises:

sending a request to a dispatcher server using a pre-configured identity or address; and

receiving a list of M2M service capability entities from the dispatcher server with identities or addresses of the M2M service capability entities, wherein the registration is performed with an M2M service capability entity in the list.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the service capability discovery procedure comprises:

sending a first message to an M2M gateway, the first message including an M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity; and

receiving, from the M2M gateway, a second message indicating an M2M service capability entity and an identity or address of the M2M service capability entity, wherein the registration is performed with the M2M service capability entity indicated in the second message.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the service capability discovery procedure comprises:

receiving an advertisement message from an M2M gateway, the advertisement message including a list of M2M service identifiers supported by the M2M gateway; and

comparing an M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity with the list of M2M service identifiers contained in the advertisement message, wherein the first message is sent on a condition that there is a match between the M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity and the list of M2M service identifiers.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the service capability discovery procedure comprises:

sending a first message to a core network including a supported M2M service identifier by the M2M entity; and

receiving a second message including a list of identities or addresses of M2M service capability entities, wherein the registration is performed with an M2M service capability entity included in the second message.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing a service capability exchange with the discovered M2M service capability entity.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing a hierarchy discovery to determine a hierarchy of a network to which the M2M entity belongs.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the M2M entity includes hierarchy information in a message sent for the registration.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

sending a trace message to the M2M service capability entity to register, wherein identities of intermediate nodes are recorded in the trace message.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the M2M entity is an M2M gateway, and the M2M gateway includes at least one of functionalities related to discovery of service capability across a hierarchical architecture, configuration of service capability across a hierarchical architecture, generic M2M device application enablement (GMDAE), reachability, addressing and device application repository (RADAR), network and communication service selection (NCSS), history and data retention (HDR), security capability (SC), generic M2M network application enablement (GMAE), M2M device and M2M gateway management (MDGM), compensation brokerage (CB) capability, M2M device and M2M gateway proxy (MDGP), or location service.

12. A device for supporting machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, the device comprising:

a processor configured to perform a service capability discovery procedure to discover an M2M service capability entity that provides an M2M service capability, and perform registration with at least one of discovered M2M service capability entity using an identity or address obtained during the service capability discovery procedure.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to perform the registration with a pre-configured identity or address.

14. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to send a request to a dispatcher server using a pre-configured identity or address, receive a list of M2M service capability entities from the dispatcher server with identities or addresses of the M2M service capability entities, and perform the registration with an M2M service capability entity in the list.

15. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to send a first message to an M2M gateway, the first message including an M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity, receive, from the M2M gateway, a second message indicating an M2M service capability entity and an identity or address of the M2M service capability entity, and perform the registration with the M2M service capability entity indicated in the second message.

16. The device of claim 15 wherein the processor is configured to receive an advertisement message from an M2M gateway, the advertisement message including a list of M2M service identifiers supported by the M2M gateway, compare an M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity with the list of M2M service identifiers contained in the advertisement message, and send the first message on a condition that there is a match between the M2M service identifier supported by the M2M entity and the list of M2M service identifiers.

17. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to send a first message to a core network including a supported M2M service identifier by the M2M entity, receive a second message including a list of identities or addresses of M2M service capability entities, and perform the registration with an M2M service capability entity included in the second message.

18. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to perform a service capability exchange with the discovered M2M service capability entity.

19. The device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to perform a hierarchy discovery to determine a hierarchy of a network to which the M2M entity belongs.

20. The device of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to include hierarchy information in a message sent for the registration.

21. The device of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to send a trace message to the M2M service capability entity to register, wherein identities of intermediate nodes are recorded in the trace message.

22. The device of claim 12 wherein the device is an M2M gateway, and includes at least one of functionalities related to discovery of service capability across a hierarchical architecture, configuration of service capability across a hierarchical architecture, generic M2M device application enablement (GMDAE), reachability, addressing and device application repository (RADAR), network and communication service selection (NCSS), history and data retention (HDR), security capability (SC), generic M2M network application enablement (GMAE), M2M device and M2M gateway management (MDGM), compensation brokerage (CB) capability, M2M device and M2M gateway proxy (MDGP), or location service.