MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TERMINAL AND METHOD

• US 20140140305A1
• Filed: 01/27/2014
• Published: 05/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: BARRETT, Stephen John
• Granted Patent: US 9,681,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/14 between corresponding nodes

Abstract

A mobile communications terminal communicates data using a mobile communications network that includes base stations and mobility managers that can send and receive signalling packets for controlling user data communications between communications terminals and a destination. The communications terminal can communicate packets with the base stations via a wireless access interface provided by the base stations and send a signalling packet to the mobility managers, the signalling packet including user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing a signalling connection with the mobility managers. The mobility managers can, upon receiving a signalling packet from a communications terminal, detect the packet is not associated with any established signalling connection between the mobility managers and the communication device. The mobility managers can, responsive to the detection, transmit the user data in the signalling packet to the destination. Accordingly a short message may be sent in a reduced context or context-less manner.

Claims

1. A mobile communications terminal for communicating data in a mobile communications network, the network comprising one or more base stations operable to provide a wireless access interface for the communications terminal;

and one or more mobility managers operable to send and receive signalling packets for controlling user data communications between communications terminal and destinations, wherein the communications terminal is;

operable to communicate packets with one or more base stations in the mobile communications system via a wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations;

operable to send a signalling packet to one or more mobility managers of the mobile communications system, the packet comprising user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing a signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

2. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 1, wherein terminal is arranged to include in the signalling packet an indication that the packet is part of a conversation comprising a predetermined number of packets, the signalling packet being included in the number of packets.

3. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined number of packets is any integer equal to or greater than one.

4. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is arranged to include in the signalling packet information in respect of the terminal'"'"'s identity for use in identifying the terminal in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

5. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is arranged to include in the signalling packet information in respect of the destination'"'"'s identity for use in routing the user data in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

6. A mobile communications terminal for communicating data in a mobile communications system, where the terminal is:

operable to communicate packets with one or more base stations in the mobile communications system via a wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations;

operable to send a signalling message to the one or more base stations, the message comprising user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing any signalling connection with the one or more base station.

7. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 6, wherein terminal is arranged to include in the signalling message an indication that the packet is part of a conversation comprising a predetermined number of packets, the signalling packet being included in the number of packets.

8. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined number of packets is any integer equal to or greater than one.

9. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is arranged to include in the signalling message information in respect of the terminal'"'"'s identity for use in identifying the terminal in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more base stations.

10. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is arranged to include in the signalling packet information in respect of the destination'"'"'s identity for use in routing the user data in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more base stations.

11. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is a 3GPP-compliant terminal.

12. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is a LTE-compliant terminal.

13. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 12, wherein one of the one or more mobility managers is a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

14. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal in a mobile communications system, the method comprising:

the terminal communicating packets with one or more base stations in the mobile communications system via a wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations;

the terminal sending a signalling packet to one or more mobility managers of the mobile communications system, the packet comprising user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing any signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

15. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 14, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling packet an indication that the packet is part of a conversation comprising a predetermined number of packets, the signalling packet being included in the number of packets.

16. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined number of packets is any integer equal to or greater than one.

17. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 14, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling packet information in respect of the terminal'"'"'s identity for use in identifying the terminal in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

18. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 14, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling packet information in respect of the destination'"'"'s identity for use in routing the user data in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more mobility managers.

19. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal in a mobile communications system, the method comprising:

communicating packets from the mobile communications terminal with one or more base stations in the mobile communications system via a wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations;

sending a signalling message from the mobile communications terminal to the one or more base stations, the message comprising user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing any signalling connection with the one or more base station.

20. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 19, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling message an indication that the packet is part of a conversation comprising a predetermined number of packets, the signalling packet being included in the number of packets.

21. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 20, wherein the predetermined number of packets is any integer equal to or greater than one.

22. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 19, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling message information in respect of the terminal'"'"'s identity for use in identifying the terminal in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more base stations.

23. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 19, the method comprising the terminal including in the signalling packet information in respect of the destination'"'"'s identity for use in routing the user data in the absence of a signalling connection with the one or more base stations.

24. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 19, wherein the terminal is a 3GPP-compliant terminal.

25. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 19, wherein the terminal is a LTE-compliant terminal.

26. A method of operating a mobile communications terminal according to claim 25, wherein one of the one or more mobility managers is a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

27-28. -28. (canceled)