METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GROUP MANAGEMENT DURING MACHINE-TO-MACHINE COMMUNICATION

• US 20150257170A1
• Filed: 05/21/2015
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: GAO, Ying
• Granted Patent: US 10,244,549 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/121 for groups of terminals or users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for group management during M2M communication. The method for group management during M2M communication includes receiving a group creation request sent by a requesting apparatus and carrying a group type of a group requested to be created, checking consistency between member types of members in the group and the group type and setting a consistency check flag of the group according to a consistency check result, and returning a group creation response that carries the consistency check result to the requesting apparatus.

Claims

1. A method for group management during machine-to-machine communication, comprising:

receiving a group creation request sent by a requesting apparatus, wherein the group creation request carries a group type of a group requested to be created;

checking consistency between member types of members in the group and the group type and setting a consistency check flag of the group according to a consistency check result; and

returning a group creation response that carries the consistency check result to the requesting apparatus.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the member type of one member in the group is inconsistent with the group type; and

deleting the member whose member type is inconsistent with the group type from the group or deleting the group directly.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein attributes of the group comprise a consistency policy and the method further comprises:

when determining that the member type of the member in the group is inconsistent with the group type, determining, according to the consistency policy, whether to delete a member whose member type is inconsistent with the group type from the group or delete a created group.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein checking consistency between the member types of the members in the group and the group type comprises:

determining that a member in the group is unreachable;

subscribing to an online status of a home device of the unreachable member from a service platform, and when the online status changes, receiving a notification message sent by the service platform; and

after determining that the member is reachable, obtaining the member type of the reachable member and determining consistency between the member type of the reachable member and the group type.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein checking consistency between the member types of the members in the group and the group type comprises:

determining that a member in the group is unreachable;

polling the home device of the unreachable member periodically until the unreachable member is reachable; and

after determining that the member is reachable, obtaining the member type of the reachable member and determining consistency between the member type of the reachable member and the group type.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein checking consistency between the member types of the members in the group and the group type comprises:

determining that a member in the group is a non-subgroup member and determining a member type of the non-subgroup member according to a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the non-subgroup member; and

after determining the member type, determining consistency between the member type of the non-subgroup member and the group type.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein checking consistency between the member types of the members in the group and the group type comprises:

determining that the consistency check of a subgroup member in the group is uncompleted;

subscribing to a status of a subgroup from a home device of the subgroup; and

receiving a status notification of the subgroup, determining the type of the subgroup according to the status notification, and determining consistency between the type of the subgroup and the group type.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

when the group type is a non-hybrid type, checking consistency between the member types of the members in the group and the group type.

9. A method for group management during machine-to-machine communication, comprising:

sending a group creation request to a group server, wherein the group creation request carries a group type of a group requested to be created; and

receiving a returned group creation response, wherein the group creation response carries a result of a consistency check between member types of members in the group and the group type.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

subscribing to a status of the group from the group server according to the group creation response.

11. A group server for machine-to-machine communication, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the processor and storing thereon computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, configure the group server to;

receive a group creation request sent by a requesting apparatus, wherein the group creation request carries a group type of a group requested to be created;

check consistency between member types of members in the group and the group type and set a consistency check flag of the group according to a consistency check result; and

return a group creation response that carries the consistency check result to the requesting apparatus.

12. The group server according to claim 11, wherein the group server is further configured to, when it is determined that the member type of one member in the group is inconsistent with the group type, delete the member whose member type is inconsistent with the group type from the group or delete the group directly.

13. The group server according to claim 11, wherein attributes of the group comprise a consistency policy and the group server further determines, according to the consistency policy, whether to delete a member whose member type is inconsistent with the group type from the group or delete a created group when it is determined that the member type of the member in the group is inconsistent with the group type.

14. The group server according to claim 11, wherein the group server is further configured to subscribe to an online status of a home device of an unreachable member in the group from a service platform when the member is determined to be unreachable, and when the online status changes, receive a notification message sent by the service platform, and wherein the group server is further configured to obtain the member type of the member after determining that the member is reachable and determine consistency between the member type of the reachable member and the group type.

15. The group server according to claim 11, wherein the group server is further configured to:

determine that a member in the group is a non-subgroup member and determine a member type of the member according to a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the member; and

after determining the member type, determine consistency between the member type of the member and the group type.

16. The group server according to claim 11, wherein the group server is further configured to, when it is determined that the consistency check of a subgroup member in the group is uncompleted, subscribe to a status of a subgroup from a home device of the subgroup and receive a status notification of the subgroup, and wherein the group server is configured to determine the type of the subgroup according to the status notification and determines consistency between the type of the subgroup and the group type.

17. A requesting apparatus for machine-to-machine communication, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the processor and storing thereon computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, configure the requesting apparatus to;

send a group creation request to a group server, wherein the group creation request carries a group type of a group requested to be created; and

receive a returned group creation response, wherein the group creation response carries a result of a consistency check between member types of members in the group and the group type.

18. The requesting apparatus according to claim 17, with the requesting apparatus further configured to subscribe to a status of the group from the group server according to the group creation response.