Digital control channels having logical channels supporting broadcast SMS

• US 6,041,047 A
• Filed: 05/11/1998
• Issued: 03/21/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Sammarco, Anthony J., Diachina, John W., Persson, Bengt, Raith, Alex K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Application Number:
  US09/075,203
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 370/321, 370/328, 370/338, 370/329, 370/341, 370/347, 370/348, 370/431, 370/442, 455/422
• US Class Current: 370/347
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/24 for communication between two or more posts wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2643 using time-division multiple access [TDMA] H04B7/2615, H04B7/2618 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2656 for structure of frame, burst
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0046 Code rate detection or code type detection H04L1/0038 takes precedence; detection of the data rate H04L25/0262; for packet format H04L1/0091
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0057 Block codes H04L1/0061, H04L1/0064 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0059 Convolutional codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0071 Use of interleaving interleaving per se H03M13/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0072 Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0083 Formatting with frames or packets; Protocol or part of protocol for error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1614 using bitmaps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1685 the supervisory signal being transmitted in response to a specific request, e.g. to a polling signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1803 Stop-and-wait protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1809 Selective-repeat protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1848 Time-out mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/188 Time-out mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/20 using signal quality detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 : Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• 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 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 : Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 : using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 : where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 : User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/025 : Indirect paging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 : Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A communications system in which information is transmitted in successive time slots grouped into a plurality of superframes which are, in turn, grouped into a plurality of hyperframes. A remote station is assigned to one of the time slots in each of the superframes for paging the remote station, each hyperframe including at least two superframes, and the information sent in the assigned time slot in one superframe in each hyperframe is repeated in the assigned time slot in the other superframe(s) in each hyperframe. Each superframe can include a plurality of time slots used for sending paging messages to remote stations, grouped into a plurality of successive paging frames, and the time slot to which the remote station is assigned is included once in every paging frame. Also, each superframe may include time slots comprising a logical channel for broadcast control information and time slots comprising a logical paging channel. Information sent in the assigned time slot may direct the remote station to read the broadcast control information, and the information may have been encoded according to an error correcting code and include a plurality of bits having polarities that are inverses of cyclic redundancy check bits produced by the encoding. Also, the broadcast control information may comprise special messages that are included in respective time slots comprising a logical special message channel, the time slots of the special message channel may be grouped in successive SMS frames, and the SMS frames may be synchronized to start with a start of a superframe.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting information in a radiocommunication system comprising the steps of:

grouping the information into a plurality of successive time slots on a radio carrier signal, wherein the information includes special messages;

grouping the time slots into a plurality of successive superframes;

designating one or more time slots of each of the successive superframes as a logical special message channel;

grouping the one or more time slots of the logical special message channel into a plurality of successive special messaging superframes;

grouping said special messages as a plurality of logical sub-channels, wherein each sub-channel comprises at least a portion of one or more superframes of said plurality of special messaging superframes;

selectively ordering said sub-channels; and

transmitting said sub-channels in said selected order over said logical special message channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one sub-channel of said plurality of sub-channels includes a configuration message that defines format information of said plurality of sub-channels.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said format information of said configuration message further includes a plurality of sub-channel information elements that identify attributes of said plurality of sub-channels.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of said plurality of sub-channel information elements includes a sub-channel identification sub-element.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of said plurality of sub-channel information elements includes at least one encryption sub-element, wherein said at least one encryption sub-element identifies an encryption technique associated with the sub-channel identified by said sub-channel identification sub-element.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein each of said plurality of sub-channel information elements includes a wildcard indicating sub-element that indicates whether a sub-channel identified by said identification sub-element belongs to a broadcast domain.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein each of said plurality of sub-channel information elements includes a broadcast mode sub-element that indicates whether a sub-channel identified by said identification sub-element is restricted to at least one particular user group.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein each of said plurality of sub-channel information elements includes at least one user group sub-element that identifies the user group allocated to the sub-channel identified by said identification sub-element.