Communications network system with discrete terminal mobility and remote user registration associated with said mobility
First Claim
1. A communications network system with discrete terminal mobility and remote user registration associated with said mobility, based on at least one network which comprises a set of user terminals, said network comprising at least one retailer domain (1), at least one consumer domain (2), and including in each domain software components in relation to subscription management, access and service sessions management and connection management, characterised in that it further comprises the following software components:
- a) at least one terminal controller (TC) component, which is located in the consumer domain (2) and comprises the functions of;
maintaining and updating configuration data of a terminal;
checking authentication data of a terminal provider (TP), which accesses to the terminal controller (TC);
maintaining and updating access interface references of a provider agent (PA) of the access sessions opened in the terminal;
maintaining and updating conditions established by the terminal provider (TP) for admitting or rejecting remote user registrations; and
terminal registration or deregistration;
b) at least one terminal mobility manager (TMM) component, which is located in any retailer domain (1) and comprises the functions of;
controlling the terminal connection status and the updated value of interface references of terminal components when it is connected;
creating or suppressing terminal agents (TA) which represent registered terminals in the retailer domains (1);
checking discrete terminal mobility subscription;
maintaining references of subscription agents (SubA) corresponding to all terminals with discrete mobility having discrete terminal mobility service subscription in a retailer domain (1); and
obtaining references of terminal agents (TA) of terminals with discrete mobility in retailer domains (1) other than the retailer domain in which a service session request is launched.
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Abstract
A communications network system with discrete terminal mobility and remote user registration associated with said mobility, which comprises at least:
a terminal controller (TC) software component for maintaining and updating data of terminal configuration, access interface references of a provider agent (PA), conditions for accepting or rejecting remote user registrations, and for terminal registration or deregistration;
a terminal mobility management (TMM) software component for controlling data related to the terminal connection, creating or suppressing registered terminal agents (TA), checking discrete terminal mobility subscription, maintaining subscription agent (SubA) references of the subscribed terminals with discrete mobility, and obtaining references of terminal agents (TA) for terminals with discrete mobility in other federated retailer domains (1).
59 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A communications network system with discrete terminal mobility and remote user registration associated with said mobility, based on at least one network which comprises a set of user terminals, said network comprising at least one retailer domain (1), at least one consumer domain (2), and including in each domain software components in relation to subscription management, access and service sessions management and connection management, characterised in that it further comprises the following software components:
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a) at least one terminal controller (TC) component, which is located in the consumer domain (2) and comprises the functions of;
maintaining and updating configuration data of a terminal;
checking authentication data of a terminal provider (TP), which accesses to the terminal controller (TC);
maintaining and updating access interface references of a provider agent (PA) of the access sessions opened in the terminal;
maintaining and updating conditions established by the terminal provider (TP) for admitting or rejecting remote user registrations; and
terminal registration or deregistration;
b) at least one terminal mobility manager (TMM) component, which is located in any retailer domain (1) and comprises the functions of;
controlling the terminal connection status and the updated value of interface references of terminal components when it is connected;
creating or suppressing terminal agents (TA) which represent registered terminals in the retailer domains (1);
checking discrete terminal mobility subscription;
maintaining references of subscription agents (SubA) corresponding to all terminals with discrete mobility having discrete terminal mobility service subscription in a retailer domain (1); and
obtaining references of terminal agents (TA) of terminals with discrete mobility in retailer domains (1) other than the retailer domain in which a service session request is launched. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
it comprises an access interface and an interface for updating the conditions of remote user registration;
it represents a terminal with discrete mobility, registered in the retailer domain (1);
it contains updated information on terminal controller (TC) interfaces to provide to a user agent (UA) in order to launch invitations to service sessions outside an access session; and
it maintains remote user registration conditions up to date, which are furnished through the terminal controller (TC).
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6. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal controller (TC) provides a series of software interfaces which enable it to communicate with the remaining components of the network in order to make possible the corresponding operations, said interfaces comprising:
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initial interface for the terminal controller front end (TCFE) component, supported by terminals with discrete mobility and suitable for providing a set of interface references of the terminal controller (TC) to be used by the terminal controller front end (TCFE) component;
access interface for the terminal controller front end (TCFE), supported by terminals with discrete mobility and suitable for providing the terminal controller front end (TCFE) component with operations associated with different interfaces of the terminal controller (TC) that can be facilitated to the terminal provider (TP) depending on whether the terminal provider is a propietor or a manager;
terminal configuration interface for the provider agent (PA), supported by both fixed and mobile terminals and said terminal configuration comprising, mainly, a terminal identity, a terminal type and a mobility type;
access session registration interface for the provider agent (PA), supported by terminals with discrete mobility and suitable for enabling the provider agents (PA) for registration or deregistration of their interface references of the access sessions in the terminals, said references being used by the terminal controller (TC) for closing down all access sessions opened in the terminal when the latter is disconnected, invoking the operation of access session termination in the provider agent;
network address interface for a terminal layer adapter (TLA), supported by fixed and mobile terminals and suitable for establishing network addresses in the processes of registration or deregistration of a terminal;
consumer initial interface for a user agent (UA), supported by terminals with discrete mobility and which is defined in a retailer reference point (Ret-RP) associated with the provider agents (PA);
terminal registration interface with the user agent (UA), supported by terminals with discrete mobility and suitable for obtaining information relative to the registration or deregistration of a terminal; and
consumer terminal interface for the user agent (UA), supported by terminals with discrete mobility and that is defined in a retailer reference point (Ret-RP) associated with the provider agents (PA).
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7. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal controller (TC) requires a series of software interfaces in the components in its periphery which comprise:
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access interfaces of the provider agents (PA), suitable for invoking in the provider agents (PA) by the terminal controller (TC), when a terminal is disconnected, an access session closing operation by using references received in these interfaces, thereby closing all sessions opened;
network address interface of the terminal layer adapters (TLA), suitable for invoking by the terminal controller (TC) the operations corresponding to the updating of the network address and the non-availability of the network address of the terminal layer adapter (TLA), when a registration or a deregistration of a terminal is being carried out;
initial interface of the terminal mobility manager (TMM), suitable for obtaining the reference of the access interface of the terminal mobility manager (TMM) after having checked the authentication data;
access interface of the terminal mobility manager (TMM), suitable for performing operations of registration or deregistration of a terminal; and
interface for updating the conditions of remote user registration in the terminal agents (TA), the operation of which depends on the type of conditions of remote user registration supported.
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8. A system, according to claim 6, characterised in that a first type of operations provided by the access interface for the terminal controller front end (TCFE) is associated with the registration or deregistration of terminals with discrete mobility, checking also the mobility type to ensure whether there is discrete mobility or not.
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9. A system, according to claim 6, characterised in that a second type of operations provided by the access interface for the terminal controller front end (TCFE) is associated with the conditions of remote user registration.
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10. A system, according to claim 6, characterised in that a third type of operations is associated with terminal configuration, in which terminal configuration values are established or modified, such as for example terminal identity, terminal type and network address.
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11. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal controller front end (TCFE) component requires an initial interface and an access interface in the terminal controller (TC), and supports another corresponding interface for message display.
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12. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that if the retailer domain (1) does not support the discrete terminal mobility service, then the terminal mobility manager (TMM) acts as an intermediary, without creating terminal agent (TA) instances between the user agent (UA) that requires a terminal agent (TA) reference based on a terminal identifier and the terminal mobility managers (TMM) belonging to a federated retailer domain in which the corresponding DTM terminal is subscribed.
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13. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal mobility manager (TMM) provides the following interfaces:
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initial interface for the terminal controller (TC) of the terminals with discrete mobility, the operation of which consists of transmitting a subscription checking order to the subscription agent (SubA) and returning the reference of the access interface of the terminal mobility manager (TMM) if the checking is affirmative;
access interface for the terminal controller (TC) of the terminals with discrete mobility, the operations of which consist of terminal registration in which the terminal mobility manager (TMM) acts in association with a subscription agent (SubA) for checking the subscription of the terminal with discrete mobility, thus creating a terminal agent (TA) for representing the registered terminal if the checking proves affirmative; and
of terminal deregistration using terminal identifiers in which the terminal mobility manager (TMM) suppresses the corresponding terminal agent (TA);
terminal access interface for the user agents (UA), which are located in the same retailer domain and the operation of which consists of a user agent (UA) in the retailer domain (1) being able to act in association with the terminal mobility manager (TMM) in order to ask for a reference for a terminal agent (TA) corresponding to the terminal identity used in the process of remote user registration;
interface with other federated terminal mobility managers (TMM); and
information interface for subscription management for a subscriber manager (SubM) of the same retailer domain as where the discrete terminal mobility service is provided, the operation of which consists mainly of informing the terminal mobility manager (TMM) about a new terminal subscription or suppression and its subscription agent (SubA) reference.
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14. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal mobility manager (TMM) requires the following interfaces:
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service use interfaces of the subscription agent (SubA), the operations of which are those of checking subscription and authentication data;
interfaces for federated terminal mobility managers (TMM) of the terminal mobility manager (TMM), suitable for establishing communication between different federated terminal mobility managers;
initial interface of terminal agents (TA), which is necessary only in the domain of the retailer providing DTM service and suitable for creating and suppressing terminal agents (TA) when a terminal is registered or deregistered.
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15. A system, according to claim 1, characterised in that the terminal agent (TA) supports the following interfaces:
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initial interface required by the terminal mobility manager (TMM) for creating and suppressing terminal agents (TA) and which is provided in the retailer domain that offers discrete terminal mobility service;
access interface for the user agent (UA) in the same retailer domain, the operation of which consists of obtaining a list of updated references of the terminal controller (TC) interfaces for the user agent (UA) of the user requesting it; and
interface for updating the conditions of remote user registration for the terminal controller (TC) for updating data in the terminal agent (TA) associated with the conditions of remote user registration and established by the terminal provider.
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16. Computer program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the functions of the software components of claim 1 when said program is run on a computer.
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17. A computer readable medium having a program recorded thereon, said computer readable medium comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the functions of the software components of claim 1 when said program is run on a computer.
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18. Method for implementing discrete terminal mobility and remote user registration associated with said mobility in a communications network, said network comprising a set of user terminals, and being divided into at least one retailer domain (1) and at least one consumer domain (2), and including in each domain software components related to subscription management processes, access sessions, service sessions and connection management processes, characterised in that it comprises the steps of:
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creating a subscription for a discrete terminal mobility service;
subscribing terminals with discrete terminal mobility associated with said service;
ordering a terminal registration;
creating a terminal agent (TA) that represents a discrete mobility terminal registered in a retailer domain (1);
updating, through a terminal controller (TC), a network address that requires a terminal layer adapter (TLA) each time a new terminal registration is carried out;
making a remote user registration in order to maintain, in a user agent (UA), an association between the user and a terminal identifier where service session invitations are received;
inviting a user outside an access session to a service session from a retailer domain (1);
notifying said invitation indicating the retailer associated with the invitation to the service session, by means of a message to the corresponding user on the terminal indicated in the remote user registration; and
maintaining the invitation to the service session in the user agent (UA) for its subsequent participation in the invited service session. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
indication by the terminal controller (TC) to the terminal mobility manager (TMM) of the terminal deregistration, in which case said terminal mobility manager (TMM) suppresses a corresponding terminal agent (TA); and
invocation by the terminal controller (TC), in the terminal layer adapter (TLA), of an operation of unavailability of network address residing in the latter and in the terminal controller (TC).
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20. Method, according to claim 18, characterised in that, in a terminal registration, the terminal mobility manager (TMM) acts in association with a corresponding subscription agent (SubA) in order to check the discrete terminal mobility subscription.
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21. Method, according to claim 18, characterised in that when a terminal is suppressed from a subscription management subsystem, a subscriber manager (SubM) informs the terminal mobility manager (TMM) about the suppression, the latter suppressing a corresponding subscription agent (SubA) reference and a corresponding terminal agent (TA).
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22. Method, according to claim 18, characterised in that if the discrete mobility terminal is subscribed to the discrete mobility service in a federated retailer domain, the terminal mobility manager (TMM) acts in association with a corresponding terminal mobility manager (TMM) in the federated domain for requesting the terminal agent (TA) reference, or the indication that it does not exist.
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23. Method, according to claim 18, characterised in that it also comprises the step of obtaining a terminal layer adapter (TLA) reference by using a naming service in order for the terminal layer adapter (TLA) to have the network address always updated.
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24. Method, according to claim 18, characterised in that upon inviting a user outside an access session to a service session, a terminal controller (TC) reference of the corresponding domain is obtained by means of interaction between the terminal mobility manager (TMM) and the terminal agent (TA).
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25. Computer program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the steps of the method of claim 18 when said program is run on a computer.
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26. A computer readable medium having a program recorded thereon, said computer readable medium comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the steps of the method of claim 18 when said program is run on a computer.
Specification