Method for providing private information to mobile user and associated wireless communication network and mobile station

• US 8,811,979 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2009
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Ching-Hao, Hsieh, Wen-Jui
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROSARIO, NELSON M
• Application Number:
  US12/455,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20100317340A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,896 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/459, 455/574
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• 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 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for providing a private information to a mobile user and an associated wireless communication network and mobile station are provided to reduce the consumption of power and radio link bandwidth for transmission of the private information. The method, used in the wireless communication network, comprises paging a mobile station of the mobile user via a paging channel during a paging period to read the private information, and reading the private information by the mobile station via a non-dedicated channel during a reading period after the paging period.

Claims

1. A method used in a wireless communication network for providing a private information to a mobile user, the method comprising:

paging a mobile station of the mobile user via a paging channel during a paging period to read the private information; and

reading the private information by the mobile station via a non-dedicated channel during a reading period after the paging period, wherein the non-dedicated channel is a new channel allocated for transmitting the private information, and whereby the use of the non-dedicated channel saves power and reduces bandwidth;

wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel;

wherein the private information is specific to the mobile user and for personal usage;

wherein the private information is embedded in a paging message which is sent to the mobile station via the paging channel during the second paging DRX cycle;

wherein, when there is a private information to be provided to the mobile user, the wireless communication network generates a modified paging message, where the modified paging message containing a new paging cause “

Terminating private information”

used for informing the mobile station to read the private information; and

then, the wireless communication network pages the mobile station by sending the modified paging message via the paging channel during the paging period, so as to inform the mobile station to read the private information from the wireless communication network; and

wherein the mobile station operates in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, the paging period is a paging DRX cycle;

the reading period is another paging DRX cycle after the paging DRX cycle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading period is a next paging DRX cycle after the paging DRX cycle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading period is synchronized according to the paging period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile station comprises a contact table for storing related data of at least one contact of the mobile user, wherein the private information comprises an update of the related data of the contact;

wherein, the wireless communication network comprises an application server and a paging module for receiving from the application server a corresponding value tag of the private information for indicating how recent the private information is;

the value tag is used to determine if the mobile station loses any private information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the related data of the contact comprises at least an identifier and a current status of the contact;

wherein, the value tag is configured as increased by one each time when a new private information is generated; and

then, when the mobile station reads a private information, the mobile station compares the corresponding value tag of the current private information with that of the last-read private information, so as to determine if any private information is lost;

if the value tag of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-1, then no private information is lost;

if the value tag of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-D, then the private informations with the corresponding value tags between N-D and N are lost;

in this case, the mobile station makes a request to the paging module to re-send the lost private informations;

wherein, N is an integral larger than 1, and D is another integral larger than 1, but small than N.

6. A wireless communication network for providing a private information to a mobile station of a mobile user comprising:

an application server comprising a database for storing the private information; and

a paging module for receiving the private information from the application server, and paging the mobile station via a paging channel during a paging period to read the private information;

wherein the mobile station reads the private information from the paging module via a non-dedicated channel during a reading period after the paging period, wherein the non-dedicated channel is a new channel allocated for transmitting the private information, and whereby the use of the non-dedicated channel saves power and reduces bandwidth;

wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel wherein the private information is specific to the mobile user and for personal usage;

wherein the private information is embedded in a paging message which is sent to the mobile station via the paging channel during the second paging DRX cycle;

wherein, when there is a private information to be provided to the mobile user, the wireless communication network generates a modified paging message, where the modified paging message containing a new paging cause “

Terminating private information”

used for informing the mobile station to read the private information; and

then, the wireless communication network pages the mobile station by sending the modified paging message via the paging channel during the paging period, so as to inform the mobile station to read the private information from the wireless communication network; and

wherein the mobile station operates in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, the paging period is a paging DRX cycle;

the reading period is another paging DRX cycle after the paging DRX cycle.

7. The wireless communication network of claim 6, wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel.

8. The wireless communication network of claim 6, wherein the paging module pages the mobile station by sending a paging message via the paging channel during the paging period to the mobile station, wherein the paging message comprises a paging cause for informing the mobile station to read the private information.

9. The wireless communication network of claim 6, wherein each of the database and the mobile station stores a contact table of the mobile user, and the contact table stores related data of at least one contact of the mobile user, wherein when the related data stored in the contact table of the database is changed, the application server generates the private information comprising an update of the related data which is used to update the contact table of the mobile station.

10. The wireless communication network of claim 9, wherein the related data of the contact comprises at least an identifier and a current status of the contact.

11. The wireless communication network of claim 6, wherein the paging module further receives a corresponding value tag of the private information from the application server, wherein the corresponding value tag indicates how recent the private information is;

the value tag is used to determine if the mobile station loses any private information;

the value tag is configured as increased by one each time when a new private information is generated; and

then, when the mobile station reads a private information, the mobile station compares the corresponding value tag of the current private information with that of the last-read private information, so as to determine if any private information is lost;

if the value tag of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-1, then no private information is lost;

if the value taq of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-D, then the private informations with the corresponding value tags between N-D and N are lost;

in this case, the mobile station makes a request to the paging module to re-send the lost private informations;

wherein, N is an integral larger than 1, and D is another integral larger than 1, but small than N.

12. The wireless communication network of claim 6, wherein the paging module further receives an identity of the mobile station from the application server, wherein the paging module pages the mobile station according to the received identity.

13. In a wireless communication network, a mobile station for receiving a private information of a mobile user comprising:

a receiving module for receiving a paging message via a paging channel of the wireless communication network during a paging period, wherein the paging message is used to page the mobile station to read the private information; and

a reading module for reading the private information via a non-dedicated channel of the wireless communication network during a reading period after the paging period, wherein the non-dedicated channel is a new channel allocated for transmitting the private information, and whereby the use of the non-dedicated channel saves power and reduces bandwidth;

wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel;

wherein the private information is specific to the mobile user and for personal usage;

wherein the private information is embedded in a paging message which is sent to the mobile station via the paging channel during the second paging DRX cycle;

wherein, when there is a private information to be provided to the mobile user, the wireless communication network generates a modified paging message, where the modified paging message containing a new paging cause “

Terminating private information”

used for informing the mobile station to read the private information; and

then, the wireless communication network pages the mobile station by sending the modified paging message via the paging channel during the paging period, so as to inform the mobile station to read the private information from the wireless communication network; and

wherein the mobile station operates in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, the paging period is a paging DRX cycle;

the reading period is another paging DRX cycle after the paging DRX cycle.

14. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel;

wherein, when there is a private information to be provided to the mobile user, the wireless communication network generates a modified paging message, where the modified paging message containing a new paging cause “

Terminating private information”

used for informing the mobile station to read the private information; and

then, the wireless communication network pages the mobile station by sending the modified paging message via the paging channel during the paging period, so as to inform the mobile station to read the private information from the wireless communication network.

15. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the reading period is synchronized according to the paging period.

16. The mobile station of claim 13, further comprising:

a contact table for storing related data of at least one contact of the mobile user, wherein the private information comprises an update of the related data of the contact.

17. The mobile station of claim 16, wherein the related data of the contact comprises at least an identifier and a current status of the contact;

wherein, the wireless communication network comprises an application server and a paging module for receiving from the application server a corresponding value tag of the private information for indicating how recent the private information is;

the value tag is used to determine if the mobile station loses any private information;

wherein, the value tag is configured as increased by one each time when a new private information is generated; and

then, when the mobile station reads a private information, the mobile station compares the corresponding value tag of the current private information with that of the last-read private information, so as to determine if any private information is lost;

if the value tag of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-1, then no private information is lost;

if the value tag of the current private information is N while that of the last-read private information is N-D, then the private informations with the corresponding value tags between N-D and N are lost;

in this case, the mobile station makes a request to the paging module to re-send the lost private informations;

wherein, N is an integral larger than 1, and D is another integral larger than 1, but small than N.

18. A method used in a wireless communication network for providing a private information to a mobile user, the method comprising:

paging a mobile station of the mobile user via a paging channel during a paging period to read the private information; and

reading the private information by the mobile station via a non-dedicated channel during a reading period after the paging period, wherein the non-dedicated channel is the paging channel;

wherein the private information is specific to the mobile user and for personal usage;

wherein the private information is embedded in a paging message which is sent to the mobile station via the paging channel during the second paging DRX cycle;

wherein, when there is a private information to be provided to the mobile user, the wireless communication network generates a modified paging message, where the modified paging message containing a new paging cause “

Terminating private information”

used for informing the mobile station to read the private information; and

then, the wireless communication network pages the mobile station by sending the modified paging message via the paging channel during the paging period, so as to inform the mobile station to read the private information from the wireless communication network; and

wherein the mobile station operates in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, the paring period is a paging DRX cycle;

the reading period is another paging DRX cycle after the paging DRX cycle.