System and method for communicating data between an application server and an M2M device

• US 9,071,925 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2011
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Viswanathan, Harish, Koppol, Pramod
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, Jr., Otis L
• Application Number:
  US12/984,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20120170451A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,637 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

Systems and methods for communication data between an application server and at least one machine-to-machine (M2M) device via an internet network and a network are provided. An example system includes a network element configured to schedule delivery of the data between the application server and at least one M2M device based on network information. The network element is located on a boundary between the network and the intern et network to which the application server communicates with the at least one M2M device.

Claims

1. A system for enabling a communicating of data between an application server and a plurality of machine-to-machine (M2M) devices via an internet network and a network, the system comprising:

a network element having a processor and an associated memory, the processor being configured to schedule delivery of the data between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices based on at least network information and network operator policy information, the network information including at least network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in a region covered by the network based on which the network element sequentially delivers data to each subset of the plurality of M2M devices, the network operator policy information indicating at least a threshold number of simultaneous data transfers between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices in a given geographical area.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the network element is located on a boundary between the network and the internet network via which the application server communicates with the plurality of M2M devices.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network information further includes status information of the plurality of M2M devices in the network, the status information including at least one of a group consisting of,

operating status of the plurality of M2M devices;

battery status of the plurality of M2M devices;

location status information indicating a location of the plurality of M2M devices; and

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the plurality of M2M devices to the network.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a network monitoring element configured to monitor the network information, wherein the network element is configured to receive the network information from the network monitoring element for the scheduling of data transfer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to schedule delivery of the data based on at least one of a group consisting of control policy information and application provider policy information.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the control policy information includes identity information indicative of authorization of the plurality of M2M devices and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system,

the network operator policy information further indicates a location specific restriction for the plurality of M2M devices and a selected communication technology for communication between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices when multiple communication technologies exist, and

the application provider policy information includes a notification of registration of the plurality of M2M devices in the network.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to deliver the data by,

establishing a first session between the plurality of M2M devices and the network element according to a first protocol, and

establishing a second session between the network element and the application server according to a second protocol.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to receive the data from the application server and deliver the data to the plurality of M2M devices via the first and second sessions according to the scheduled delivery time.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to schedule delivery of the data by transmitting a control signal including scheduling information to the plurality of M2M devices or the application server, and based on the control signal, the data is delivered from the application server to the plurality of M2M devices, or vice versa, without the data being passed through the network element.

10. A network element for scheduling data to be transmitted between an application server and a plurality of machine-to-machine (M2M) devices via an internet network and a network, the network element including:

a session protocol communication unit configured to initiate a first session between the network element and the plurality of M2M devices according to a first protocol and initiate a second session between the network element and the application server according to a second protocol;

a data storage unit configured to temporarily store the data until delivery; and

a scheduling unit configured to receive network information and schedule delivery of the data between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices via the first and second sessions based on at least network information and network operator policy information of the network, the network information including at least network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in a region covered by the network based on which the network element sequentially delivers data to each subset of the plurality of M2M devices, the network operator policy information indicating at least a threshold number of simultaneous data transfers between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices in a given geographical area.

11. The network element of claim 10, wherein the network information includes status information of the plurality of M2M devices in the network, the status information including at least one of a group consisting of,

operating status of the plurality of M2M devices;

battery status of the plurality of M2M devices;

location status information indicating a location of the plurality of M2M devices; and

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the plurality of M2M devices to the network.

12. The network element of claim 10, wherein the scheduling unit is configured to receive the network information from a network monitoring element for scheduling the delivery of the data.

13. The network element of claim 10, wherein the data storage unit is configured to store policy information, and

the scheduling unit is further configured to schedule delivery of the data based on at least one of a group consisting of control policy information and application provider policy information.

14. The network element of claim 13, wherein the control policy information includes identity information indicative of authorization of the plurality of M2M devices and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system,

the network operator policy information further indicates a location specific restriction for the plurality of M2M devices and a selected communication technology for communication between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices when multiple communication technologies exist, and

the application provider policy information includes notification of registration of the plurality of M2M devices in the network.

15. The network element of claim 10, wherein the session protocol communication unit is configured to deliver the data to the plurality of M2M devices via the first and second sessions according to the scheduled delivery time.

16. A method for communicating data between an application server and a plurality of machine-to-machine (M2M) devices via an internet network and a network, the method comprising:

receiving a push notification request from the application server to be delivered to a set of the plurality of M2M devices;

receiving at least network information and network operator policy information from a network monitoring element, the network information including at least network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in a region covered by the network based on which a network element sequentially delivers data to each subset of the plurality of M2M devices, the network operator policy information indicating at least a threshold number of simultaneous data transfers between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices in a given geographical area;

scheduling delivery of the push notification request based on the network information and the network operator policy information.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

verifying the application server against policy information to ensure that the application server is authorized to transmit the push notification request; and

translating the push notification request from an application server protocol to a wireless network protocol specific to M2M devices of the set.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the network information includes status information of the plurality of M2M devices in the network, the status information including at least one of a group consisting of,

operating status of the plurality of M2M devices;

battery status of the plurality of M2M devices;

location status information indicating a location of the plurality of M2M devices; and

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the plurality of M2M devices to the network.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the scheduling further includes scheduling the delivery of the push notification request based on at least one of a group consisting of control policy information and application provider policy information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the control policy information includes identity information indicative of authorization of the plurality of M2M devices and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system,

the network operator policy information further indicates a location specific restriction for the plurality of M2M devices and a selected communication technology for communication between the application server and the plurality of M2M devices when multiple communication technologies exist, and

the application provider policy information includes notification of registration of the plurality of M2M devices in the network.