Communications systems and method

• US 9,232,363 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Zakrzewski, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Skripnikov, Alex
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ansari, Raza
• Application Number:
  US13/881,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20130329654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,559 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/332, 370/342, 370/335, 370/432, 370/437, 455/435, 455/445, 455/450, 455/456, 455/509, 455/518, 455/519
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• 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

A communications system includes a mobile radio network including plural base stations to communicate data to/from mobile communications devices via a wireless access interface, and plural associated communications devices transmitting and receiving data with the base stations. Each associated communication device includes a same common identifier to establish communication sessions communicating data via the mobile radio network. The group of communications devices may communicate machine type communications for a particular application, for example in a vehicle, to report parameters that can be served by a separate communications device that reports periodically on the parameters detected by an associated sensor. With spatial proximity of the communications devices, each can receive control plane signalling data and accordingly communication of signalling data is as if broadcast to a local environment in which the group of communications devices are disposed, to save communications bandwidth proportional to a number of devices in the group.

Claims

1. A communications system, comprising plural communications devices for forming part of a mobile radio network comprising a plurality of base stations arranged to communicate data to and from the plural communications devices via a wireless access interface, each of the communications devices comprising:

a controller configured to

associate the communications device with at least one other communications device forming a group, each of the associated communications devices being configured to transmit and receive data from one or more of the base stations, wherein all of the associated communications devices of the group include a common identifier, and

establish a communications session using the common identifier to communicate data, via the mobile radio network, to and from any of the associated communications devices of the group, wherein

each of the communications devices within the group of associated communications devices is provided with a unique data sequence of a set of predefined data sequences for use in forming a random access burst for transmission in a random access communications channel of the wireless access interface, the set of predefined data sequences being uniquely associated with the group,

the mobile radio network is arranged to transmit a signalling message indicating a grant of uplink resources in response to the random access burst representing a request for uplink resources by a communications device identified by its unique data sequence, the signalling message including the unique data sequence which was used to form the random access burst transmitted by the communications device,

in response to the transmission of the random access burst in the random access communications channel by one of the communications devices of the group, the other communications devices of the group are arranged to enter a listening state for detecting data transmitted to the group of devices via a packet data communications channel of the wireless access interface, and the other communications devices of the group wait a predetermined time after not detecting data transmitted via the packet data communications channel before attempting to transmit a random access burst on the random access communications channel.

2. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the communications devices includes a subscriber identity module and the common identifier, which is used to establish a communications session, is provided using the subscriber identity module, which includes the same common identifier for each of the communications devices of the group.

3. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the common identifier is a network temporary identifier or is used to generate a unique resource location or unique resource identifier.

4. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the communications devices further comprising an equipment identification number, the equipment identification number being used by a radio link layer to identify each of the communications devices within the group of communications devices.

5. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

a first of the plurality of associated communications devices is arranged to be a master communications device and is configured to establish a communication session by transmitting signalling information including the common identifier to the mobile network via the one or more base stations, and

each of the associated communications devices in the group is arranged to enter a listening mode in which signalling information communicated from the mobile radio network is received in response to the signalling information transmitted by the first communications device, such that each of the associated communications devices transmit data to the mobile radio network and receive data from the mobile radio network using the communication session established by the first communications device using the common identifier for all of the associated communications devices of the group.

6. A communications system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the signalling information received from the mobile radio network in response to the first communications device includes information required for mobility management and connection.

7. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile radio network provides the wireless access interface which includes the random access communications channel for uplink transmission of a burst of signals, and each of the communications devices from the group of associated communications devices is arranged to transmit a random access burst in the random access communications channel in accordance with a predetermined arrangement.

8. A communications system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the predetermined arrangement includes allocating a time to each of the communications devices of the group, such that one or more of the communications devices is scheduled to transmit a random access burst in the random access communications channel.

9. A communications system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communications devices forming the group are mounted on a common mobile system.

10. A method of controlling communications devices forming part of a mobile radio network comprising a plurality of base stations arranged to communicate data to and from the communications devices via a wireless access interface, the method comprising:

associating one of the communications devices with at least one other of the communications devices as a group, each of the associated communications devices transmitting and receiving data from one or more of the base stations, wherein all of the associated communications devices of the group include a common identifier, and

establishing communications sessions for communicating data to and from any of the associated communications devices via the mobile radio network, using the common identifier, wherein

each of the communications devices within the group of associated communications devices is provided with a unique data sequence of a set of predefined data sequences for use in forming a random access burst for transmission in a random access communications channel of the wireless access interface, the set of predefined data sequences being uniquely associated with the group,

the mobile radio network is arranged to transmit a signalling message indicating a grant of uplink resources in response to the random access burst representing a request for uplink resources by a communications device identified by its unique data sequence, the signalling message including the unique data sequence which was used to form the random access burst transmitted by the communications device,

in response to the transmission of the random access burst in the random access communications channel by one of the communications devices of the group, the other communications devices of the group are arranged to enter a listening state for detecting data transmitted to the group of devices via a packet data communications channel of the wireless access interface, and the other communications devices of the group wait a predetermined time after not detecting data transmitted via the packet data communications channel before attempting to transmit a random access burst on the random access communications channel.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, comprising providing the common identifier, which is used to establish a communications session, using a subscriber identity module in the communications devices, the subscriber identity module includes the same common identifier for each of the associated communications devices.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the common identifier is a network temporary identifier or is used to generate a unique resource location or unique resource identifier.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the establishing communications sessions for communicating data via the mobile radio network, using the common identifier includes

arranging for a first of the associated communications devices to be a master communications device,

establishing a communication session by transmitting, from the master communications device, signalling information including the common identifier to the mobile radio network via the one or more base stations, and

arranging for each of the associated communications devices in the group to enter a listening mode in which signalling information communicated from the mobile radio network is received in response to the signalling information transmitted by the first communications device, such that each of the associated communications devices transmit data to the mobile radio network and receive data from the mobile radio network using the communication session established by the first communications device using the common identifier which is common for all of the associated communications devices of the group.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the signalling information received from the mobile radio network in response to the first communications device includes information required for mobility management and connection.

15. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the mobile radio network provides a wireless access interface which includes a random access communications channel for uplink transmission of a burst of signals, and the method includes

arranging for each of the communications devices from the group of associated communications devices to be allocated a time for transmitting a random access burst in the random access communications channel in accordance with a predetermined arrangement.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the predetermined arrangement includes allocating a time to each of the communications devices of the group, such that one or more of the communications devices is scheduled to transmit the random access burst in the random access communications channel.

17. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the communications devices forming the group are mounted on a common mobile system.