Short message service protocol gateway

• US 9,479,908 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2014
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Midkiff, David
• Primary Examiner(s): KELLEY, STEVEN SHAUN
• Application Number:
  US14/566,764
• Publication Number:
  US 20150140961A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8221 Message based
• 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 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/085 involving different upper layer protocol versions, e.g. LCS - SUPL or WSN-SOA-WSDP
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A system for communicating short message service messages from a SMS application to a wireless communication device. The system includes a protocol gateway for converting messages from a simple object access protocol (SOAP) to a short message peer-to-peer (SMPP) protocol. By using a SOAP protocol for a portion of communications between the SMS application and the wireless communication device, the system provides communications path in which SMS application is not required to maintain knowledge of the complex SMPP protocol. The system may also include a billing mechanism for charging subscribers for content received by the wireless communication device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a gateway comprising a processor, from a short-message-service application, a validity request to verify whether each of a plurality of addresses is a valid number within a wireless network and whether each of the plurality of addresses is assigned to a wireless service, the validity request formatted in a first protocol, the validity request comprising the plurality of addresses;

converting, by the gateway, the validity request into a plurality of queries, each of the plurality of queries formatted according to a second protocol and each of the plurality of queries associated with a respective one of the plurality of addresses of the validity request;

sending, by the gateway, in a sending function, a query of the plurality of queries to a resolution server to verify whether an address of the plurality of addresses associated with the query of the plurality of queries is a valid number within the wireless network and whether the address is assigned to the wireless service;

receiving, by the gateway, from the resolution server, in a receiving function, a response to the query, the response formatted according to the second protocol;

repeating, by the gateway, in connection with each remaining query of the plurality of queries, the sending function and the receiving function;

assembling, by the gateway, each response received from the resolution server in the receiving function to create a composite response formatted according to the first protocol, the composite response comprising verifications as to whether each of the plurality of addresses is a valid number within the wireless network and whether each of the plurality of addresses is assigned to the wireless service;

sending, by the gateway, to the short-message-service application, the composite response;

receiving, by the gateway, from the short-message-service application, a bulk short-message-service send request comprising a list of the plurality of addresses and message content common to all of the plurality of addresses, the bulk short-message-service send request formatted in the first protocol; and

converting, by the gateway, the bulk short-message-service send request into a plurality of send requests formatted in a third protocol, each of the plurality of send requests associated with a respective one of the plurality of addresses of the bulk short-message-service send request and each of the plurality of send requests comprising the message content, wherein the first protocol, the second protocol, and the third protocol are different from one another.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first protocol is a simple object access protocol and the second protocol is a lightweight directory access protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first protocol is a simple object access protocol, the second protocol is a lightweight directory access protocol, and the third protocol is a short message peer-to-peer protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway is a first gateway, and wherein the method further comprises sending, by the first gateway, each of the plurality of send requests to a second gateway for delivery to a respective one of the plurality of addresses.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, by the first gateway, delivery responses confirming that the plurality of send requests have been sent to the plurality of addresses;

assembling the delivery responses into an assembled response;

converting the assembled response to the first protocol; and

sending the assembled response to the short-message-service application.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, by the gateway, in response to receiving, at the gateway, the bulk short-message-service send request comprising the list of the plurality of addresses, a purchase request to a billing server to bill a subscriber corresponding to one of the plurality of addresses for the message content.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the purchase request comprises at least one piece of data selected from a group consisting of:

a type of the message content; and

a price of the message content.

8. A gateway comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

receiving, from a short-message-service application, a validity request to verify whether each of a plurality of addresses is a valid number within a wireless network and whether each of the plurality of addresses is assigned to a wireless service, the validity request formatted in a first protocol, the validity request comprising the plurality of addresses,

converting the validity request into a plurality of queries, each of the plurality of queries formatted according to a second protocol and each of the plurality of queries associated with a respective one of the plurality of addresses of the validity request,

sending, in a sending function, a query of the plurality of queries to a resolution server to verify whether an address of the plurality of addresses associated with the query of the plurality of queries is a valid number within the wireless network and whether the address is assigned to the wireless service,

receiving, from the resolution server, in a receiving function, a response to the query, the response formatted according to the second protocol,

repeating, in connection with each remaining query of the plurality of queries, the sending function and the receiving function,

assembling each response received from the resolution server in the receiving function to create a composite response formatted according to the first protocol, the composite response comprising verifications as to whether each of the plurality of addresses is a valid number within the wireless network and whether each of the plurality of addresses is assigned to the wireless service,

sending, to the short-message-service application, the composite response,

receiving, from the short-message-service application, a bulk short-message-service send request comprising a list of the plurality of addresses and message content common to all of the plurality of addresses, the bulk short-message-service send request formatted in the first protocol; and

converting the bulk short-message-service send request into a plurality of send requests formatted in a third protocol, each of the plurality of send requests associated with a respective one of the plurality of addresses of the bulk short-message-service send request and each of the plurality of send requests comprising the message content, wherein the first protocol, the second protocol, and the third protocol are different from one another.

9. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the first protocol is a simple object access protocol and the second protocol is a lightweight directory access protocol.

10. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the first protocol is a simple object access protocol, the second protocol is a lightweight directory access protocol, and the third protocol is a short message peer-to-peer protocol.

11. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the gateway is a first gateway, and wherein the operations further comprise sending each of the plurality of send requests to a second gateway for delivery to a respective one of the plurality of addresses.

12. The gateway of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving delivery responses confirming that the plurality of send requests have been sent to the plurality of addresses;

assembling the delivery responses into an assembled response;

converting the assembled response to the first protocol; and

sending the assembled response to the short-message-service application.

13. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise sending, in response to receiving the bulk short-message-service send request comprising the list of the plurality of addresses, a purchase request to a billing server to bill a subscriber corresponding to one of the plurality of addresses for the message content.

14. The gateway of claim 13, wherein the purchase request comprises at least one piece of data selected from a group consisting of:

a type of the message content; and

a price of the message content.