Message link server with plural message delivery triggers

• US 9,615,192 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2016
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory G.
• Primary Examiner(s): ABYANEH, ALI S
• Application Number:
  US15/211,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20160323279A1
• Time in Patent Office: 263 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/177 Initialisation or configuration control processor initialisation G06F9/4405
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1407 Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0876 Aspects of the degree of configuration automation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 : Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 : Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 : by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 : Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 : Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 : for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 : Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 : Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 : for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 : wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 : using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0892 : by using authentication-authorization-accounting [AAA] servers or protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/145 : avoiding end of session, e.g. keep-alive, heartbeats, resumption message or wake-up for inactive or interrupted session
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 : involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 : Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 : Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 : Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 : including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 : involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 : Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/49 : Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 : based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/61 : based on the service used
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 : Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 : Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8055 : Selecting cheaper transport technology for a given service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/88 : Provision for limiting connection, or expenditure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 : Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 : Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/037 : of the control plane, e.g. signalling traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 : Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 : Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 : based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 : using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/12 : using signalling between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• 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 4/20 : Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 : Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 : Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 : using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 : Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 : Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 : Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/04 : Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 : Management or planning

Abstract

A message link server maintains secure message links with device link agents on each of a plurality of wireless end-user devices. Plural network elements send messages to the message link server, the messages targeted for delivery of message content to specific software components on respective ones of the wireless end-user devices. A message buffering system in the server buffers messages targeted to each device until one of several triggers occur, such that messages that do not have time-critical messaging needs may be buffered until the occurrence of a trigger other than the receipt of that message by the server.

Claims

1. A message link server comprising:

a transport services stack to maintain a respective secure message link through an Internet network between the message link server and a respective device link agent on each of a plurality of wireless end-user devices, each of the wireless end-user devices comprising multiple software components authorized to receive and process data from secure message link messages received via a device link agent on that device;

an interface to a network to receive network element messages from a plurality of network elements, the received network element messages comprising respective message content and requests for delivery of the respective message content to respective wireless end-user devices, the respective message content including data for, and an identification of, a respective one of the authorized software components; and

a message buffer system including a memory and logic,

the memory to buffer content from the received network element messages for which delivery is requested to a given one of the wireless end-user devices,

the logic to determine when one of a plurality of message delivery triggers for the given one of the wireless end-user devices has occurred, wherein for at least some of the received network element messages, the receipt of such a message by the message buffer system is not a message delivery trigger, and for at least one of the message delivery triggers, the trigger is an occurrence of an asynchronous event with time-critical messaging needs, and

upon determining that one of the message delivery triggers has occurred, the logic further to supply one or more messages comprising the buffered content to the transport services stack for delivery on the secure message link maintained between the transport services stack and a device link agent on the given one of the wireless end-user devices.

2. The message link server of claim 1, further comprising an encrypt function to encrypt the one or more messages supplied to the transport services stack for delivery on the secure message link maintained between the message link server and the device link agent on the given one of the wireless end-user devices.

3. The message link server of claim 2, wherein the encrypted one or more messages are transported to the device link agent on the given one of the wireless end-user devices using one or more of encryption on the transport services stack, IP (Internet Protocol) layer encryption, and tunneling.

4. The message link server of claim 1, wherein the device link agent executes in a secure execution environment on at least one of the devices, and at least one of the software components executes outside of the secure execution environment on that device.

5. The message link server of claim 1, wherein the transport services stack is further to receive, over each of the respective secure message links, upload messages forwarded by the respective device link agents from at least a subset of the device software components, each of the upload messages identifying a corresponding one of the network elements to which the device respective software component has requested delivery, the network server system using the interface to a network to deliver content from the upload messages to the respective identified network elements.

6. The message link server of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more messages for delivery by the transport services stack comprises multiple identifier/data pairs.

7. The message link server of claim 1, the device messaging agent on at least one of the wireless end-user devices further to initiate the respective secure Internet data message link to the transport services stack.

8. The message link server of claim 1, further comprising a secure server to provide secure authorization signatures to the given one of the wireless end-user devices, the secure authorization signatures indicating the authorized software components that are allowed to receive data from secure message link messages via the message link server.

9. The message link server of claim 1, wherein one of the message delivery triggers is the expiration of a periodic timer.

10. The message link server of claim 9, wherein the period of the timer is fractionally shorter than a maximum data message interval beyond which the secure message link is taken down.

11. The message link server of claim 1, wherein one of the message delivery triggers is the receipt of a transmission on the respective secure message link from the device link agent of the given one of the wireless end-user devices, or a response generated to a transmission received from that device link agent.

12. The message link server of claim 11, wherein the transmission is a heartbeat message generated by the given device link agent, or a request received from the given device link agent.

13. The message link server of claim 1, wherein one of the message delivery triggers is the receipt of a particular network element message from one of the network elements.

14. The message link server of claim 1, wherein one of the message delivery triggers is based on an amount of wireless network data usage consumed by the given one of the wireless end-user devices.

15. A method of operating a message link server, comprising:

maintaining a respective secure message link through an Internet network between the message link server and a respective device link agent on each of a plurality of wireless end-user devices, each of the wireless end-user devices comprising multiple software components authorized to receive and process data from secure message link messages received via a device link agent on that device;

receiving network element messages from a plurality of network elements, the received network element messages comprising respective message content and requests for delivery of the respective message content to respective wireless end-user devices, the respective message content including data for, and an identification of, a respective one of the authorized software components;

buffering content from the received network element messages for which delivery is requested to a given one of the wireless end-user devices;

determining when one of a plurality of message delivery triggers for the given one of the wireless end-user devices has occurred, wherein for at least some of the received network element messages, the receipt of such a message is not a message delivery trigger, and for at least one of the message delivery triggers, the trigger is an occurrence of an asynchronous event with time-critical messaging needs; and

upon determining that one of the message delivery triggers has occurred, supplying one or more messages comprising the buffered content for delivery on the secure message link maintained between the message link server and a device link agent on the given one of the wireless end-user devices.