SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING DATA BETWEEN AN APPLICATION SERVER AND AN M2M DEVICE

• US 20120170451A1
• Filed: 01/05/2011
• Published: 07/05/2012
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 9,071,925 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• 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 communicating data between an application server and at least one machine-to-machine (M2M) device via an internet network and a network, the system comprising:

a network element configured to schedule delivery of the data between the application server and at least one M2M device based on network information.

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 at least one M2M device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network information includes at least one of:

network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in the network; and

status information of the at least one M2M device in the network, the status information including at least one of, location status information indicating a location of the at least one M2M device;

operating status information indicating an operational condition of the at least one M2M device;

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the at least one M2M device to the network; and

battery status information indicating battery power of the at least one M2M device.

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 network element is configured to schedule delivery of the data based on the network information and policy information, the policy information including at least one of control policy information, network operator 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 at least one M2M device and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system, the network operator policy information includes a location specific restriction for the at least one M2M device, and the application provider policy information includes notification of registration of the at least one M2M device in the network.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the network element is configured to deliver the data by establishing a first session between the at least one M2M device 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 network element receives the data from the application server and delivers the data to the at least one M2M device via the first and second sessions according to the scheduled delivery time.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the network element is configured to schedule delivery of the data by transmitting a control signal including scheduling information to the at least one M2M device or the application server, and, based on the control signal, the data is delivered from the application server to the at least one M2M device, 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 at least one machine-to-machine (M2M) device 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 at least one M2M device 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 at least one M2M device via the first and second sessions based on network information of the network.

11. The network element of claim 10, wherein the network information includes at least one of:

network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in the network; and

status information of the at least one M2M device in the network, the status information including at least one of,

location status information indicating a location of the at least one M2M device;

operating status information indicating an operational condition of the at least one M2M device;

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the at least one M2M device to the network; and

battery status information indicating battery power of the at least one M2M device.

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 configured to schedule delivery of the data based on the network information and the policy information, the policy information including at least one of control policy information, network operator 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 at least one M2M device and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system, the network operator policy information includes a location specific restriction for the at least one M2M device, and the application provider policy information includes notification of registration of the at least one M2M device in the network.

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

16. A method for communicating data between an application server and at least one machine-to-machine (M2M) device 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 M2M devices;

receiving network information from a network monitoring element; and

scheduling delivery of the push notification request based on the network 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 at least one of:

network congestion information indicating an amount of data congestion in the network; and

status information of at least one M2M device in the network, the status information including at least one of,

location status information indicating a location of the at least one M2M device;

operating status information indicating an operational condition of the at least one M2M device;

connection status information indicating a connection condition of the at least one M2M device to the network; and

battery status information indicating battery power of the at least one M2M device.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein scheduling delivery of the push notification request is based on the network information and policy information, the policy information including at least one of control policy information, network operator policy information, and application provider policy info elation.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the control policy information includes identity information indicative of authorization of the at least one M2M device and application server to transmit or receive the data in the system, the network operator policy information includes a location specific restriction for the at least one M2M device, and the application provider policy information includes notification of registration of the at least one M2M device in the network.