Device for data communications between wireless application protocol terminal and wireless application server, and method thereof

• US 6,937,604 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2002
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Yong-suk, Lee, Sang-seo
• Primary Examiner(s): Duong, Frank
• Application Number:
  US10/102,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20020105934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/315, 370/328, 370/338, 370352-356, 370/401, 370/410, 370465-467, 709/203, 709/227, 709/238
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/06 Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/12 Application layer protocols, e.g. WAP [Wireless Application Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A device for data communications between a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) terminal and a WAP server, and a data communication method thereof. The data communications device includes: a plurality of WAP terminals each having a protocol stack in which a Circuit Switch Data service (CSD) protocol layer is laid under a Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) layer and a Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP) layer, for generating WAP data which is service request data; a plurality of WAP servers each having a protocol stack in which a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer and an Internet Protocol (IP) layer are laid under a WTP layer and a WDP layer, for providing the WAP terminals with WAP server data according to the WAP data; and an interworking function (IWF) unit having a CSD protocol layer connected to the CSD protocol layers of each WAP terminal, and a TCP layer and an IP layer which are connected to the TCP and IP layers of each WAP server, for mapping the WAP terminals to the corresponding WAP servers, wherein each WAP terminal communicates with the IWF unit though a single Internet Protocol/Peer-to-Peer Protocol (IP/PPP) layer included in its own CSD protocol layer, and the IWF unit communicates through the Internet with each WAP server. Because there is no redundancy of IP/PPP protocol layers in the WAP terminal, overhead is considerably reduced. Also, the IWF unit is directly connected through the Internet to the WAP server, not through the PSTN and the ISP, so that connection time and costs can be reduced.

Claims

1. A device for data communications between a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) terminal and a WAP server, comprising:

a plurality of WAP terminals each having a protocol stack in which a Circuit Switch Data service (CSD) protocol layer is laid under a Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) layer and a Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP) layer, for generating WAP data which is service request data;

a non-WAP terminal for generating a common circuit data;

a plurality of WAP servers each having a protocol stack in which at least a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer and an Internet Protocol (IP) layer are laid under a WTP layer and a WDP layer, for providing the WAP terminals with WAP server data according to the WAP data;

an Internet server for providing the non-WAP terminal with Internet server data according to the common circuit data;

an Internet service provider (ISP) having a public switched telephone network (PSTN) circuit layer, for transferring the common circuit data received through a PSTN from the non-WAP terminal, to the Internet server; and

an interworking function (IWF) unit having a CSD protocol layer connected to the CSD protocol layers of each of the WAP terminals, and a TCP layer and an IP layer which are connected to the TCP and IP layers of each of the WAP servers, for performing interfacing between each of the WAP terminals and each of the WAP servers, and the non-WAP terminal and the ISP, wherein each of the WAP terminals communicates with the IWF unit through a single Internet Protocol/Peer-to-Peer Protocol (IP/PPP) layer included in its own CSD protocol layer, and the IWF unit communicates through the Internet with each of the WAP servers.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the IWF unit includes a mapping table used for mapping each of the WAP terminals to the corresponding WAP server, wherein identification numbers of each of the WAP terminals and destination IP addresses of each of the WAP servers are mapped to each other, or source IP addresses of each of the WAP terminals are mapped to the corresponding mapping table values.

3. A communication method of a data communications device including a plurality of WAP terminals each having a protocol stack in which a Circuit Switch Data service (CSD) protocol layer is laid under a Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) layer and a Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP) layer, a non-WAP terminal for generating a common circuit data, a plurality of WAP servers each having a protocol stack in which at least a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer and an Internet Protocol (IP) layer are laid under a WTP layer and a WDP layer, an Internet server for providing the non-WAP terminal with Internet server data according to the common circuit data, an Internet service provider (ISP) having a public switched telephone network (PSTN) circuit layer, for transferring the common circuit data received through a PSTN from the non-WAP terminal to the Internet server, an interworking function (IWF) unit having a CSD protocol layer connected to the CSD protocol layers of each WAP terminal, and a TCP layer and an IP layer which are connected to the TCP and IP layers of each WAP server, for data communications between each WAP terminal and each WAP server, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) determining whether data input to the IWF unit is WAP data or the common circuit data;

(b) transferring the WAP data through the Internet to the corresponding WAP server if the input data is determined to be the WAP data in the step (a) and transferring the common circuit data through the ISP to the Internet server if the input data is determined to be the common circuit data in the step (b);

(c) determining whether the data input to the IWF unit is WAP server data or the Internet server data; and

(d) transferring the WAP server data through the Internet to the corresponding WAP terminal if the input data is determined to be the WAP server data in the step (c), and transferring the Internet server data through the PSTN to the non-WAP terminal if the input data is determined to be the Internet server data in the step (c),

wherein each WAP terminal communicates with the IWF unit through a single Internet Protocol/Peer-to-Peer Protocol (IP/PPP) layer included in its own CSD protocol layer.

4. A computer usable medium having a computer readable program code unit embodied therein for communications transferred between a WAP terminal and a WAP server of a data communications device including a plurality of WAP terminals each having a protocol stack in which a CSD protocol layer is laid under a Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) layer and a WDP layer, a non-WAP terminal for generating a common circuit data, a plurality of WAP servers each having a protocol stack in which at least a TCP layer and an IP layer are laid under a WTP layer and a WDP layer, an Internet server for providing the non-WAP terminal with Internet server data according to the common circuit data, an ISP having a PSTN circuit layer, for transferring the common circuit data received through a PSTN from the non-WAP terminal, to the Internet server, an IWF unit having a CSD protocol layer connected to the CSD protocol layers of each of the WAP terminals, and a TCP layer and an IP layer which are connected to the TCP and IP layers of each of the WAP servers, wherein each of the WAP terminals communicates through a single IP/PPP protocol layer included in its own CSD protocol layer to the IWF unit, the computer readable program code means in the computer usable medium comprising:

first computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect determining whether data input to the IWF unit is WAP data or the common circuit data;

second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to effect transferring the WAP data through the Internet to a corresponding one of the WAP servers if the input data is determined as the WAP data and transferring the common circuit data through the ISP to the Internet server if the input data is determined to be the common circuit data;

third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to effect determining whether the data input to the IWF unit is WAP server data or the Internet server data; and

fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to effect transferring the WAP server data through the Internet to a corresponding one of the WAP terminals if the input data is determined to be the WAP server data, and transferring the Internet server data through the PSTN to the non-WAP terminal if the input data is determined to be the Internet server data.