A method for selecting a quality of service in a wireless communication system

ES 2 267 965 T3

DESCRIPTION

Method of selecting a quality of service in a wireless communication system.

The invention relates generally to a method for selecting a quality of service for a data transmission connection between a wireless terminal and a mobile communication network, at least one application being executed in said wireless terminal, the application being provided with an application execution environment, the application determining at least one parameter that affects the quality of service for said data transmission connection, examining and comparing the application execution environment the properties of the wireless terminal that affect the data transmission connection with at least one parameter that affects the quality of service determined by said application, in order to discern if any certain property of the wireless terminal restricts the quality of service of the data transmission connection with respect to at least any one of said at least one parameter. The invention also relates to a communication system comprising means for selecting a quality of service for a data transmission connection between a wireless terminal and a mobile communication network, the wireless terminal comprising means for executing at least one application , and means for determining at least one parameter that affects the quality of service for said data transmission connection in the application, the application providing an application execution environment, means for determining the properties of the wireless terminal that affect the data transmission connection and means for comparing said properties with at least one parameter that affects the quality of service determined by said application, in order to discern if any particular property of the wireless terminal restricts the quality of service of the data transmission connection with respect to, at least, to any one of said at least one parameter, said comparison means comprising the application execution environment corresponding to the application. Additionally, the invention relates to a wireless terminal to be used in a communication system, comprising means for selecting a quality of service for a data transmission connection between a wireless terminal and a mobile communication network, the wireless terminal comprising means to run at least one application and means to determine at least one a parameter that affects the quality of service for said application data transmission connection, the application being provided with an application execution environment, in which the application and the application execution environment can communicate with each other, means for determining the properties of the wireless terminal that affect the data transmission connection, and means for comparing said properties with, at least, a parameter that affects the quality of service determined by said application, to discern if any specific property of the wireless terminal restricts the quality of service of the data transmission connection with respect to, at least, any one of said, at least, a parameter, said comparison means comprising the application execution environment of the application.

In this description, the term "wireless terminal" refers to a device having means for carrying out wireless communications in a wireless communication network, as well as means for executing various applications carried out by means of software (application programs) in the wireless terminal. The term wireless communication system, such as a mobile communication system, refers generally to any communication system that makes it possible to establish a wireless data transmission connection between a wireless communication device and the fixed components of the system, when the user of the mobile communication device moves within the range of the system's coverage. A typical wireless communication system is a public land mobile network PLMN. Most of the mobile communication systems used at the time of filing this application belong to the second generation of such systems, of which a well-known example is the GSM system (Global System for Mobile Telecommunications. ). The invention preferably relates to the next generation, or third generation, of mobile communication systems. As examples, we will use the General Packet Radio Service or GPRS, which is a new service for a mobile communication network that is currently being developed, and is also in use, as well as the system third-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System UMTS, which is currently in its standardization stage.

The operating environment of the GPRS system comprises one or more sub-network service areas, which are combined to form a GPRS core network (Figure 1a). The subnets comprise various support nodes (SNs), of which the serving GPRS support nodes (SGSN) are used as examples in this description. The service GPRS support nodes are connected to the mobile communication network (normally, to a transmitter-receiver base station, through a connection unit) in such a way that they facilitate packet-switched services for wireless terminals through transmitter-receiver base stations ( cells). The mobile communication network takes care of packet-switched communications between the support node and the wireless terminal. The different subnets, in turn, can be connected to external data networks, such as a packet-switched data network (PSDN), using GPRS gateway support nodes (GGSN). Thus, the GPRS service enables packet data transmission between a wireless terminal and an external data network, in which certain components of the mobile communication network constitute an access network. Examples of applications that use packet data transmission include Internet telephone traffic, video conferencing, file transfer, and wWw (World Wide Web) and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browsing.

ES 2 267 965 T3

In third generation systems the terms carrier service and service are used. A carrier service is a type of telecommunication service that provides the function of transmitting signals between access points. In general, the bearer service corresponds to the old term of a traffic channel that defines, for example, the transfer rate of the data transmission and the quality of service (QoS) to be used in the system when the information is transmits between a wireless terminal and another component of the system. The carrier service between the wireless terminal and the base station is, for example, a radio-carrier service, and the carrier service between the radio network control unit and the core network is, for example, a service Iu carrier (interface UMTS carrier). In the UMTS system, the interface between the radio network control unit and the core network is called the Iu interface. In this connection, the service is provided by the mobile communication network to perform a task (tasks); for example, data services perform data transmission in the communication system, telephone services are related to telephone calls, multimedia, and so on. Thus, the service requires the transmission of data, such as a telephone call or the transmission of text messages, between the wireless terminal and the fixed components of the system. An important task is to control (initialize, maintain and terminate, according to needs) the bearer services, in such a way that each of the requested services can be assigned to mobile stations, without wasting the available bandwidth.

Quality of service determines, for example, how packet data units (PDUs) are processed in the mobile communication network during transmission. For example, the QoS levels defined for connection addresses are used to control the order of transmission by buffering (packet chains) and rejecting packets at support nodes and gateway support nodes, especially when two or more connections have packets to transmit simultaneously. The different QoS levels determine, for example, the different delays for packet transmission between the different ends of the connection, as well as different bit rates. Also, the number of rejected packet data units may vary on connections with different QoS levels.

It is possible to request a different QoS for each connection. For example, in the case of e-mail connections, a relatively long delay may be allowed for the transmission of messages. However, interactive applications, such as video conferencing, require a high transfer rate for packet transmission. In some applications, such as file transfer, it is important that packet-switched transmission is error-free, so in error situations, packet data units are retransmitted, if necessary.

In the case of the packet-switched communications service of the UMTS system, the definition of four different traffic classes has been proposed, with the intention of taking into account the different criteria for the different types of connection. A defined criterion for the first and second classes is that the transmission is carried out in real time, where the transmission must not have significant delays. However, in these classes, the precision of the data transfer is not such an important property. Correspondingly, data transmission not effected in real time is sufficient for the third and fourth traffic classes, but relatively accurate data transmission is required therein. An example of first-class communication in real time is the transmission of voice signals in a situation where one or more people are in communication with each other by wireless communication devices. An example of a situation where second-class real-time communication would be feasible is the transmission of a video signal for immediate viewing. Non-real-time third-class packet communication can be used, for example, for the use of database services, such as displaying Internet home pages, where relatively accurate data transmission at a rate Reasonable transfer rate is more important than real-time data transmission. In the system according to this example, for example, the transfer of e-mail messages and files can be classified according to the fourth category. Naturally, the number of traffic classes is not necessarily four, as mentioned here, but the invention can be applied to packet-switched communication systems including any number of traffic classes. The properties of the four traffic classes presented are briefly understood in Table 1.

ES 2 267 965 T3

TABLE 1

<td>Class</td><td>First class (class conversational): Real time, p. eg, telephone conversation. - guaranteed capacity - absence of acknowledgment of redbo</td><td>Second class (class of continuous flow): Real time, p. eg, video information - guaranteed capacity - possibility of acknowledgments Of receipt - buffering at the app</td><td>Third class (class interactive): - interactive method of best effort - Acknowledgment of receipt - Internet navigator, Telnet - control channel in real time</td><td>Fourth class (class of background): Transmission in seconds plane by best method effort - redbo acknowledgment - load in second e-message plane evil events calendar, etc.</td>

<td>Maximum rate data transfer</td><td> &lt;2048</td><td> &lt;2048</td><td>&lt;2048 - higher</td><td>&lt;2048 - higher</td>

<td>Transmission order</td><td>Otherwise</td><td>Otherwise</td><td>Otherwise</td><td>Otherwise</td>

<td>Maximum det size package (SDUJ</td><td>&lt;1500 or 1502</td><td>&lt;1500o 1502</td><td>&lt;1500 or 1502</td><td>&lt;1500 or 1502</td>

<td>Transmission of wrong packages (SDU)</td><td>SIZNo / -</td><td>Otherwise/-</td><td>Otherwise/-</td><td>Otherwise/-</td>

<td>Residual error rate binary</td><td> 5*10+ 10², 5*10+ 10+ 10«, 10+</td><td>5 * 1u², 10+ 5Ί0³, 10+ 10-», 10«,10-5.</td><td>4 * 10 + 10-s, ₆*₁₍p&gt;</td><td> 4*10+10+6*10«</td>

<td>Error rate packets (SDU)</td><td> 10², 7*10+ 10·³, 10+ 10³</td><td> 10+ 10-², 7ΊΟ³, 10+ KB, 10 «</td><td>10+ KB, 10 «</td><td> 10+ 10«, 10«</td>

<td>Transmission delay</td><td>100 ms Maximum value</td><td>250 ms Maximum value</td><td></td><td></td>

<td>Transfer rate guaranteed binary</td><td> &lt;2048</td><td> &lt;2048</td><td></td><td></td>

<td>Priority of processing det traffic</td><td></td><td></td><td> 1,2,3</td><td></td>

<td>Assignment priority</td><td> 1,2,3</td><td> 1,2,3</td><td> 1,2,3</td><td> 1,2,3</td>

Modern second and third generation wireless communication devices have much better data processing properties than older wireless communication devices. For example, they already have the possibility to connect to the Internet and use a navigation application on the wireless communication device, in order to retrieve information from the Internet, and in the future, it will be possible to establish multimedia calls, for example, to real-time video conferencing and the like. Consequently, in a later passage of this description, said wireless communication devices may be referred to as wireless terminals. In order to use different applications, said wireless terminals have a runtime environment for external applications, hereinafter referred to as the runtime environment. Such runtime environments are not exclusively provided by the manufacturer of the wireless terminal, but some third party manufacturers may provide such application runtime environments. To ensure compatibility of wireless terminals and external applications, a standard for the Mobile Application Execution Environment (MExE) is being developed. This invention is not limited to the standard relating to the mobile application execution environment, but can also be applied in relation to other suitable execution environments for wireless terminals.

The user of the wireless terminal can access various types of services through the mobile communication network by the wireless terminal. For example, a large number of service providers are connected to the Internet. They offer various services, such as database services, other information retrieval services, telephone applications, video applications, network games, etc. The user initiates a request for

ES 2 267 965 T3 service requesting a desired application through the user interface of the terminal. In the wireless terminal, the service request activates an execution environment, as well as the desired application. By means of the mobile communication network, the terminal establishes a connection with the Internet network or with another network in which the desired service is located.

The requirements of different applications can vary significantly. Some applications require fast communications between sender and recipient. These applications include, for example, the video and phone applications. Other applications may require data transmission as accurate as possible, but the binary transfer rate of the data transmission connection is less important. These applications include, for example, e-mail and database applications. Moreover, these applications can be used in various wireless communication devices with different properties. Thus, situations may arise in which the properties of the wireless communication device do not correspond, in all respects, with the properties of the application, since the wireless communication device may not necessarily be able to carry out the quality of service required for the application. In prior art solutions, this means that an unnecessarily high quality of service is requested from the connection, which, for example, causes the connection to use an unnecessarily large data transmission capacity, or which can reduce the number and / or the data transmission capacity of other simultaneous connections. Furthermore, these limitations on the properties of the wireless terminal can cause the application for which a certain quality of service has been requested to stop working properly when the wireless terminal is unable to cope with the QoS requirements of the application. In this situation, the application cannot use the connection to be established, so the mere establishment of the connection unnecessarily consumes the data transmission capacity of the mobile communication network.

Some wireless terminals are connected to networks that use more than one carrier service. The network operator and / or the user may wish to program the wireless terminal to use a certain carrier service to optimize a specific function, such as network load, response times, etc. Wireless communication networks can have various bearer services to cope with various QoS demands. Currently, the selection of the carrier service is usually made according to the application used. The user or the network operator can classify the applications based on their use of the bearer services.

In current systems, the wireless terminal and the mobile communication network negotiate to select the bearer service with which the QoS requirements can be met. For example, in the system according to the UMTS standard, the wireless terminal can freely request a desired quality of service, where the UMTS mobile communication network examines whether it can provide the quality of service required by the wireless terminal. If the application to be executed on the wireless terminal contains QoS requirements, the wireless terminal transmits those QoS requirements, as such, to the mobile communication network, to select the bearer service. However, if the application does not transmit the QoS requirements to the wireless terminal, a default QoS profile stored in the network is normally used (usually in the subscriber location register, HLR), in which certain properties have been predetermined. for connection. If the properties of the wireless terminal do not comply in all respects with the quality of service required for the application, the performance of the application will probably not be adequate. Suppose the application is a video application, where the resolution of the video image is relatively high, such as 800 x 640 pixels. If the user wants to run this video application on a wireless terminal with connection means through a circuit-switched communication connection with a high transfer rate (HSCSD bearer service), and the wireless terminal is locally coupled to a PC laptop with a screen resolution of at least 800 x 600 pixels, the application will be able to run at this default resolution. If the user has only one wireless terminal that includes a screen with a lower resolution, for example 640 x 480, the application will continue trying to request a carrier service for the maximum resolution (800 x 640), even though a service would be sufficient. Carrier for the lower resolution (640 x 480).

Keller's document “UMTS A Middleware Architecture and Mobile API Approach” describes a mobile middleware system called the Mobile Application Support Environment (MASE). An application programming interface (API) has been defined that allows applications to access MASE components. MASE allows access to the UMTS adaptation layer (UAL). One concept of MASE is adaptation. According to D1, this means that profile information and monitored QoS are used by MASE communication tools to tailor their use to the current QoS situation and user requirements. This adaptation is transparent to the application. In the MASE model there is a System Adaptability Manager (SAM) for profile management, multimedia conversion and QoS transactions. The SAM can choose between the different networks available depending on the available bandwidth, the bandwidth guarantees and the cost. The SAM can also compress, convert, transcode or shrink multimedia objects prior to transmission. The terminal characteristics of the mobile device are stored in a terminal profile, and the network characteristics of the current mobile device connections are stored in the network profile. User-specific preferences are stored in a user profile.

The SAM is located in the third layer, below the mobile application support programming interface, and obviously, below the application layer. The HTTP clients are located in the mobile terminal. HTTP clients are Java or similar mini-applications built into a web browser. HTTP clients request the transmission of multimedia objects to the mobile terminal. The architecture communications manager

ES 2 267 965 T3

MASE establishes a connection to the network. It calls the SAM to carry out the transaction, that is, to carry out the QoS negotiation with the network.

WO 00/24221 A1 describes coverage detection and indication in multimedia radiocommunication systems. The fact that a service is available to be used by a mobile station in a radio communication system is checked by determining a quality value that represents the transmission power capacity of the mobile station, which is greater than an amount of transmission power that will be consumed by known losses for service, and determining whether the service is available for use by the mobile station from a comparison between the quality value and a predetermined number.

EP-A-1045600 A1 describes a mobile station and a memory card for the mobile station. The memory card is, for example, a SIM card of the GSM system. The memory card can be used to store QoS parameters for different types of communication needs such as e-mail or video, and for different applications. It is also possible for the user to store QoS profiles on the memory card for different purposes. The mobile station can use the stored profiles when negotiating with a mobile communication network a QoS profile for data communication. It is also possible to store alternative sets of QoS profiles for a specific situation.

Therefore, one of the objectives of the present invention is to present a method and a system for selecting a quality of service for a connection between a wireless terminal and a wireless communication network in such a way that the properties of the wireless terminal are obtained. taken into account in the selection of the quality of service in such a way that the selected quality of service is suitable for the properties of the wireless terminal.

The objects of the invention are achieved by taking into account the requirements of the terminal already in use when establishing a connection. The method according to the present invention is characterized by what is presented in the characterization part of claim 1 attached. The communication system according to the present invention is characterized by what is presented in the characterization part of claim 8 attached. The wireless terminal according to the present invention is characterized by what is presented in the characterization part of attached claim 13.

The present invention offers considerable advantages when compared to prior art systems and methods. By the method of the invention, it is possible to select a bearer service that is optimal for the wireless terminal and in which the wireless terminal supports the QoS requirements. In this way, the network load can be optimized, network services can be provided to as many users as possible and also the execution of the application is better adapted to the requirements according to the properties of the wireless terminal to be used if the The application can be tailored to meet various levels of QoS. On the other hand, the communication network is not unnecessarily loaded in a situation where the application cannot be executed if the wireless terminal does not support the QoS requirements set by the application.

In the following paragraphs the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the attached figures, in which:

Figure 1a shows a system in which the method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention can be applied.

Figure 1b shows another system in which the method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention can be applied.

Figure 2 shows the method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention by means of a simplified flow chart.

Figure 3 shows examples of applications that can be used in a wireless terminal according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 shows in a main diagram the connection between a QoS-related runtime environment and applications, and

Figure 5 shows a wireless terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in a reduced block diagram.

In the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a UMTS type mobile communication system will be used as an example; however it will be clear to anyone skilled in the art that the invention is not limited exclusively to this system, but can also be applied in other communication systems in which it is possible to determine various levels of QoS for communication.

Figure 1b shows a part of the UMTS system comprising a wireless terminal MT1, a radio access node 5 (RAN) that includes a base station 2 (BS), and a radio network controller 3 (RNC) that controls base station 2 and routes the connections between base station 2 and the rest of the system, a wireless mobile switching center 4 (WMSC) and a packet data access node 5 (PDAN) as possibilities

ES 2 267 965 T3 complementary routing of the radio network controller 3. The UMTS system according to figure 1b also comprises for example a core network 6 and a packet data gateway 8 (PDG) with other packet networks such as the Internet Protocol (IP) network 7, in which the wireless terminal can communicate, for example, with a server 10 connected to the IP network. Furthermore, figure 1b shows a circuit-switched gateway 9 (Gateway of the mobile services switching center, GWMSC) to connect, for example, to a second mobile communication network NW2, and a subscriber location register 11 (HLR) , used for example to save the data of the subscriber's access contract.

Additionally, figure 5 shows in a reduced block diagram a wireless mobile terminal MT1 conforming to a preferred embodiment of the invention, that this example is a communication device comprising data processing functions and mobile station functions, such as like the Nokia 9210 Communicator. The wireless terminal MT1 comprises, for example, one or more processors CPU, DSP, memory means MEM, the subscriber identification module UMTS (USIM) or the corresponding means for identification of the subscriber and an RF radio component for communications with base station 2. The processor CPU can be integrated, for example, in an application-specific integrated circuit 12 (ASIC), with which it is possible to carry out a large number of the logic functions of the wireless terminal MT1. The memory means preferably comprise a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM) and at least a part of the memory of the subscriber identification module USIM. The wireless terminal MT1 also comprises one or more user interfaces that preferably comprise a keyboard 13, 14, a display device 15, 16 and audio means, such as a microphone 17, a speaker 18 and a codec 19.

In figure 1b, it is assumed that the functions related to call management (CM) are carried out in the wireless terminal MT1, as well as in the wireless mobile switching center 4 and in the packet data access node 5 These call management functions provide the means for establishing, maintaining and ending a call. Consequently, the wireless terminal MT1 and the wireless mobile switching center 4 or the packet data access node 5 exchange call signaling messages to establish, hold and end a call. The functions of carrier management (BM) and radio resource management (RM) are carried out in the wireless terminal MT1 and in the radio network controller 3. The bearer management functions are used to select for example one or more logical channels depending on the properties of the bearer service selected for communication between the wireless terminal MT1 and the base station 2, in order to provide a quality of service of agreement with the carrier service. The radio resource management functions are used, for example, to select the radio channel for radio communications between the wireless terminal MT1 and the base station 2.

The packet data transmission connection between the wireless terminal MT1 and the IP network 7 can be established from the packet data access node 5 (PDAN) through the core packet data network 6 and the gateway. packet data 8 (PDG). It is possible to establish a circuit-switched data transmission connection between the wireless terminal MT1 and the mobile communication network through the radio access node 1, the wireless mobile switching center 4 and the gateway to the mobile services switching center 9 (GWMSC). This gateway to the mobile services switching center 9 comprises means for establishing a connection between the mobile communication network and the second network NW2, such as GSM, PSTN or ISDN.

In the following paragraphs the method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the diagrams of Figures 2 and 4.

First of all, the user of the wireless terminal MT1 initiates an application 301, 302, 303 on the wireless terminal MT1, for example via the user interface of said wireless terminal MT1. The application 301, 302, 303 can possibly be started remotely. The application is, for example, a game, a multimedia application, a listening application for a radio channel, an application for viewing documents or a browser application, such as a WWW browser, on the web. The application program code can be preloaded, for example from a server 10 connected to the IP network and stored in the memory means MEM of the wireless terminal. The wireless terminal MT1 has an execution environment 403. It is activated by a service request transmitted by the application. The function of the execution environment 403 of the wireless terminal consists, for example, in determining the requirements related to the quality of service of the application and in comparing them with the properties 401 of the wireless terminal MT1. This information includes, for example, available memory space, display properties such as resolution, modem properties, and terminal rating. It is also important to know whether the wireless terminal MT1 comprises means for transmitting packet-switched data and / or means for transmitting circuit-switched data. Under certain conditions, it is possible to collect information about the version, manufacturer and model. At least a part of this information of the wireless terminal is preferably stored in the memory means MEM, for example in the read-only memory ROM or in the subscriber identification module UMTS USIM. This terminal information is read from the memory means MEM. Information about such properties of the wireless terminal MT1 that can affect the quality of service and that can be used between the wireless terminal and the mobile communication network, is determined, for example, when the wireless terminal is turned on. An alternative is that the manufacturer of the wireless terminal MT1 has stored this information in memory during the manufacturing stage of the device. Another alternative is for the runtime environment to determine the information at the stage where it is necessary to initialize the establishment of a connection with a given QoS level.

ES 2 267 965 T3

Information about the terminal can also be stored in the network and can be retrieved for example based on the IMEI international mobile equipment identification code of the wireless terminal. To retrieve the information regarding the properties of the terminal from the network, the execution environment 403 generates a query regarding the properties of the terminal and said query is transmitted and processed in the mobile communication network. In the network, the query is processed, for example, in the wireless mobile switching center 4 and the data is collected. Subsequently, a network response message containing the requested information is generated, and this network response message is transmitted to the wireless terminal MT1.

The execution of the execution environment 403 and the requested application are controlled by the wireless terminal CPU processor. It is also possible that the wireless terminal includes more than one CPU processor but in the following paragraphs it will be assumed that there is only one CPU processor to run the program.

From the user-initiated application, its QoS requirements are entered into the 403 runtime environment. These application QoS requirements can include, for example, information about delay, bit rate, bit error rate, etc. ., which are acceptable to the application, as well as the traffic class, such as the UMTS carrier traffic class. The service requirements of the application may also include the expected capacity requirements, ie the number of bits to be transmitted. In different embodiments, the QoS requirements of the application may vary from those mentioned above.

Figure 3 shows, in a simplified form, what kind of applications can be used in connection with the wireless terminal. The applications may be applications produced by the manufacturer of the wireless terminal MT1. In these types of applications, the manufacturer may have taken into account the properties of the wireless terminal MT1 during the manufacturing and / or installation stage, where the application can take these properties into account when requesting a quality of service. This type of application is shown in Figure 3 by block 301. However, the application may be intended for several different types of wireless terminals or it may be an application 302 provided by a third party. In this case, during the application manufacturing stage, it is not necessarily known in which type of wireless terminal the application will be used. Another alternative is that the wireless terminal is connected to a separate computer, such as a laptop PC, on which the applications 303 are executed. Thus, the application does not necessarily have information regarding the properties of the wireless terminal MT1, whereby the quality of service required by the application may differ from the properties of the wireless terminal MT1 even to a significant degree.

During the stage in which the application needs to establish a connection with a communication network with a specific level of QoS, the corresponding information is transmitted by the application to the execution environment 403 (block 201 of figure 2). The application execution environment checks the properties of the wireless terminal MT1 from memory (block 202) and compares them with the QoS parameters required by the application (blocks 203, 204). If the wireless terminal MT1 carries out all the QoS requirements, it is possible to start operations to establish a connection with the mobile communication network (blocks 205, 210). The operations necessary to establish the connection in the wireless terminal MT1 are preferably carried out by software 404 of a lower level, with which the execution environment 403 can communicate. Information regarding the required quality of service is transmitted in the connection request. The mobile communication network examines whether the mobile communication network is capable of providing the required quality of service for the connection at that time. If possible, the bearer service corresponding to the quality of service required for the connection is selected. However, if the mobile communication network cannot provide the required quality of service, it is possible to negotiate the use of a connection conforming to another quality of service or to cancel the establishment of a connection. This option is preferably adopted in the wireless terminal MT1. The stages of establishing a connection to select a specific quality of service may vary in different mobile communication networks and are known in the prior art to any person skilled in the art, so a more detailed explanation is not necessary in this context. of this stage.

In a method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the execution environment 403 notifies the application, after said comparison step, if the wireless terminal MT1 cannot implement all the QoS parameters requested by the application (block 206). Preferably, the runtime environment 403 also transmits information about the properties of the wireless terminal to the application. In this way, the application can examine whether it is possible to change some of the QoS parameters to ones that correspond to the properties of the wireless terminal and with which the application can operate (block 207). If this is possible, a new connection request is made using these modified QoS requirements (block 208). Subsequently, the execution environment examines the modified QoS requirements, which in this situation should conform to the properties of the wireless terminal, and the connection can be established if the mobile communication network can provide a connection that conforms to the required quality of service. However, if the application cannot be executed with said QoS parameters that correspond to the properties of the wireless terminal, then the application can be terminated (block 209). Thus, the connection is not established, whereby the mobile communication network is not unnecessarily burdened with the connection establishment signaling. If necessary, the user of the wireless terminal is notified of the completion of the application.

In a method according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the execution environment 403 does not notify the application, after said comparison step, if the wireless terminal MT1 cannot implement all the QoS parameters requested by the application (block 206) . The runtime environment 403 can then examine whether

ES 2 267 965 T3 it is possible to change a part of the QoS parameters for others that correspond to the properties of the wireless terminal and with which the application can operate. If possible, a new connection request is made using these modified QoS requirements. Subsequently, the execution environment examines the modified QoS requirements, which in this situation should conform to the properties of the wireless terminal, and the connection can be established if the mobile communication network can provide a connection that conforms to the required quality of service.

In some MT1 wireless terminals, it is advantageously possible to run more than one application simultaneously. A single application can also maintain more than one network connection simultaneously. For all applications or unique connections, different parameters may be in use Subsequently, the execution environment examines the modified QoS requirements, which in this situation should be adjusted to the properties of the wireless terminal, the connection can be established if the mobile communication network can provide a connection that meets the required quality of service. In such a case, when establishing a new connection in the wireless terminal MT1, the QoS levels of all active connections are preferably taken into account before establishing a new connection. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the following steps are carried out. The application transmits information regarding the need to establish a connection and the desired quality of service for the connection to the execution environment 403. Subsequently, the application execution environment 403 checks how many resources of the wireless terminal MT1 are being used simultaneously by other active connections. Based on this check, runtime environment 403 examines whether the wireless terminal has enough available resources for the new connection to satisfy the QoS requirements. If the execution environment 403 determines that the required quality of service can be achieved taking into account the resources of the wireless terminal MT1, it is possible to initiate the connection establishment signaling corresponding to a new connection with the mobile communication network. In other cases, it is possible to try to make the connection by changing a parameter that affects the quality of service or to cancel the connection establishment. Also in this embodiment, the execution environment 403 can negotiate with the application if it is possible, taking into account the application, to modify the QoS parameters.

The user may also have configured their own QoS requirements. The user can, for example, determine a minimum binary transfer rate for the connection, a maximum price for the connection (eg, maximum packet-specific price) and / or other QoS parameters. Likewise, the mobile communication network operator may have determined some restrictions for the user in connections made with possible QoS levels. For example, the operator can offer users access contracts of different prices, where, for example, by paying a higher monthly fee, the user can access better QoS parameters. In this way, the execution environment of the application 403 can also take into account these user parameters when establishing a connection, or they can be taken into account during the connection establishment signaling between the mobile communication network and the wireless terminal MT1. . In this way, the connection establishment can be canceled or the connection established with QoS parameters different from those originally requested by the application, even when the properties of the wireless terminal MT1 correspond to the quality of service required by the application.

It is also possible that the application offers more than one alternative for one or more, or even for all QoS parameters.

The most important parameters affecting the quality of service comprise the parameters related to the binary transfer rate, such as the maximum binary transfer rate and the guaranteed binary transfer rate. This is due for example to the fact that in the properties of the wireless terminals MT1, the bit rate can be very different in different devices. If the wireless terminal MT1 cannot transmit and receive information faster than at a given bit rate, it is useless to try to establish a connection in which the requested bit rate is higher than the bit rate supported by the terminal. wireless. By means of the method of the invention, this type of situation can be taken into account, as well as the fact that the user can use different wireless terminals MT1.

It is possible that, for any reason, a change in the quality of service is required during data transmission. For example, the traffic situation in the mobile communication network may vary, which may require changes in some bearer services. It is also possible that the wireless terminal MT1 moves further away from the base station, which can affect the quality of the radio signal. Thus, for example, it might be necessary to reduce the binary transfer rate. In this situation, the network informs the wireless terminal MT1 about the change in conditions, transmitting, for example, a network message of change of conditions. Similarly, in this situation, the method of the invention can be applied by comparing the new QoS requirement with the properties of the wireless terminal MT and performing the verification steps described above to determine if the properties of the wireless terminal correspond to the new quality of service. and if the application can continue to run with these new QoS parameters.

It may also be necessary to re-negotiate the quality of service in a situation where the user of the wireless terminal MT1 moves to the coverage radius of another mobile communication network operator (roaming). Thus, there may be restrictions on the available QoS levels. If such restrictions have been set and the previous quality of service cannot be maintained in the new mobile communication network, the mobile communication network should inform the wireless terminal MT1 about this new situation, using, for example, a menu.

ES 2 267 965 T3 change of conditions network card. Thus, the wireless terminal MT1 can accept the new quality of service and perhaps try to negotiate again to obtain a better quality of service or interrupt the execution of the application.

This mechanism that has just been described can also be used in a situation where the user of the wireless terminal MT1 moves within the coverage area of ​​the same operator of the mobile communication network, but within the range of a different subnet that has services. different carriers.

Also, there may be other situations in which a negotiation over the bearer services is carried out again. For example, the application may require a higher bit rate or less delay.

It will be apparent to any person skilled in the art that the above-mentioned steps to be followed in the mobile communication network can be carried out as processes or programs in the processor CPU, DSP of the wireless terminal MT1. Similarly, the steps to be followed in the wireless mobile switching center can be carried out as processes or programs in a processing means (not shown) of the wireless mobile switching center 4.

In the method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, one or more default QoS profiles are stored in the wireless terminal MT1. Said default profile preferably contains all or a majority of the parameters that affect the quality of service. Thus, in a situation in which the application determines only a part of the parameters that affect the quality of service for the execution environment 403, such as the traffic class and / or the guaranteed binary transfer rate, runtime environment 403 examines these default profiles to find which one best fits the parameters determined by the application. In this way, the execution environment 403, during the connection establishment signaling, can transmit to the mobile communication network all the parameters collected in this default profile, to select the bearer service. Said default profiles can be stored, for example, one for each class of traffic, where in case the QoS definition of the application contains information related to the class of traffic, this default profile is preferably selected. If, for example, several default profiles relating to a traffic class have been stored, the selection can be carried out by comparing the other parameters as well, such as the bit rate.

The above-mentioned default profiles can be stored, for example, in the memory MEM and / or on the USIM card of the wireless terminal MT1. The storage can be done, for example, by the manufacturer of the wireless terminal, the operator of the mobile communication network or even the user of the wireless terminal. The operator can store profiles by default, for example on the USIM card, when the user enters into a subscriber contract. Likewise, in some systems, configuration through waves is also possible. However, the properties of the wireless terminal MT1 must be taken into account in these default profile definitions, so that the parameter values ​​of the default profile are not greater than the properties of the wireless terminal MT1.

The invention is not limited exclusively to the embodiments presented above, but can be modified within the scope of the appended claims.