Voice channel control of wireless packet data communications

Technical field The present invention relates to data transmission via wireless telecommunication networks, and in particular to the use of a voice channel to start a network initiated data transmission session, e.g. an IP session.

Background of the invention [0002] Wireless data services are known in the current state of the art and they are of course still being developed. An example of such services may be SMS (sending short text messages) as well as other services based on control channels in the SS7 standard. They can be used, for example, to send text messages. They do not affect voice channels, but often provide very limited bandwidth, so the amount of data transferred is rather limited. [0003] The WAP specification (wireless application protocol) and corresponding software provide some improvement in services. They can, for example, be implemented in such a way as to provide the possibility of limited access to the Internet using a mobile device (the term "portable device" used in this description generally refers to all devices having wireless communication functions, such as a mobile phone, device PDA type, portable personal computer, PDA, motor vehicle, etc.). However, WAP services require WAP to be supported by a mobile device, and WAP must also be supported by a wireless telecommunications network. Therefore, to provide WAP services via a wireless transmission medium, you must activate and maintain WAP gateways located at the edge of the network. Some mobile devices, networks and geographical areas may not support WAP services, so the ability to use these services for data transfer may not be available.

[0004] One approach to wireless data transfer that does not require changes to the infrastructure of a wireless network, although it requires the specific implementation of both session endpoints, is to use "in-band" data transfer. As the name implies, it is a technology for transmitting data in the voice channel, using carefully selected and properly synchronized tone signals of a certain frequency (in the wireless data transmission services the voice channel is usually not used at all). Intra-band data transfer or data transfer using a voice channel does not interrupt the ongoing conversation or the intervals are small. Details of in-band signaling are described in US Patent Nos. 6,144336; 6690681 and 6493338, which are fully incorporated herein by reference. These types of voice channel data transfer have two main advantages: the wireless voice channel is reliable, and the technology works invisibly to the user in various networks and transmission media within a given country and abroad. The data is simply transmitted using the voice service in a way invisible to the user, because it "resembles" the voice. In-band signaling, however, provides very low bandwidth, reaching about 400 bps. This means that it is almost useless when sending large amounts of data.

[0005] The availability of higher-bandwidth wireless data services is increasing rapidly worldwide. These services operate using dedicated data transmission channels, not voice channels. New specifications of the third generation wireless data transfer technology, the so-called "3G" standard, are not currently widely implemented, however, they provide the following packet data rates according to IMT-2000 standards:

• 2 Mbps in a stationary environment • 384 Mbps for a pedestrian (i.e. slow-moving mobile device • 144 kbps for moving vehicles [0006] There is, however, a problem with almost all wireless data services, namely the difficulty of accessing these services in network applications "sending queries". Sending queries (or "downloading data") here refers to contacting the mobile device to download or obtain digital data that is required by the requesting application ("requesting application" is usually a software application). Preferably, the authenticated requesting application should be able to download data from remote mobile devices and download data without manual intervention by a user in a remote location. In other words, the download process should be fully automated, although for some applications this process is preferably initiated by the user connecting to the requesting application.

[0007] By way of illustration, a wireless automatic warehouse monitoring system may check the condition of devices, for example trucks or tanks, to obtain information regarding their current location, fuel supply, operator's identifier etc. A connection that provides packet data transfer from a mobile device, such as an IP connection, cannot be initiated by the network (this is called network initiation) using technology known in the art because the mobile device does not have a predetermined IP address. . The IP address is dynamically assigned to the mobile device only when the network connects to the IP network. Therefore, in the state of the art technologies, the user application cannot send a request to the mobile device to establish a packet data session.

[0008] An addressing system for portable GPRS terminals using the IP protocol has been proposed, the purpose of which is to allow establishing a TCP / IP connection without using a telephone conversation. This proposal states that there are not enough IP addresses available (in the current IPv4 standard) to assign an address to each wireless terminal. This proposal suggests a combination of public addresses (registered in public routing tables) and private addresses that are not intended for routing on the public Internet. Private addresses (like IP addresses) should only be used in the GPRS operator's own network. This requires the use of network address translation (NAT) and is generally impractical. Even if such a scheme is implemented, this does not solve the problem that the address of the portable (or wireless) terminal is unknown and cannot be publicly discovered in a convenient way.

[0009] There is still a need for a convenient and effective method of sending queries to a remote mobile device, i.e. sending a request to establish a packet data transmission session to send or download data over a wireless network without changing the infrastructure of the wireless transmission medium and in a manner compatible with existing networks and protocols packet data transmission, for example with IP protocol.

WO 03/034235 (Infocus Corporation) discloses a conference data transmission system for live voice and data transmission between participants located in geographically distant locations. Each of the conference locations is equipped with a telephone receiver and a conference data transfer device. In order to establish a data transmission session between local and remote locations, the user manually starts the system using a key located on one of the conference data transfer devices. The key preferably has the form of a button that can be manually activated by the user. Manually pressing the key changes the status of the switch on the conference data transfer device, which initiates the procedure of negotiating access.

US 2003/088619 describes another conference system that allows participants to talk as well as transfer multimedia data between stations supporting packet data transmission over a network. As for participants using stations connected to the packet data network, when the station joins the conference call, the station's software sends its own IP address to the conference host via a telephone connection. The main conference device responds by sending its own IP address via a voice connection, so that it is possible to negotiate and establish additional voice connections. Other stations participating in the connection may also receive and decode the message sent by the first user containing the IP address.

CA-A1-2242495 discloses performing data transmission sessions between network nodes by using a special central telephone server that manages the sending of IP addresses to the nodes via the telephone network, making it possible to use data transmission sessions. The central telephone server uses the suspending class (SRC) service to send messages to the appropriate nodes in the FSK format to support the relevant nodes.

US 2004/0209614 discloses a method of exchanging addresses used in broadband connections using short SMS text messages. The cellular network (MSC) detects the broadband connection request flag sent by the first cellular subscriber and generates a short SMS containing information about the need to send an IP address to the called device. Therefore, the IP address is not sent via voice channel and network adaptation is required, which distinguishes this method from the solution invisible to the user.

Summary [0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the problem associated with the lack of a predetermined mobile device IP address is solved by using an in-band signaling connection or a voice channel implemented with packet data services. A voice connection is established between the requesting application and the remote mobile device. The application that sends the request sends a short message containing a query in the voice channel, which is done using in-band digital data transmission ("IBS"). The short request message includes information that identifies (directly or indirectly) the target resource, such as a URL or IP address. The mobile device responds by initiating a wireless packet data transmission session where the indicated destination resource can be, for example, a server system.

[0011] This new approach of using signaling using a voice channel solves the problem of assigning an IP address (a simple address

IP or mobile IP address in the IPv4 and IPv6 protocols) to the mobile device, which is done in a quick and more efficient way.

[0012] The existing mobile telephony infrastructure does not allow mobile devices to pre-register IP addresses in the cellular data network, and the IP address must be assigned to the mobile device by the cellular data network when the mobile device initiates the request to establish a data session using Simple IP protocol or the mobile device must initiate the IP determination process using the mobile IP protocol. In any case, the routing location of the mobile device's IP address is not known in the cellular data network until the mobile device initiates a data session.

[0013] The present invention can be used in the backbone of any cellular network enabling data transmission to initiate a data transfer session, which is called a network initiated data transfer session (NIDS) and will be described below:

[0014] According to one aspect of the invention, intra-band signaling methods and apparatus are used to "force" send a request to a mobile unit or "node". This is called a mobile device (MT) request (the mobile device obviously supports in-band signaling, which basically means it can send and receive digital data over a wireless voice channel).

[0015] To send data to a specific (or default) destination, the mobile receiving unit (mobile node) detects and launches the mobile device (or other system connected to the mobile device) to initiate a data session in the cellular network using an available channel data transfer, not the voice channel.

[0016] If a request is sent by a mobile device using signaling in a voice channel, the network may at any time initiate a data transmission session between the mobile device and any network or Internet object, which is made using the voice channel of the mobile network or any other channel radio frequency audio that supports voice channel signaling. Due to the real-time operation and quality of in-band services (implemented via voice channel), it is possible to achieve significant time savings and achieve a higher level of reliability compared to any other solutions of data transmission session initiated by the network. The advantages are extremely important from the point of view of security applications.

[0017] The present invention is furthermore independent of any digital cellular technology and is not associated with any voice, data or message services in individual cellular networks, which is also unique and advantageous due to providing greater coverage possibilities for cellular networks compared to existing solutions.

[0018] Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, which has been made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0019] Fig. 1 is a simplified high level diagram illustrating the operation of representative embodiments of the invention.

[0020] Fig. 2 is a messaging diagram illustrating the basic interactions between nodes used in an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention [0021] The following description is made with reference to drawings in which similar elements are indicated by analogous reference numbers. For the sake of clarity, the first digit of the reference number indicates the number of the drawing in which the corresponding element was used for the first time.

[0022] The following description includes some specific programming details, software modules, choices made by the user, network transactions, database queries, database structures etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be implemented by omitting one or more of these details, as well as by using other methods, components, materials, etc.

[0023] In some cases, structures, materials or operations well known in the art are not detailed or described in order to avoid overriding aspects of the present invention. The described features, structures and properties may further be combined with each other in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments of the invention.

[0024] Fig. 1 is a simplified high level diagram illustrating some embodiments of the methodology used in the present invention. The program application sending the request shown in Fig. 1 can be started using the appropriate computer 100. The application sending the request or the query can be started if necessary by the user, it is also possible to program it to run automatically according to a specified schedule. The computer system 100 is connected to a telephone line, which may include a conventional telephone 102, and in any case is connected via 104 to a public switched PSTN 106 telephone network. This connection may, for example, be in the form of a conventional landline telephone line that is commonly used for make voice calls. It can also be part of a larger company system, which may include a PBX (not shown) or a wireless telecommunications connection.

[0025] Wireless telecommunications network 108 is connected to the public switched telephone network PSTN 106 to provide support for wireless connections, the details of such a solution being well known in the art. Wireless network 108 includes a number of base stations equipped with wireless antennas and transceivers, these stations are commonly referred to as 110 cellular masts. The transceivers are mounted on top of the 110 cellular telephony mast, providing two-way wireless connectivity to wireless portable devices such as 112 cell phone or PDA 114 device. Base station antennas do not generally need to be mounted on the mast. They are also commonly attached to buildings, especially in urban areas.

[0026] In the present invention, the request sending application launched using the computer 100 initiates a voice telephone connection with a remote mobile device, for example a mobile telephone 112, the connection being effected via a public switched PSTN telephone network or a wireless network. The connection established by the requesting application does not have to use the public switched PSTN telephone cabling, but can itself be a wireless telephone connection. The requesting system 100 may also have access to Internet 122, which is usually provided by the ISP 124. The connection to the ISP can take any form, for example a cable network known in the art or a public switched PSTN telephone network can be used for this purpose.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of sending queries to a wireless device is provided that operates as follows. The requesting system 100 first initiates a voice connection to the remote wireless station. Of course, this requires the phone number of this device to be known. Other types of mobile devices, for example a PDA 114 device or even a motor vehicle 116, may be equipped with a device configured to work with a wireless network in the same way as a mobile phone, although this device may not actually have a microphone or a speaker. For example, such devices may be configured to automatically receive a wireless connection and provide control channel signaling to emulate the reception of a call by a mobile phone. After establishing a voice connection between the requesting application 100 and the remote wireless device 112, the requesting application 100 sends the digital message containing the request to the remote wireless terminal, which is made via the wireless voice channel in which the voice connection has been established. In other words, the request message is sent "in-band" using audio signals that allow it to be transmitted freely via a voice channel.

[0028] The request message preferably contains information identifying the target resource. A remote device, e.g. device 112, 114, implements a device or software that responds to a digital message containing the request, which is accomplished by initiating a packet data transmission session with the target resource indicated in the message containing the request. By "packet data transmission session" is meant a data transfer session that uses one or more data transmission services provided by a wireless transmission medium as distinct from voice services.

[0029] The target resource may be in the form of the requesting system 100 alone, but this is not a limitation of the invention. In other words, it is possible to instruct the wireless terminal 112 to initiate a packet data session back to the requesting system. This session includes establishing a connection 120 from the wireless network infrastructure to the Internet 122 and thus also to the system 100 requesting via the Internet service provider 124. As noted, this process can be automated by implementing the corresponding software in the requesting system 100 and the wireless device 112, so that the process can take place without the user performing any actions on either side of the packet data transmission session.

[0030] The target resource may be identified in the request message using a predetermined identifier, for example a simple name consisting of alphanumeric characters or a code. The wireless terminal software can search the memory to determine the corresponding URL or IP. Alternatively, the URL or IP may be included in the request message itself.

[0031] The target resource need not be a request system 100. In one alternative embodiment of the invention, it may be a server 130 connected to the Internet via an Internet service provider and configured to perform data retrieval using standard packet data transmission session protocols, e.g., an Internet protocol. The target resource can be in the form of a network server that is properly configured to work with a mobile device.

[0032] In other embodiments, the information contained in the request message may include various data delivery parameters, in addition to identifying the target resource. The data delivery parameters may include, for example, the preferred packet data service, the packet data rate and / or a priority parameter, but this is not a limitation of the invention. These parameters can be obtained from the message by the wireless terminal software that can initiate a packet data session in response in accordance with these parameters. For a relatively small priority parameter, the application software may, for example, choose a data transmission service or time of day that initiates a packet data transmission session that provides less bandwidth, but involves lower costs.

[0033] Referring to Fig. 1, a tanker truck 116 is merely an example of a wide range of mobile components that include, inter alia, motor vehicle components that can utilize the present invention, provided they are equipped with the wireless device described above. In fig. 1 Also shown is the second mast 136 wireless base station, which is intended to illustrate the fact that a packet data transmission session does not have to be using the same base station, or even using the same wireless transmission medium that was used to send via the voice channel of the message containing the request. The requested packet data session can be implemented via a second wireless network 138, which is also connected to the Internet via 140. Also in this case, the packet data session can be established with any target resource, including the requesting application 100 or a separate server 130, but this is not a limitation of the invention. [0034] In other embodiments of the invention, a user or operator of a computer 150 having access to the Internet may send queries to one or more remote wireless devices requesting data to be transmitted. For example, a user who is in a public security institution, such as the emergency call point 911, can access a network server (not shown) having telephone access to voice calls, e.g. 104. By using a properly programmed web site interface (for example, using a CGI script or similar solutions), the user of the device 150 may initiate the transmission of a message containing the request, which may be in the form of a voice connection established by the network server with a remote or portable device via a public switched network PSTN telephone and wireless network, which is done as described above. The request message may include call center identification data at location 150 in the form of a destination resource to which the requested information should be provided using a packet data session.

[0035] The present invention is not limited to transmitting data from the wireless terminal to the requesting application. The requested packet data session can also be used to send information to the wireless terminal.

[0036] Fig. 2 is a messaging diagram that better illustrates the basic features and properties of some embodiments of the invention.

[0037] Referring to Fig. 2, the illustrated messaging or signaling scheme better illustrates the methodology used in the present invention. "Time range A" and the initiating application 208 generally begin a voice connection to the portable telephone device 204. As noted above, the initiating application may be in the form of software running on a computer or server, which may or may not require the use of a conventional telephone. It requires access to a wireless network, either directly or through the public switched PSTN telephone network. The telephone device, on the other hand, establishes a voice connection via the mobile telephone network 202, which in turn establishes a wireless connection to the mobile device 200. The mobile device responds to the connection by establishing a "connection" in the voice channel back to the telephone device 204. After establishing the voice connection, the initiating application sends a message containing the request via the voice channel in "time interval B" to the mobile device 200. The mobile device may optionally respond by sending a confirmation message via a voice channel.

[0038] Regarding "time point C", the mobile terminal 200, in response to a request message, initiates a network connection allowing data transmission to the mobile network 202 and establishes a packet data session over the IP 206 network. Destination resource or location destination is connected here with the IP 206 network. The IP network in turn responds by connecting at "time point D" to the mobile node 200, and then, as indicated at "time point E", a packet data transmission session is established between the mobile node 200 and the IP network or destination point 206. "Time point F" indicates that the IP resource may not be the final recipient of the data, but may be configured to pass this data to the final destination address, which may be the initiating application 208, but this is not a limitation of the invention.

[0039] The process used by the backbone data network, internet application or a separate device to initiate a data transmission session using aqLink begins with establishing a switched connection involving a voice channel with a mobile device. This can be accomplished by any means available to the initiating application or initiating device.

[0040] Those skilled in the art are of course aware of the fact that it is possible to make a number of changes to the embodiments described above that do not depart from the principles underlying the present invention. The scope of the present invention is therefore defined solely by the following claims.