A method of adapting information content to wireless terminal capabilities

(54)

PATENTHARE Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052 US

INVENTOR

Hans Johansson, London GB, Stefan Johansson, Stockholm SE (56) (57)

OMBUD AWAPATENT AB

NAME Method and system in which an external server receives information on individual mobile terminals' radio transmission capacity ENTERED PUBLICATIONS: - - SUMMARY:

The invention relates to packet data transmissions from network servers to wireless communication stations via wireless communication networks. A network server 30 which is to transmit packet data to a wireless communication station 20 first requests that the wireless station 20 provide its radio transmission capabilities to the server 30. Based on these radio transmission capabilities, the information content to be transmitted from the server 30 to the wireless station 20 is adapted via a wireless communication network 10 and additional networks that actively connect the server to the wireless network 10, so that the resulting packet data transfer is appropriate for the radio transmission of the wireless station 20. This results in a reasonable transmission time and in the elimination of annoying transmission delays due to bandwidth capacity problems.

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The numbers in brackets indicate international identification code, INID code. Letters in clamps indicate international document code.

<td>* PR¹</td><td colspan="2">V 'Patent uses the following document codes I</td><td>for their patents</td>

<td>code</td><td>cleartext</td><td>code</td><td>cleartext</td>

<td>A</td><td>widely available patent application</td><td>L</td><td>widely available</td>

<td>B</td><td>pamphlet *</td><td>TI</td><td>translation of the requirements of European patent application</td>

<td>B5</td><td>corrected layout letter *</td><td>T2</td><td>correction of translation of the requirements of European patent application</td>

<td>C</td><td>patent *</td><td>T3</td><td>translation of European patent</td>

<td>Cl</td><td>patent *</td><td>T4</td><td>translation of European patent in amended form</td>

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<td>C3</td><td>corrected patent</td><td>T8</td><td>corrected translation of European patent</td>

<td>C5</td><td>corrected patent *</td><td>T9</td><td>corrected translation of European patent</td>

<td>C8</td><td>corrected front page to patent</td><td></td><td></td>

<td>E</td><td>patent in amended version</td><td></td><td></td>

<td>E8</td><td>corrected front page to patent in amended version</td><td></td><td></td>

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·· ·· lit ·

Technical area

The present invention relates to packet data transmissions from network servers to wireless communication stations via wireless communication networks.

Background of the invention

Various types of digital radio communication networks that support packet data transmissions are currently being developed. This means that mobile users who have access to these radio communication networks are provided the opportunity to communicate packet data with various packet data networks, such as with the Internet, but also with corporate intranets and X.25 networks and the like. The digital radio or wireless communications network will thus be a wireless extension of e.g. Internet and existing X.25 networks. Subscribers in such radio communications networks, i.e. the mobile users, will be able to take advantage of most applications designed for these packet data protocols, such as browsing the web and exchanging email etc., from their wireless equipment with which they have access to the wireless communication networks. In addition, a number of new mobile data services are currently under development that will use these capabilities of packet data transmissions, while the performance of existing mobile data services will be improved.

One of the main reasons for the development described above is, in addition to the introduction of packet data transmissions to / from the wireless communication stations used by the mobile users, the technology development of the radio communications networks, such as the cellular radio communication networks, which provide ⁵¹⁸ 751 ppV: ”: · λ f: -:.:

larger and larger bandwidths for these packet data transmissions. Examples of larger bandwidth wireless communications networks that support packet data transmissions to a mobile user's wireless terminal are Pacific Digital Cellular (PDC-P) networks, which in Japan provide the existing I-mode, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) service providing GPR (General Packet Radio Service) services, systems using radio networks based on EDGE technology (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM and TDMA / 136 Evolution) or on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology or other upcoming new generations of wireless communications networks known as Universal Mobile Networks (UMTS) Telephony Standard), or 3G networks, which are based on WCDMA or cdma2000 broadband radio networks.

When a packet switched connection, instead of a circuit switched connection, is used for transmitting data to / from a user's wireless station, which e.g. is the case when introducing GPRS into a GSM system, it will be possible for the mobile user to be constantly connected not only to the wireless network but also to the Internet or any other packet data network via the wireless network and an interconnecting network bridge. While the mobile user is constantly connected, the user will be billed for the actual bandwidth he is using. This means that the mobile user will be billed for each packet sent or received by the user, instead of the time required for the data transfer.

However, even if a user is billed for actual bandwidth used, it will be desirable for the user to keep the time required for receiving data transfers as short as possible. The reason for this is that a longer transmission time, and thus a longer delay in receiving the actual information, will engage the user's attention and adversely affect the user's experience of information.^{518 751} PSV Π? · Π reception and other services associated therewith. Thus, regardless of whether the user is constantly connected or not, unnecessary delays attributable to the information transfer to the user should be avoided.

Summary of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in connection with packet data transmissions to wireless communication stations and their associated end-users, which improve the end-user's experience of the packet data transfer and any service associated therewith.

According to the present invention, said object is achieved with methods, computer readable media, a server and a wireless communication station having the features defined in the appended claims and representing various aspects of the invention.

The present invention is based on the idea that a server that is to send packet data to a wireless communication station first requests that the wireless station provide its radio transmission capabilities to the server. Based on these radio transmission capabilities, the information content to be transmitted from the server to the wireless station is adapted via a wireless communication network and any networks that actively connect the server to the wireless network, so that the resulting packet data transfer is adapted to the wireless station's radio transmission capacities.

The present invention is applicable in wireless environments associated with low and / or varying bandwidths, limited and varying performance of the wireless stations, requirements to transmit as little data as possible over the air, etc .. Using the present invention, a server is provided, or any other sender of information located outside a wireless communication network, with

518 751 information about a wireless communication station's radio transmission capabilities. Taking into account radio transmission capabilities, such as bandwidth limitations with which a wireless station can receive packet data at a given time, the information content is adjusted, ie dynamically changed, so that delays and total transmission time are minimized, or at least reasonable. In this way, the end-user's experience of receiving information via the wireless station will be greatly improved. Since in many cases such information transmission is intimately associated with a service provided to the user of the wireless station, the user's experience of the service provided will be improved.

The information content can of course be adapted in many different ways, e.g. by simply extracting the most relevant sections, or simply by omitting someone who follows an introductory information section. Importantly, the customized information content is suitable for packet data transmissions to the wireless station, regardless of the current radio transmission capacity limitations with which the wireless station can receive packet data. Since the end user will not experience any annoying delays in receiving the customized information content, he can immediately acquire the most relevant part of, or simply part of, the original information content.

The invention is also advantageous in that it enables a user to obtain packet data transmissions at which the radio capacity of the wireless station currently used by the user is taken into consideration. Thus, a user who has a subscription to an operator of a wireless communication network can associate this subscription with different wireless stations having different radio transmission capabilities, i.e.

518 751 advanced or simple wireless station, and always obtain information content tailored to the capacity of the currently used wireless station. Similarly, a user may have several subscriptions each associated with a particular radio capacity, adapting the information content and its resulting packet data transmission to the limitations of the specific subscription currently used.

The radio transmission capabilities of a wireless communication station depend on the capacity of the wireless communication station itself, ie the client capacity, but also on the capacity for, or use of, the wireless connection between the specific wireless station and the wireless communication network, i.e. the radio communication capacity. Within the scope of the present invention, the term radio transmission capabilities, or only radio capabilities, includes both client capacity and radio communication capacity.

The client capacity is inherently static and is therefore included in the static transmission capacity of a wireless station. This static radio transmission capability, that is, the capacity of the wireless communication station itself, depends on the design of the wireless station. Different wireless stations have different capacities in terms of utilizing multiple time slots, belonging to different power classes etc ..

The radio connection capacity discussed above is inherently dynamic and therefore comprised by the dynamic radio transmission capacity of a wireless station. This dynamic radio transmission capacity, which is assigned to the wireless station by the wireless communication network, changes over time and affects the capacity of the wireless connection between the wireless station and the wireless communication network, and thus the radio transmission capacity associated with the wireless station. A typical dynamic capacity is the radio priority assigned by the wireless network to the wireless station. The radio priority changes over time as a consequence of e.g. the number of wireless stations that are for the alert is served by the same antenna in the wireless network. However, note that the dynamic radio capacity may also include the internal communication capacity of the wireless communication network, such as the quality of service provided within the wireless network for a specific connection. This quality of service affects the dynamic radio capacity of the wireless station.

According to the invention, a server is provided with knowledge of either the static capacity of the wireless station, the current dynamic capacity or a combination thereof. Thus, a server is provided with knowledge of the radio transmission capabilities of the wireless station which can be used to customize the information content in different ways depending on the intrinsic bandwidth capacity of the specific wireless station and / or depending on the available bandwidth in the air assigned to the wireless network. specific wireless station.

In addition to the current wireless connection capacity between the station and the network, the dynamic radio transmission capacity may preferably also include a prevailing service quality in the core network, which quality is associated with the wireless network core network at a certain time and which affects the transmission capacity through the wireless network.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the request sent from a server wishing to transmit packet data to a wireless station in a short message provided by a short message service. Preferably, this request is accompanied by a packet data network address of the server. This network address is used by the wireless station when establishing a packet data connection with the server. The server then sends packet data over the established packet data connection. In this way, the invention can advantageously be practiced when a server wishes to transmit packet data to a wireless station with which it has no established packet data session. Because it is the wireless station that establishes the packet data connection between the server and the wireless station, a server does not need to know the packet data network address of the wireless station in advance to be able to establish a packet connection for transmitting packet data. This, in turn, has the additional advantage that the server does not generate a signaling load against any database that stores packet data network addresses in the wireless network, which can otherwise become a heavy burden for this database when multiple servers try to obtain packet network addresses for wireless stations connected to the wireless network. . In addition, if dynamic packet data network addresses are used by the wireless network, which is usually the case, this burden will be even higher as the network address allocated to a specific wireless station will change from time to time. When a wireless station desstuom moves between the different wireless approaches of different operators, the problem is avoided having to decide to which operator's database a server's request for a packet data network address should be routed.

It should be understood that what is meant by the term wireless communication station in this document, sometimes referred to as wireless station only, is either a standalone RF (Radio Frequency) transmitter having data processing capabilities and display means such as a mobile phone or a handheld PDA (Personal Digital) Assistant), or an RF transmitter along with any type of portable or desktop equipment that has data processing capabilities, such as a portable portfolio computer or a desktop personal computer, the RF transceiver being arranged in communication with the portable or stationary equipment.

Although the following description of an exemplary embodiment will refer to a GSM network

518 751 providing a GPRS service and an SMS-C (Short Message Service Center) providing a short message, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to these systems. The invention is advantageously practiced in connection with any wireless communication network which provides packet data transmissions to its connected users and, if required by the invention, has an associated messaging service for transmitting short messages to the users. Such wireless communication networks have been exemplified in the background description of this application.

Brief description of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will be appreciated from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals are used for corresponding features and in which:

Fig. 1 schematically shows an exemplary overall system environment in which an embodiment of the invention is included and effective; and

Fig. 2 schematically shows an exemplary overall system environment in which another embodiment of the invention is included and effective.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to Fig. 1, an exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail. Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication network 10, a wireless communication station 20 and a server 30 in active communication with the wireless communication network 10. The server 30 can be any information transmitter connected to any packet data network (not shown) which in turn is operative. connected to the wireless communication network 10. The wireless communication network 10 is exemplified by a GSM network (Global

518 751

System for Mobile Communication) and the wireless communication station 20 with a GPR type mobile station. The packet data transmission capacity of the GSM network 10 is provided by a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) service. GPRS is a standardization from ETSI (European Telecommunications Standard Institute) that processes packet data in GSM systems.

The architecture and operation of a GSM network providing a GPRS service, also referred to as the GSM / GPRS network, as well as the standardization thereof, are well known to those skilled in the art. For this reason, only those features or aspects of GSM and GPRS that are of interest in understanding this embodiment of the invention will be described herein.

A GSM network 10 comprising a GPRS packet data traffic management service is provided with a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) (not shown) and a Gateway GRPS Support Node (GGSN) (not shown). The SGSN node is the node within the GSM infrastructure that transmits and receives packet data to and from a GPRS-type wireless mobile station 20 via a base station system (not shown). The GPRS mobile station 20 communicates with the base station system over an air interface in accordance with the standardization of GSM and GPRS. Said SGSN also transmits packets between GPRS station 20 and said GGSN. Said SGSN also handles PDP (Packet Data Protocol contexts) contexts for connections to any server in any external packet data network, such as with server 30 actively connected to the GSM / GPRS network 10. Said GGSN, which is connected to said SGSN, is the GSM / GPRS system's network bridge to external packet data networks and directs packets between said SGSN and an external packet data network, e.g. The Internet or an Intranet of a company. For more information on GPRS, refer to ETSI-standardization documents EN 301 113 V6.1.1 (1998-11) and Draft ETSI EN 301 344 V6.4.0 (1999-08), both of which are incorporated herein by means of these references.

518 751

The wireless communication station of the present invention, i.e. the GPRS mobile station 20 in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a state-of-the-art microprocessor 21 comprises a main memory 22 realized by read memory (ROM) and / or direct access memory (RAM) or its equivalents, input / output circuits (not shown), such as a monitor and a keyboard / keypad for communication with a user, interface circuits 23 in the form of transmitting / receiving radio frequency circuits for communication with the GSM / GPRS network 10 via an antenna 25 and the air interface, and a bus 24 interconnecting the elements of the GPRS mobile station, as well as other suitable components. Of these elements, at least some are controlled or otherwise constructed to enable the practice of a method of a wireless communication station in accordance with the invention.

The microprocessor 21 executes appropriate computer executable components stored in the main memory 22, thus controlling the elements and the GPRS mobile station in its entirety to operate in accordance with the method of the invention. Alternatively, these computer executable components are stored on a prerecorded optical disc, in a preprogrammed memory means, or some other computer-readable medium separated from the wireless communication station 20. When the wireless communication station 20 and its including microprocessor 21 are provided with access to this computer executable medium, its stored computer executable components will control the microprocessor 21 to control the wireless communication station 20 in its entirety to operate in accordance with the method of the invention. The operation of the GPRS mobile station 20 in accordance with the embodiment will be better understood from the description below.

The server 30 is operably connected to the GSM / GPRS network 10, possibly via a packet data network (not shown), via interface circuit means 31 which include appropriate hardware

518 751 for packet data communication over a transport protocol such as TCP / IP or X25. The server 30 further comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 32, a main memory 33, external memory 34 and one or more I / O controllers 35 for connecting various peripheral units to the server 30. As shown in Fig. 1, all of the above mentioned elements are connected to a system bus 36.

The overall operation of server 30 is controlled by said CPU 32. Said CPU operates under the control of executed computer program instructions stored in main memory 33 or in external memory 34. By executing these program instructions, said CPU 32 will control the operation of server 30 to to perform at least the functionality of the present invention. The CPU 32 controls and communicates with the various elements of the server utilizing the system bus 36, which system bus has any of several different types of bus structures, including a memory bus, a peripheral bus and a local bus realized with any of a number of different bus architectures.

The main memory 33 is a computer lockable storage device, typically realized with read memory (ROM) and / or direct access memory (RAM), which provides said CPU with quick access to computer readable program instructions and information data stored by the main memory. External memory 34 is a computer readable medium which provides a non-volatile storage of computer readable program instructions and information data and is typically realized by a magnetic or optical disk that is either stationary or removable and connected to the I / O controller 35 via appropriate circuits. for driving the disc. It will be appreciated that server 30 may comprise, or be connected to, various other types of computer-readable devices or media to which the CPU 32 has access and which has the capacity to store computer program instructions and / or information data.

518 751

The method of the invention according to the embodiment referred to in Fig. 1 will now be described in more detail. This embodiment is advantageous when a packet data session has already been established between the wireless communication station 20, i.e. the GPRS mobile station, and the server 30.

1st Fig. 1 shows an ongoing TCP / IP session between server 30 and GPRS station 20. The operation according to the embodiment begins when server 30 is to transmit information content to GPRS station 20, either because server 30 wants to push the information to GPRS station 20, or because GPRS station 20 has requested transmission of the information from the server

30.

Before the server 30 starts transmitting the information, an application executing on the server 30 sends a request message to GPRS station 20 over the TCP / IP connection, indicated by arrow 1. The message includes a request for information relating to the radio transmission capabilities of the receiving GPRS -stationen.

2nd Upon receiving said request, another application executing on the GPRS station 20 examines this request. This study involves checking the radio capacities that the request affects. If the request concerns the static capabilities of the GPRS station, a response message is prepared which includes the so-called Radio Access Classmark for the GPRS station 20.

Said radio access classmark itself is defined by the GSM standard. A GPRS station's radio access classmark defines the radio capabilities of the GPRS station. It includes the multi-slot capability as well as other static radio capabilities for the GPRS station. Generally, in accordance with the GSM standard, radio access classmark is to be used by a GPRS station for transmission to said SGSN, which in turn provides

518 751 base station system in the GSM / GPRS network with the classmark received from the GPRS station. This classmark is then used by the base station system when managing radio resources for the GPRS station in question. In the described embodiment, this radio access classmark is suitable as information relating to the static radio capabilities of a GPRS station in the practice of the present invention.

If the above discussed request concerns the GPRS station dynamic radio capabilities, in addition to or as an alternative to the static radio capacities, parameters defining the GPRS station dynamic capacity are included in the response message completed by the application in the GPRS station. These parameters receive the GPRS station 20 upon interaction with the GSM / GPRS network 10. For example, it is known to those skilled in the art that the service quality (QoS) that can be provided by the GSM / GPRS network 10 can be requested by the GPRS station 20 by sending a QoS profile request. In response, GPRS station 20 will receive an agreed QoS profile from the GSM / GPRS network

10th The dynamic radio capabilities may also refer to the radio priority currently allocated to a specific GPRS station 20. The GPRS station can either be informed of its current radio priority by the GSM / GPRS network 10 when a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context is activated or then it can receive radio priority information in a data packet during an ongoing PDP session, especially if the radio priority is changed during this PDP session.

Arrow 2 in Fig. 1 indicates that a response message is sent from GPRS station 20 to server 30 over TCP / IP connection. As described above, and depending on which radio capacities the received request relates to, the message includes the current static and / or dynamic radio capacities of the GPRS station 20.

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3rd Upon receiving the response message from GPRS station 20, the application executing on server 30 will extract and analyze the inclusive information resulting from its previous request, i.e. it analyzes the current radio capabilities of GPRS station 20.

As a result of this analysis, the server's application will now have knowledge of the maximum static and / or dynamic capacity of the GPRS station, typically the maximum GPRS client capacity and / or the maximum radio connection capacity allocated to the GPRS client 20. These radio capacities associated with the GPRS station 20 is stored at the server 30 by the server's application.

The server's application now adapts the information content to be sent to the GPRS station 20. This is carried out e.g. in such a way that the amount of information is reduced. As previously described, the reduction can be accomplished in a number of different ways, e.g. by omitting selected pieces of information or by omitting any major piece of information. This reduction is carried out taking into account the limitation of the static and dynamic radio capacities. This typically includes considering which of the two capacity constraints provides the most limited bandwidth. Of course, if the information content consists of a smaller amount of information that can be expanded, the server's application can perform such an expansion so that maximum utilization is obtained for the radio capacity associated with the GPRS station 20.

The customized information content, either reduced or expanded, is then packaged and transmitted as packet data to GPRS station 20, which transmission is indicated by arrow 3 in Fig. 1. As a consequence of the information matching, this packet data transmission will now fit the bandwidth available for transmissions. to GPRS station 20. This approach

518 751 results in a reasonable transmission time and in the elimination of any annoying transmission delays due to bandwidth capacity problems.

With reference to Fig. 2, another exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described. This embodiment is advantageous in a situation where there is no existing packet data session between the wireless communication station 20 and the server 30.

In Fig. 2, the overall system comprises a wireless communication network 10, a wireless communication station 20 and a server 30, where the previous two are once again exemplified by a GSM / GPRS network 10 and a GPRS mobile station 20. The constructions for these three elements correspond to the as already described with reference to Fig. 1. These elements are therefore referred to with the same reference numerals used in Fig. 1 and their structure will not be further described. The basic functions of these elements also correspond to those previously described with reference to FIG.

1st Their operation according to the embodiment of FIG.

however, is slightly different from the method previously described with reference to Fig. 1.

As previously stated, the embodiment of Fig. 2 is preferred when there is no existing packet data session between GPRS station 20 and server 30. The embodiment is particularly suitable when server 30 wishes to push packet data to GPRS station 20 while taking into account the radio transmission capabilities of GPRS. -stationen.

Pushing packet data to a mobile user generally corresponds to a process in which the wireless communication network initiates a packet data transmission to the user's wireless communication station, the packet data transmitted most often being received by the wireless communication network from an external source, ie a push server on an external network operating connected to

518 751 the wireless communication network. In order to push information to a wireless communication station, three requirements must normally be met for a wireless communication network to be able to initiate packet data transmission to the wireless station. These three requirements are that 1) the wireless station is turned on, 2) the wireless station has identified itself to the parts of the wireless communication network providing the packet data service and that 3) a packet data protocol (PDP) address has been allocated to the wireless station.

In a GSM / GPRS network, measures are taken by the GSM / GPRS network, after the above requirements have been met, to initiate and activate a packet data service for the wireless GPRS station, measures well known to those skilled in the art. After activating the packet data service, packet data addressed to the PDP address allocated to a GPRS station will be routed to that station.

A PDP address can be allocated to a wireless communication station either as a static or as a dynamic PDP address. Thus, the PDP address to be used by a server that wishes to push data to a wireless station, i.e. to transmit data without the station specifically requesting this data, is either a permanent (static) or a temporary (dynamic) address allocated to this station.

The PDP address, whether static or dynamic, must be known to a server that wants to push packet data to the station. The PDP address can become known to the server by making a request to a suitable database, possibly to different databases depending on whether static or dynamic addresses are used, in the operator's wireless communication network.

As stated above, the embodiment of Fig. 2 is suitable when there is no existing packet data session between the push server 30 and GPRS station 20. To enable such packet data session to be established, a node 40 providing a service for transmitting short messages is used. to users connected to the wireless communication network 10. In this described embodiment, the wireless network is exemplified by a GSM / GPRS network 10, the node 40 being thus exemplified by an SMS-C (Short Message Service Switching Center). Said SMS-C 40 is responsible for sending SMS (Short Message Service) messages to wireless stations, such as GPRS station 20 in GSM / GPRS network 10 according to techniques well known to those skilled in the art.

The interface circuitry 31 provides hardware circuits which enable the server 30 to communicate with said SMS-C 40 over a transport protocol such as TCP / IP or X25. The workflow for the embodiment of Fig. 2 will now be described.

1st The workflow begins when server 30, which is operatively connected to the GSM / GPRS network 10 via e.g. Internet (not shown), wants to push packet data to a GPRS mobile station 20 over a TCP / IP connection. As indicated by arrow 1, server 30 connects to said Short Message Service Center (SMS-C) 40 and sends a request to this SMS-C 40 to send an SMS short message to a GPRS mobile station 20 having a specific MSISDN number (Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network). The payload for the SMS message includes a request for information relating to the radio transmission capabilities of the addressed GPRS station. The SMS message further includes the IP address of the server 30 and the port number of the server 30 to be used in establishing a TCP / IP-based connection to the server 30.

2nd As a result of the above, and indicated by arrow 2 in Fig. 2, said SMS-C 40 sends an SMS message to GPRS station 20 via GSM / GPRS network 10 over a GSM signaling channel or a GPRS traffic channel in accordance with known techniques in the art. The GPRS518 751 station has an application that is started, or is already executing, when the SMS message is received by the GPRS station. For example, the SMS message can be include an activation code and if the code corresponds to a predefined code that is accepted by the application, the application's processing continues, otherwise the application's processing will stop. Thus, if no activation code is found, the SMS message is processed in the usual manner, which is outside the scope of the present invention. If the activation code is present, the application extracts the payload from the SMS message and examines the request for radio capabilities in the same manner as described with reference to Fig. 1. The application also extracts the transmitted IP address and port number associated with the application that executes on the server 30 and wishes to push packet data. .

3rd The application's processing then proceeds to the GPRS connection phase. The user of the GPRS station 20 may be provided with an order for accepting or rejecting reception of the information to be pushed from the server, e.g. by providing that the GPRS connection phase is continued or aborted, however, which is beyond the scope of the present invention. If the service / information offered is accepted, the application identifies the GPRS station 20 for the packet data service portion of the GSM / GPRS network 10, if it is not already identified. This corresponds to checking whether GPRS station 20 is GPRS attached or not. If the GPRS station is not connected, the application will make a GPRS connection. The GPRS connection is preferably performed in accordance with standard procedures, see e.g. Draft ETSI EN 301 344 V6.4.0 (1999-08), Chapter 6.2. The GPRS application then checks if the GPRS station has a valid IP address (ie if it has a working TCT / IP518 751 connection). If not, the application of the GSM / GPRS network 10 requests that a packet data service be activated for use by the GPRS station 20, ie it initiates the execution of a GPRS PDP context activation (PDP context activation). The GPRS application then receives either a dynamically allocated IP address from the GSM / GPRS network 10 or from a so-called radius server (not shown) via the GSM / GPRS network. The GPRS PDP context activation and transmission of a dynamic IP address is preferably performed in accordance with standardized procedures, see e.g. TS 101 348 V6.3.0 (199810), Chapter 11.2.1.2. However, the received packet data network address may be an address according to another packet data protocol, such as an X.25 address. Of course, the GPRS application may alternatively already have a static IP address allocated to it when initiating GPRS PDP context activation. The application in GPRS station 20 then initiates the establishment of a TCP / IP connection to the IP address and port number received in the SMS message. The IP address and port number indicate the server 30 and its application that wish to push packet data. The established TCP / IP connection is indicated by a bidirectional arrow 3 in Fig. 2.

4th As previously described with reference to Fig. 1, the GPRS application completes a response message to be sent to server 30. This response message is now transmitted over the established TCP / IP connection, which transmission is indicated by arrow 4. The response message includes the current static of the GPRS station 20 and / or dynamic radio capabilities.

5th When the server 30 receives the response message from the GPRS station 20, the server's application will extract and analyze the comprehensive information as previously described with reference to Fig. 1. The server's application recognizes that the response message is sent from the GPRS station 20 to which the request is made.

518 751 previously targeted. This recognition is based on information that GPRS station 20 has included in the response message, e.g. MSISDN for GPRS station 20 or a request code originally generated and included in the request sent by the server application. In the same manner as already described with reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1, server 30 will now have knowledge of the maximum static and / or dynamic capacity of GPRS station 20 and will adapt the information content accordingly before pushing the custom information as packet data to GPRS station 20 over the TCP / IP connection set up by the application in the GPRS station 20. The adaptation of the information content, its consequences and the purpose thereof has previously been described with reference to Fig. 1. Just as in the embodiment in Figs. 1 For example, the resulting information transmission will have a reasonable transmission time and be free of any annoying transmission delays due to bandwidth capacity problems.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific exemplary embodiment based on a GSM system providing a GPRS service, many different alternatives, modifications and the like will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Instead, it should be appreciated that the present invention is well adapted to any wireless communications network providing a packet data service to its connected wireless stations.

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