Communication platform and method for packet communication between a service provider and a radio communication device

(54) Title: Method and communication platform to support communication between a service provider and a radio communication device (56) Publications cited: - (47) Summary:

The present invention relates to a communication platform for packet communication between at least one service provider in a first access and a radio communication payer in a second access, the second network comprising a preliminary network node arranged to, at least partially, handle communication between the radio communication device and , aom is in the other network. The mains bridge is in place¹ arranged to handle communication between the second network and the communication platform, and the communication platform is arranged to collect first data information of the Behavioral Radio Communication Device and second data information of a service provider application connected to the Radio Communication Device through the communication platform. The communication platform is further arranged to mutually relate the first and second data information to generate a user poat specifying user features for use of the service delivery.¹ dry application using the radio communication apparatus.

<img file="SE528406C2_D0001.tif" />

528 406

Summary

The present invention relates to a communications communication packet platform between at least one service provider in a first network and a radio communication apparatus in a second network, the second network comprising a first network node arranged to, at least in part, handle communication between the radio communication apparatus and a network bridge. that is in the other network. The network bridge is arranged to handle communication between the second network and the communication platform, and the communication platform is arranged to collect first data communication regarding the radio communication apparatus and other data information concerning a service provider application connected to the radio communication apparatus through the communication platform. The communication platform is further arranged to mutually relate the first and second data information to generate a user record specifying user features for use of the service provider application by means of the radio communication apparatus.

528 406

Technical area

The present invention relates to a communication platform for supporting communication between a service provider and a radio communication apparatus using packet communication and a method for this. More particularly, the present invention relates to a communication platform which enables billing of a radio communication apparatus in the use of service manufacturer applications and a method for doing so.

Background of the invention

In today's radio communication system, radios are becoming increasingly intelligent and are being introduced in parallel with older radios, which still serve a large group of people.

The communication capability of these radio communication devices is constantly increasing, and data packet communication is nowadays with the use of GPRS (General Packet Radio System), for example. Data communication protocols used by radio communication devices, in particular cellular radio communication devices, include: WAP 1.0 (Wireless Application Protocol), WAP 1.1, WAP 2.0, HTTP {HyperText Transfer Protocol), HTTPS, TCP (Transport Control Protocol), IP {Internet Protocol) etc, where many cellular devices provide access to only one or some of the these protocols.

Parallel to the development of more intelligent radios is the development of increasingly intelligent and demanding services for these radios. Because there are so many different devices on the market, a service provider often needs to develop a specific service only for a specific subset of the available radios. Not always because other appliances are not capable of handling the service, although this is of course the case in many situations, but also because the development cost would

528 406 shoot up when the services need to be adapted to the capabilities of the various radios.

Thus, it would be advantageous if Åstads could come up with a solution that would reduce the development cost of service providers and increase the consumer base.

Another problem in modern radio packet communication networks is the service provider's lack of ability to charge for use of the service provider application. The service provider does not have any immediate means of knowing who is using the service, except requiring login using a password that has been previously registered. In addition, the service provider must find ways to charge ice for use of the service, possibly with the increased degree of complication of sending separate bills.

Thus, it would be particularly interesting if one could provide a solution that supports billing of radio communication users for the use of service provider applications.

Another problem in modern radio packet communication networks is the service provider's lack of ability to initiate communication to a radio communication device. Although this is well-founded for security reasons, many valuable services, such as instant messaging and accelerating live content such as sports results, stock quotes, etc., cannot be developed without this capability. Another problem in this regard is that telecommunication operators usually arrange network bridges between the intranet and the extranet with NAT (Network Address Translation) to increase security. This system hides all address information of the radios from the service providers and thus increases the difficulty of establishing connections from the service providers to the radio communication devices.

528 406

- 3 For TCP-based connections, the TCP protocol is a means of determining the beginning and end of the transaction, which allows the NAT server to establish mapping between an external IP address and an internal IP address when a transaction is initiated, and to tear the mapping when the transaction is completed. The UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocol is often used for broadcasting applications, but since the UDP protocol is a stateless protocol, it is not a tool for the NAT server to know when a transaction begins and ends, and therefore mapping between external and internal IP address cumbersome. Thus, the UDP protocol is often blocked and is not available for service provider applications.

ib It would therefore be advantageous to find a solution that allows the use of the UDP protocol to transmit information between a service provider application and a radio communication device.

Summary of the Invention

A principal object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus and method which at least mitigates the aforementioned problems. According to a first aspect of the present invention, these and other objects are achieved by means of a packet communication communication platform between at least one service provider in a first network and a radio communication apparatus in a second network, the second network comprising a first network node arranged to, at least in part, handle communication between the radio communication apparatus and a network bridge, which is located in the other network. The network bridge is provided for handling communication between the second network and the communication platform, and the communication platform is arranged to collect first data information regarding the radio communication apparatus and second data information regarding a service provider application which is connected to the radio communication apparatus through the communication platform. The communication platform is further arranged to relate it to one another

528 406

- 4 first and second data information for generating a user record specifying usage features for use of the service provider application by means of the radio communication apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, these and other objects are achieved by a method of packet communication between a service provider located in a first network and a radio communication apparatus located in a second network, the second network comprising a first network. a network node arranged to at least partially handle communication between the radio communication apparatus and a network bridge; and the network bridge is arranged to handle communication between the first network node and the first network. The method comprises the steps:

- gathering first data information regarding the radio communication apparatus,

- collect other data regarding the service provider application connected to the radio communication device,

- relate the first data information to the second data information, and

- generating a user record specifying user features for using the service provider application of the radio communication device.

By collecting first data about the radio communication device and other data regarding the service provider application and relating it to each other, it is possible to link the use of a service with the radio device or the owner of the device. This makes it possible to charge the owner of the radio for the use of the service. In addition, this difficulty is handled by the communication platform, so that the service provider does not have to take these issues into consideration when developing a new service.

According to a variant of the invention, the communication platform is arranged to establish, upon request, a first communication channel between the radio communication apparatus and the

528 406 communication platform, and on request establish a second communication channel between the service provider application and the communication platform. The communication platform is further arranged to relate the first and second communication channels to establish a connection between the radio communication apparatus and the service provider application.

Through this arrangement, the communication platform will have complete information regarding the use of a specific service provider's application by a specific service provider. Thus, the communication platform can collect all the data required to generate the required billing information.

ice

According to another variant of the invention, the communication platform is connected to a data register in the other network.

By connecting the communication platform to a data register in the changing network, ie the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, the communication platform has access to radio communication device data. It will also be possible for the communications platform to generate billing information and send it to the data register, so that the radio can be billed using an already established billing method used by the PLMN operator.

According to another variant of the invention, the data register is a Home Location Register or a Home Subscriber Server.

According to another variant of the invention, the communication platform is arranged to send the user record to the data register, and the data register is arranged to use the user record to generate billing information for billing the user of the radio communication device for the utilization of the service provider application.

528 406

If the data register in the other network is used for billing purposes, there is no need to implement a specific billing functionality in the communication platformB form. Billing information can be transmitted using the diameter protocol, signaling system # 7 or the radius protocol for communication with HSS, CPR etc.

According to another variant of the invention, the user record io is arranged to be used for invoicing the user of the radio communication apparatus for the utilization of the service provider application.

According to another variant of the invention, said first ice data is such data selected from a data group consisting of:

- mobile station information (including Mobile Station Information) including IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and MSIDDN,

- location information including ISDN number for VLR (Visiting 20 Location Register) and MSC (Mobile Services Switching)

Center) where the radio is located,

- service information including service subscriptions and service restrictions,

- SS7 address of the SGSN used by the radio,

- IP address of the SGSN used by the radio,

- MNRG,

- a list of nodes showing available GGSN,

- a PDP context including: Packet Data Protocol (PDP) type, PDP address, Quality of Service (QoS) profile, Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN30) address, GGSN address for this context.

According to another variant of the invention, said second data is such data selected from a data group consisting of:

service provider application identity, connection time, login time, logout time, number of transmitted packets, number of received packets, amount of data sent or received, socket ID, IP address, QoS, downloaded files, visited pages.

528 406

According to another variant, the second aspect of the invention comprises the additional steps:

- receiving a request for a communication channel between the radio communication apparatus and the communication platform,

- establishing a first communication channel between the radio communication apparatus and the communication platform,

- receive a communication channel request between the communication platform and the service provider application,

- establish a second communication channel between the communication platform and the service provider application, and

- relate the first communication channel to the second communication channel to establish a connection between the ib radio communication device and the service provider application.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, these and other objects are achieved by means of a communication platform for packet communication between at least one service provider in a first network and a radio communication apparatus in a second network, the second network containing a first network node arranged for, at least in part, handling communications between the radio communication device and a network bridge located in the other network; wherein the second network comprises a network address translation functionality which translates a set of public IP addresses disclosed in the first network into a set of private IP addresses used in the second network for TCP-based communication between the first and second networks. The communication platform is arranged to receive a request for UDP communication from a service provider application located in the first network, to the radio communication device, and to establish a mapping from the public IP addresses to the private IP addresses for UDP communication between the service provider application and the radio communication apparatus in the web address translation functionality.

528 406

This makes it possible to offer service provider applications with UDP communication to radio communication devices. Thus, streaming applications can be developed.

According to a variant of the third aspect of the invention, the communication platform is arranged to receive a request utilizing a control channel established between the service provider application and the communication platform.

The communications platform uses the control channel to receive a UDP communication request. The service provider application is connected to the communication platform but using the control channel, as described above. According to a variant of the third aspect of the invention, the communication platform is arranged to remove the mapping at the request of the service provider application or the radio communication apparatus.

According to a variant of the third aspect of the invention, the request to remove the mapping is sent using a control channel established between the communication platform form and each of the service provider application and the radio communication apparatus.

Since the radio communication apparatus and the service provider application are connected to the communication platform but using the control channel, this can be used to make decisions about when to remove the UDP mapping in the address translation functionality. The mapping can of course also be removed if either of the control channels is broken.

According to a variant of the invention, the communication platform is connected to a dedicated access point. This allows you not to charge for packet data, such as GPRS528 406

- 9 packet data, but instead of service use. Thereby a unit tariff can be applied.

The communication platform is arranged to establish a UDP traffic mapping between the service provider application and the radio communication device, when the communication platform detects a UDP message on the communication channel, and it is arranged to remove any mapping previously established for the UDP traffic register, the communication channel is closed.

An advantage of the present invention is that an operator of a radio communications network is able to provide a portal which has a common interface with third party service developers.

Another advantage is that the communication platform makes it possible to provide new types of services that have not previously been possible to provide for radio communication users.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description below of embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention is better understood by the detailed description below of embodiments of the present invention and the drawings 1 to 5 which are exemplary only and thus not limiting to the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a variant of the communication platform according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of communication connections between a service provider application and a

528 406

- radio communication apparatus according to a variant of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the data communication channel between the service provider application and the radio communication apparatus of Fig. 2 in more detail.

Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram of TCP and UDP communication between two networks using the communication platform of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the communication platform connected to a dedicated access point in an operator network.

ice

Preferred embodiments

For purposes of explanation and non-limitation, specific details such as certain techniques and applications are provided in the description below to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention can be realized in other embodiments which deviate from these specific details. In other examples, detailed descriptions are omitted by well known methods and apparatus so that the description of the present invention is not burdened with unnecessary details.

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing a first data packet network 101 and a second data packet network 102. The first network 101 is a communication platform 103, which will be described in more detail below, and containing first, second and third service provider applications. denoted by 104, 105 and 106 respectively. Each of the service provider applications can be developed by independent service providers and provide various services to radio communication devices located in the second network 102, such as instant messaging and instant messaging.

528 406

- 11 live content such as sports results and share prices. Such a radio communication apparatus is shown in Figure 1 and is designated 107. The radio communication apparatus in the second network does not usually have public addresses known by the service provider applications in the first network, but uses private addresses which are only available in the second network.

The radio communication apparatus 107 is in radio communication 10 with a BTS / BSC 108, which in turn is connected to a

SGSN 109 {Serving Gprs Support Node) to provide GPRS support to the radio communication device 107. The SGSN 109 is connected to a GGSN 110 {Gateway Gprs Support Node). The GGSN serves as a network bridge between the second network 102 and ice other foreign networks, such as the first network 101. Thus, the GGSN 110 serves as a connection point for the communication platform 102 to the second network 102. NAT (Network Address Translation) and firewall functionality exist between the first and second networks in accordance with conventional techniques to increase the security of the second network 102.

Session object 111, further described below, provides an interface for the first service provider application 104 to the radio communication apparatus 107 for bidirectional communication between them. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication platform 103 hides details of the radio communication apparatus 107 and provides additional services to the service provider application 104, such as QoS (Quality of Service), flow control / transaction security, abstraction of device-specific communication capabilities, scaling, etc. . This means that when the service provider designs the service provider application 104, he need not consider such complications as broken connections, support for various protocols, flow control, etc.

528 406

Fig. 2 is a schematic connection diagram of a communication platform 103 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 shows communication between a first service provider application 201 and a radio communication device 203, also referred to as MT_Å.

The function of the communication platform is as follows.

The radio communication apparatus 203 sends a connection request to a first communication platform unit 204. The communication platform 103 also includes a second communication platform unit 205. The communication platform units can, for example, be ordinary computers.

The CPU 204 receives the connection request from the radio communication device MT_A and, with a signal, creates a super session object 206, designated SSA, for MT_Å-n. Specific connection details are included in the signal which enable CPU 204 to send messages to radio communication device MT_Å. The SSA generates a unique key, which represents MT_A-n, and stores this key along with a reference to a Session Control Object 207, SSA. SSA 206 registers its process identity in a lookup register, such as a DNS, RMI, Corba, etc., along with the generated unique key and address information that identifies the radio communication device and / or its users, such as a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address. finally to MT_Å- in an acknowledgment message.

Thus, a control channel has been established between the communication platform and the radio communication apparatus 203.

The radio communication apparatus 203 may communicate with the service provider application 201 using data channels 211, 212 and 213. The data channels are established using control channels, as described in more detail in the patent application of the same inventor as the present invention, filed in the same name and on the same date.

528 406

- 13 as the present invention, and which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application. The radio device may have several such data channels open simultaneously and communicate with several different service provider applications or radio devices. Thus, a radio device can serve as a service provider application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram in more detail of the communication channel between the service provider application

201 and the radio communication apparatus 203. As shown in FIG., the communication platform retrieves the service provider application's call / call details 301 (SACD) from the connection to the service provider. These call details include information on service provider application usage including what service is used, how long the service is used by radio communication device 203, data set if downloaded by radio device 203, QoS, preference, delay, etc.

The communication platform is additionally connected to a data register in the other network, in this embodiment a home location register or HLR 302. The HLR 302 contains information on the radio communication apparatus such as Mobile Station Information including

IMSI and MSISDN, location information including ISDN number for VLR and MSC where the radio is located, service information including service subscription and service restrictions, SS7 address of the SGSN used by the radio, IP address of the SGSN used by the radio,

MNRG, a list of nodes showing available GGSN, PDP context including: PDP type, PDP address, QoS profile, VPLMN address, GGSN address for this context, billing records from SGSN and GGSN etc. Selected data from this information as well as specific data which relates to the communication channel is collected in a radio device user record (RDUR) 303. RDURs 303 and SACDs 301 are interrelated in the platform, and a user record is created containing information pertaining to the use of the service provider application 201 by

528 406

- 14 radio communication apparatus 203. This user record is sent to the CPR, possibly along with tariff information indicating the cost of using the service provider application 201, and the radio communication apparatus or rather the user of the radio communication apparatus 203 may be billed on its usual telecommunication bill for the use of the service provider 201.

Alternatively, the billing information is generated directly at the communication platform instead of being sent to

CPR 302.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow diagram of a variant of the communication platform according to the invention. A communication channel 401 is established between a service provider application SPA 402, located in the first network 403, and a radio communication device 404, located in the second network 405, using the communication platform 406. In Fig. 4, a network address translation device NAT 407 is also shown. NAT20s are generally known and operate by hiding the internal addresses of the second network 405. This is accomplished by mapping public IP addresses displayed for the first network 403 to private IP addresses used in the second network 405. This is possible by using the TCP protocol, which includes information about the start and end of connections, so that NAT 407 can retrieve information about when a mapping is to be created and when a mapping is to be removed by analyzing the TCP packets.

However, the UDP protocol is a stateless protocol and does not contain any information as to when a connection begins or when it ends. The UDP protocol is often used for broadcasting information or streaming {streaming). However, since the communication platform 406 contains information regarding the connection state of the radio communication apparatus, this information can be used to establish and remove mappings in the NAT 407.

528 406

Thus, communication platform 406 receives a request from a service provider application using the control channel. The communication platform 406 commands the NAT to establish a mapping for the UDP session thus requested. In other words, a mapping for the UDP protocol between a public IP address and port and a private IP address and port. The communication platform further monitors the status of radio communication apparatus 404 and service provider provider 402 and detects if anyone breaks the communication channel. In this case, the communication platform orders the NAT to remove the mapping. The communication platform 406 can also be instructed via respective control channels, 208 and 214 in Fig. 2, that the UDP session ice is to be terminated. It should be noted that for UDP communication no data channels are established in the communication platform. The communication platform only orders the NAT to establish and tear down the mapping.

Alternatively, the platform can act as NAT. This only works if the communication platform has access to the other network.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a variant of the present invention for communication between a first network 501, in this embodiment the Internet, and a second network 502. A communication platform 503 according to the invention, described earlier in this text, is connected to a first dedicated access point 504 and provides dub30-directed communication between a radio communication device 505 and the Internet. The operator provides at least one additional access point 506 for the radio communication apparatus 505 to communicate with the Internet. This is a one-way communication because it is not possible for an application on the Internet to reach the radio communication device when it is hidden behind a NAT server 507. Use of a dedicated access point provides the above-mentioned advantages, such as the use of invoicing for unit rates or the

528 406

- 16 allows communication platform 503 to collect billing data etc.

It is obvious that the invention can be varied in a number of ways. Such variations shall be considered to be within the scope of the invention. All such modifications, which would be apparent to one skilled in the art, are intended to fall within the scope of patent claims.

528 406

- IV