DE102004015260A1 - Method for automatically generating application-relevant context information - Google Patents

Abstract

The generation of services is controlled by the generation of additional application-relevant context information from already existing information of the network state and also present in the network presence information about the subscriber or his terminal used. DOLLAR A The information is generated by collecting the available information in a central location and then combining it into new application-relevant presence information according to given rules.

Description

Area of Expertise the invention

The The invention relates to a method for the automatic generation of current presence information of a telecommunications subscriber or also an application in a telecommunication network. Both Presence information is also called context information that the situation of a mobile subscriber or his terminal or an application on this device reflects. advanced adaptable Applications and services are increasingly becoming context information consider, to the telecommunications subscriber additional telecommunications services To be able to offer.

The Theme presence services is already in the initial standardization committees discussed. For 3GPP, Mobile, already exist two standards, which the presence service as such and the architecture and functionalities describe (see 3GPP TS 22.141 "Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Presence service; Stage 1 (Release 6) "Version 6.2.0 of March 2003. Furthermore, the standard 3GPP TS 23.141 "Technical Specification Group Services exists and System Aspects; Presence service; Architecture and Functional Description (Release 6) "Version 6.3.0 of June 2003.

Also for others Networks, the concept of presence information is already being standardized. Another standard is RFC 2778 (Request for Comments) IETF, "A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging ", As of February 2000, this standard largely covers the content with the 3GPP standards.

The Timely provision of current context information is a prerequisite for this, that the behavior of the application or service meets expectations of the user, and through the use of contextual information, an added value for him arises.

The Presence information is essentially composed of presence information about the User and presence information about that terminal of the user, as well as so-called service components. So far known Presence information are described in the standards mentioned. This presence information can be both dynamic and static. For a static presence information this is, for example, the communication address of the subscriber. Dynamic information is his whereabouts.

According to the standard Presence information is transmitted to the network in a so-called presence server stored. The structure of this information is already through the Standard roughly specified. If now an application this Presence information a subscriber wants to use, so they can access them. This can be done either by a targeted query, this is called "Fetcher" or "Bollard" (if querying in regular intervals).

alternative can be a monitor happen at regular intervals, the supervisor ("watcher") is informed, as soon as a presence information of the monitored participant changes.

The Contains concept continue to have access permissions so that each participant can determine whom he gives his presence information accessible does and to what extent.

One in the future even more popular The service being developed is based on the use of telecommunication networks for data transmission. The type of data is not restricted, it can be software, but also for information or entertainment, such as movies, music, Newspaper etc. act.

The Size of accumulating Data volumes, for example, in the transmission of films is significant grown. Currently known compression programs allow for greater compression the quality the transmitted Information, such as the transmitted image, shrink. When downloading software, excessive compression is not possible without the functionality of the programs.

Also the number of upgrades of software on the terminal is in Future rather increase, the participants then acquires a so-called "modular terminal", which he through individual software and hardware modules for their own individual purposes adapts.

at the interruption of data transmission it can come to substantial data loss, so that in the most unfavorable Case the complete data transmission carried out again I'll have to. This means for the participant an increased time and resource expenditure.

The object of the invention is therefore to achieve optimal use of network resources. Furthermore, a method is to be specified, as the control of data transmission with a high transmission reliability can be made.

presentation the invention

These Task is solved by the characteristics of the independent Process claim 1. The essential idea of the invention is that Generation of additional application-relevant context information from already existing Information about the network status and also available in the network Presence information about the Subscriber or his used terminal.

The Generation of the information is done by available Information, to be collected in a central location, then to prescribed rules for new application-relevant presence information to be combined.

advantage The invention is that the information generated in this form were previously not available to the respective applications at all. If necessary, the application had to provide the underlying information determine and evaluate themselves, which increases the development effort Episode has. The user had to decide for himself when he got the information retrieves. The inexperienced user was able to understand the consequences of his Judging decision only bad.

advantageous Embodiments and further developments are specified in the subclaims.

Next the accessibility of the participant (Busy, Idle, online etc.) and its availability (Reachability) can be found in the mentioned standards the location information. The location information can advantageously be used to achieve an optimization of the transmission path, in particular the underlying networks (also using commercial Values, for example when roaming into a foreign network under consideration different from existing roaming contracts Service provider).

A Another important information is the prioritization of the application. So has, for example, a new virus scanner or a patch of a software error a higher one Prioritization as the transfer a music title. additionally it is beneficial, though over the security of data transmission one Specification exists.

A Information about the in the terminal already existing applications can the user in the selection support, such as a transmission only started when, for example, he has the necessary software for Playing a particular data format possesses, or if on the terminal the offered patch is not already installed.

It should also be prevented from colliding by the process with already on the terminal existing programs arise. This can be z. For example, when the on the terminal available space for the storage of the program is no longer sufficient.

• – bei welchem Netzbetreiber ist der Teilnehmer gerade registriert?, oder
• – in welcher Zelle des Mobilfunknetzes befindet er sich?,
• – hat diese derzeit Übertragungskapazität? oder
• – welche Datenübertragungsart und -qualität stehen dem Benutzer gerade zur Verfügung, (beispielsweise GPRS, UMTS, WLAN, Internet, VoIP etc.),

sind noch viele weitere Parameter denkbar. Beispielhaft genannt werden soll hier die Verwendung von zusätzlichen Diensten, die der Teilnehmer möglicherweise bereits abonniert hat, mit dessen voreingestellten Parametern, sowie weitere Presence-Informationen, die den Standards entnommen werden können, beispielsweise der "Mood", der von den Standardisierern neu definiert wurde, derzeit aber noch nicht realisiert ist.In addition to the parameters of the subscriber and the terminal, parameters stored in the network must be used for the application-relevant context information. In addition to the usual parameters, for example

• - in which network operator is the subscriber currently registered ?, or
• - in which cell of the mobile network is it located ?,
• - does this currently have transmission capacity? or
• What type of data transmission and quality are currently available to the user (for example GPRS, UMTS, WLAN, Internet, VoIP etc.),

many more parameters are possible. By way of example, mention should be made here of the use of additional services which the subscriber may already have subscribed to, with its default parameters, as well as further presence information which can be taken from the standards, for example the "mood", which has been newly defined by the standardizers , but not yet realized.

The Separation of information collection and evaluation allows so-called client- and server-based evaluation of the configuration parameters. Through a local evaluation will be an individual on the user tailored interpretation allows. Every participant can then define rules in his own terminal.

on the other hand allows a server-based evaluation, ie centrally in the network, the easier forwarding of the information to the application, eg. the download server, that is Applications that are not in direct contact with the user or his terminal stand. Furthermore, in this case, a uniform evaluation the parameter for all participants are guaranteed.

Summary the drawings

in the The invention will be explained below with reference to exemplary embodiments. there demonstrate

1 a diagram of the method according to the invention in the network,

2 an embodiment using a terminal and a network parameter, and

3 an architectural description according to the standard 3GPP TS 23.141.

description the preferred embodiment

The 1 schematically shows the inventive method. A subscriber (subscriber) is logged in with his terminal (terminal) in at least one network (network). The terminal may be a conventional mobile, but in the meantime many other terminals are available in a variety of sizes and functionalities, ranging from high-end laptops having appropriate access to a variety of networks, such as GSM, UMTS , WLAN, Internet via a suitable plug-in card of the terminal reach.

• – Art des Zugangsnetzes, (GSM, UMTS, ...), oder der Zugangsnetze
• – Netzverfügbarkeit (mit Netzqualität, QoS, Übertragungsgeschwindigkeit, etc.),
• – Erreichbarkeit sowie Teilnehmerparameter, wie
• – Ortsinformation
• – Erreichbarkeit (Availability)
• – Bereitschaft (Willingness)
• – Statistik über bisheriges Kommunikationsverhalten, etc.

Various parameters of the subscriber (subscriber context information) and its network access (network information) are collected centrally, for example in the already known presence or context manager. The parameters are the parameters mentioned in the standards and already known to the person skilled in the art, such as

• - Type of access network, (GSM, UMTS, ...), or access networks
• - network availability (with network quality, QoS, transmission speed, etc.),
• - availability as well as participant parameters, such as
• - Location information
• - Availability
• - Willingness
• - Statistics about previous communication behavior, etc.

Of the Context manager considered the network parameters, linked this in a suitable manner by means of a network function with the subscriber presence parameters and generates new presence information (eg WLAN access network, do-not-disturb), 1, this For example, it is stored in the presence server and is then available to various applications and also available to participants, 2. In the example described, a planned software download can then be made from the SW-Download server to the participant, 3.

The 2 will now illustrate how the inventive method works. In one embodiment, parameters are used, which the subscriber has stored in his terminal, Tln. The terms used here do not refer to a specific manufacturer, corresponding settings exist in terminals of various manufacturers, the designations may differ.

Of the User has in his terminal first a special profile, profiles, activated. In this case acts it's the profile "do-not-disturb" since it is currently is in a meeting. This has the effect, for example, that his terminal does not ring, but he / she only by a vibrator alarm is alerted to incoming calls. The participant is So logged in his network, the probability that he / she in the time he activates this profile, picks up a call or triggers, but it is low.

The Function, status Tln, which is the mapping of presence information and Network parameters in new context information makes, is advantageously reside in the network. From the information available here, the Context managers now deduce that the participant to the current Time not disturbed wants to be. For example, this information appears as "Not Available" in the presence server stored.

In In this case, the participant now has to download a software make. This may be, for example, the update of a program including error correction (high priority) or also be a subscribed information service (low priority).

If a new download is available from the server, Apl, which holds the software for the subscriber, the participant can obtain the context information of the participant from the context manager, in order to select a suitable time when the download can start. For this, for example, the size of the file to be transferred is important, as well as the priority (for example, a new virus scanner may be considered more important than a new game). To monitor the presence information, the application, Apl, can use the known presence service mechanisms as described in 3 are described.

In the 3 It can now be seen how in the terminal of the subscriber A (Tln A, # 123) three settings that he has made are combined to form a new presence information. Similar to the embodiment of 2a the subscriber has set as a profile that he does not want to be disturbed, which means that the terminal does not ring when a call is through, for example.

Farther is on the terminal existing calendar entered a meeting (calender = "meeting"). As a third parameter was identified as being in his office (Location = "Office"). The third parameter can optionally be determined in the mobile network in which the Subscriber is logged in. Localization methods are those skilled in the art known.

Out this three information is now a through the context manager Presence information generated in its entries of the Parameter "Willingness", ie his readiness to accept calls on "unavailable" sets. As soon as one of the three parameters in the terminal changes, especially if the Profile of "do not disturb "again changed to "normal", or the location of the subscriber changes, the Willingness parameter may change be converted again without the participant himself something to do this.

Stand for the Users Tln at the server Apl data ready, so the server or a third party's context information, context info Tln, evaluate. From the context information can For example, he learns that the participant is "online" and under which types of connections, bandwidth, reachable would be "reachable". With the mobile device could a connection to the GSM network as well as Wlan connection exist, with a PC, for example, a UMTS card be present Internet access, infrared etc. Additionally with the information, that the participant is currently not "available" because he has his profile, profiles, accordingly has set. The participant will probably be in the next time do not want to establish connections yourself.

Of the Server can now with respect to the present Presence information and the one to be transferred Estimate data volume, whether a data transfer could be completed successfully at the current time. Provided this exam returns a positive result, the desired data transfer, Data Transfer, be carried out. If, for example, the currently available transmission rate too bad for the size Amount of data is, for example, because the network reception of the terminal too bad and the error rate is too high, the transfer can be to one later Time to be postponed.

The 3 shows a reference architecture, as specified in the standard TS 23.141. The presence service gives the participant's home network the ability to manage presence information of the user of their terminal and their services, even if it is in other foreign networks. This data is collected in the so-called presence server in his (home network). Here, the input is made up of all presence information, the user (Presence User Agent), the Presence Network Agent, and other elements outside these two.

The Network parameters here are technology-independent functions. Lying under can various networks exist, for example a GSM or UMTS mobile radio network, a GPRS, WLAN, Internet, etc. Important are the interfaces to the Presence server and presence agent, as these are standardized and the basis for it are that Presence information from different sources finally combined in the presence server can be.

On the right side shows the network elements that are used around the presence information provided in the presence server to other participants or applications. This application is called "watcher application". To further functionality and definition of the interfaces is based on the standard 3GPP TS 23,141 referenced.

Claims (5)

Method for the automatic generation of application-relevant context information of a telecommunication subscriber or his terminal in a telecommunication network, characterized in that already known, the subscriber or his terminal relevant presence information (subscriber context information) by means of previously defined rules with current information regarding the Telecommunications network (network information) are linked. Method according to claim 1, characterized that uses the application-relevant context information to optimize the use of resources (SW Download Server) to reach in the telecommunications network. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized that the already known the subscriber or his terminal concerned Presence information includes at least one of the following: - Reachability (Reachability) - Availability (Availability) - prioritization information (Priority) - Safety (Security) - Positioning data of the subscriber or terminal - Further Information from currently used applications on the terminal. Method according to one of the preceding Claims, characterized in that further information regarding the telecommunications network are evaluated: - transmission path (GSM, UMTS, WLAN, ...) - network utilization - general network resources - available quality of service (QoS) to influence the flow of services with. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that from the application-relevant context information a prediction regarding the usage behavior of the terminal (terminal) is derived, and a data transfer of data provided on a download server to the terminal (terminal) a participant is controlled.