EP1512301A1

EP1512301A1 - Method for sending short messages by means of a public telephone network

Info

Publication number: EP1512301A1
Application number: EP03755997A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rodolphe Grunenwald
Original assignee: Schlumberger Systemes SA
Current assignee: Axalto SA
Priority date: 2002-05-29
Filing date: 2003-05-14
Publication date: 2005-03-09
Also published as: MXPA04011889A; AP2004003194A0; WO2003103307A1; FR2840496B1; AU2003255571A1; FR2840496A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for sending short messages (SMS) from a public telephone (10, 10', 10'') on a public telephone network to a mobile telephone (MP), characterised in that said short message (SMS) is transmitted by said telephone (10, 10', 10'') to a first server (ITSMS) using a first request according to a first communication protocol, said first server (ITSMS) transmits said message to a second server (SMSGAT) using a second request according to a second communication protocol distinct from said first protocol and said second server (SMSGAT) transmits said message using a third request according to a third communication protocol to a message server (SMS-C) on the telecommunication network (GSM) to which said mobile phone (MP) is connected.

Description

METHOD FOR SENDING SHORT MESSAGES BY A PUBLIC TELEPHONY NETWORK

The present invention relates to a method for sending short messages over a public telephone network.

A public telephone network includes public telephones distributed over a certain territory and managed by an operator in charge of the network. A public telephone is a telephone which is not assigned to a given subscriber but which is freely made available to the public. Each user then directly acknowledges the communications he makes from this telephone. To do this, such a telephone cooperates with appropriate mechanisms for charging calls and collecting the corresponding sums. Public telephones are connected to a communication network, of the generally switched PSTN type. This network can of course be of another type, for example ISDN, GSM or even the Internet. A public telephone network includes, in addition to public telephone sets, one (or more) central computer or management server, hereinafter called PMS (acronym of the English term "Payphone Management System"), allowing the network operator to operate the supervision of the various telephones on his network. This PMS, which is also connected to the switched telephone network, has the function of exchanging data with each of the public telephones.

Consumer interest in short messages has led to that of public telephone operators who see it there, the possibility of offering new value-added services for users and therefore new sources of income for operators and resources build customer loyalty. Indeed, the development of GSM-type radio-telecommunication networks has generated the development of short message communications, also called SMS (Short Message Service), which today are very successful, particularly among young people. A short message service consists of the ability offered by mobile operators to send and receive alphanumeric messages, up to 160 characters according to the current GSM standard, with their mobile phone. Communication is bilateral, any GSM terminal has the capacity to receive and transmit a message. Such a service is standardized by the GSM standard.

Public telephones developed to date to allow the transmission of short messages use a computer architecture using PC cards or even include a GSM terminal. Such embodiments have many drawbacks. They are expensive and often require high power electrical supplies which can no longer be supplied by telephone lines alone and therefore require connections to the electrical network. The present invention solves this problem by allowing a standard public telephone receiving its power supply from its single telephone line, to send short messages. The method of sending a short message from a public telephone belonging to a public telephone network to a mobile telephone according to the invention, is characterized in that the short message is transmitted by the public telephone to a first server using a first request according to a first communication protocol, in that the first server transmits the message to a second server using a second request according to a second communication protocol distinct from the first protocol and in that the second server transmits the message using a third request to a message server belonging to the telecommunications network to which the mobile telephone is connected. According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the first request is routed to the first server via an application module to which the first request is addressed.

According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the first server concentrates all the short messages sent from the public telephones of the mobile telephone network.

According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the function of the first server is to establish statistics concerning short messages sent from public telephones of the mobile telephone network. According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the third request is sent by the second server using a third communication protocol distinct from the second protocol. According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the second server reports whether or not the short message has been received by the message server.

According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, in the event of the short message not being received by the message server, the first server proceeds to re-iterate the sending of the short message to the second server.

According to another characteristic of the sending method which is the subject of the present invention, the first protocol is a proprietary protocol specific to the public telephone network while the second protocol is a standard protocol of the http type. The aims, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the description given below of an embodiment of the invention, presented by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended drawing, in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic view of a public telephone network used for the implementation of the method of sending short message according to the invention; Figure 2 is a diagram showing the exchange of data when sending a short message. Only the elements of the public telephone network and its environment have been shown which are necessary for understanding the invention. It should be noted that according to the illustrated embodiment, there is shown the sending of a short SMS message from a public telephone to a mobile telephone of a GSM network referenced 9. It is understood that the present invention does is not limited to such a GSM mobile radio telecommunications network but relates to all types of telecommunications networks capable of managing short messages. In Figure 1, there is shown a public telephone network 1. This network includes a fleet of public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 ", etc. The same fleet can include several tens to several thousand telephones, or even several tens of thousands, depending on the territorial coverage of the network. Public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "are intended for use by self-service users and are therefore installed for this purpose in public places, such as the street, or semi-public, such as shopping centers, airports, halls hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. Each of these telephones includes a handset, a keyboard with alphanumeric keys allowing the entry of a telephone number and / or a text and keys allowing to access certain functions, a memory card reader or a microprocessor and / or a coin mechanism, a display device and an electronic card on which are installed the various electronic circuits necessary for the operation of the device and in particular a microcontroller, memories, a modem, etc. The public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 "allow users to carry out telephone communications, using an appropriate telephone network referenced 2. This telephone network 2 is of analog switched PSTN type or of digital switched type ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network This network 2 can also be constituted by a mobile radio network, whatever its nature: GSM, CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, D-AMPS, or by the Internet network or more generally by any communication network. suitable for transmitting data (X25, Ethernet, etc.) as well as by any combination of such networks. The public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "are connected to their respective exchanges by suitable telephone lines through which the necessary electrical current flows to their operation as well as charging signals. The public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "are equipped with TCP / IP communication protocols in accordance with the technical recommendations of IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), and are also suitable for communicating with a set 32 of remote application servers networked , for example in a local area network LAN 30 of Ethernet type, comprising in particular a server 5 also called PMS (English acronym for "Payphone Management System") dedicated to the operation and management of the public telephone network 1.

Preferably, the public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 "are equipped with a proprietary communication protocol PFSP. This protocol is particularly suitable for managing exchange sessions as well as for transferring data with remote servers, such as the PMS server detailed below This protocol notably includes the following PDU (Protocol Data Unit) dialog elements:

CONNECT: Used for establishing a session (sent by public telephones).

ACCEPT: Acceptance of the request by the server

DISCONNECT: Disconnection request sent by public telephones and / or servers

UPLOAD / DOWNLOAD: Request sent by the server to allow public telephones to deposit or retrieve files. POST: Request allowing the sending by public telephones of a content message of the SMS message type to a server (network). GET: Request allowing the recovery by public telephones of content hosted on a server (electronic mail ...). REPLY (OK / NOK): Confirmation in return of the processing (OK) or not (NOK) of a request; this confirmation is sent by the recipient of the request to the issuer of the latter. A NAS 20 remote access server (Network Access Server) is arranged between the network 2 and the network 30 to allow communication between the different public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 "with the different servers 32, for example by routing information via IP addresses assigned to these servers. The physical layer of the telephones is here carried out by analog or digital modems (ISDN). The server 20 can for its part be constituted by a router of the 3620-CH type manufactured by the Cisco company. It should be noted here that if in the example of FIG. 1 the communication network 2 represented is an analog or digital switched telephone network, the mobile telephone system according to the invention could just as easily be implemented with the Internet network as a network Communication. The telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "then being connected to the Internet via an Internet service provider ISP (Internet Service Provider).

A PROXY 6 application module more particularly serves as a communication interface between public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 "and the servers of the local LAN network 30 such as the PMS 5. The functions of the PROXY 6 will be more detailed below. .

The main function of PROXY 6 is to direct requests from public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "depending on the nature of these requests, to the corresponding servers. This is a re-routing function which allows only store and update the list of addresses of the servers likely to be called by the telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "only in the PROXY module 6 and not in each of the telephone terminals 10, 10', 10", the latter then only need to know the sole address of the PROXY 6. This arrangement considerably facilitates maintenance operations for the telephone network 1.

Thus, to communicate with the PMS 5, it suffices for a telephone to send a request to PROXY 6, a request the content of which, for example “connection”, is sufficient to be interpreted by PROXY 6 as a request intended for PMS 5. Then charged for PROXY 6 of find in its memories the IP address of the PMS 5 and transmit the message to it.

The PROXY 6 can also have the function of directing requests from public telephones to backup servers, in particular in the event of the unavailability of a server, thereby ensuring architecture redundancy. Thus, in the event that the PMS 5 is inaccessible due in particular to maintenance operations, it is then possible to direct the daily reports of the corresponding public telephones 10, 10 ′, 10 ″ to another management server then available. This switch from one server to another is then completely transparent for public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "which do not have to manage emergency addresses themselves but only the address of PROXY 6 The redundancy of the PROXY 6 itself is also possible, preventing communication breakdowns in the event of a breakdown.

In addition to the aforementioned function of routing the requests sent by the telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "to the appropriate servers, the PROXY module 6 can provide other functions such as translating the data or instructions transmitted by the telephones 10 into the format recipient servers. So in the case of Internet and Web connections, this involves translating the generally proprietary PFSP protocol used by public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "to transfer data to the outside of telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "in the appropriate protocol used on the Internet (http, RMI, pop3 ...), and vice versa to transfer information from the Web and the Internet to phones 10.

Another function of the PROXY 6 can be to control the syntax of the requests sent by the telephones 10 before retransmission and thus authorize authenticated accesses to the network further back (security). Another function is to establish exchange sessions reliable and authenticated information which consists, for example, of identifying with certainty the telephones 10 during an exchange of information with the servers, or even of encrypting the data in order to secure the communication if necessary. Another function of the PROXY 6 module can be to control and regulate the exchange of information carried out via standard file transfers and in accordance with Internet protocols.

In practical terms, PROXY 6 can be constituted in the form of software running on a PC type computer running on Windows NT (registered trademark) or even Linux, etc.

Any request to connect to a server reaches the input port of the computer, which is listened to constantly, then is redirected to a working port. The request is then analyzed by a software application, for example in Java language (registered trademark) allowing the control and the establishment of a session in the protocol sense of the term. A standard interface ("socket") is then opened and the request is sent to the destination server, and vice versa. Among the servers of the aforementioned LAN network, there is a PMS server 5, an FTP server 4, an ITSMS server 7 as well as an SMSGAT server 8. The function of PMS 5 is to exchange information with the fleet of public telephones operation and more generally the operation of the public telephone system. In particular, the PMS 5 manages the initialization sessions of public telephones and establishes statistical data from information received from public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "(alarms, operating counters, etc.).

The public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "and the PMS 5 are provided with appropriate means of supervision and of reception / transmission of information, these means which are in themselves known will not be described in more detail.

Among other functions, the PMS 5 transfers to the public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "the files necessary for their operation, such as rate tables, configuration parameters (such as the type of dialing, the characteristics of the line. ..), opposition or monitoring lists of the means of payment used. The public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "in turn transmit information relating to their use, namely a daily report including data relating to transactions carried out, to traffic, an alarm report which makes it possible to signal to the PMS 5 the occurrence of incidents or damage to their integrity, such as a breakdown on the card reader or a handset torn off, so as to anticipate intervention a monitoring agent, a status file characterizing the content of the telephone (such as the indications of the different versions of programs used by the microprocessor), etc.

To facilitate the exchange of data, a server 4 is specifically designed and adapted to the transfer of files 4, called FTP (for File Transfer Protocol). From requests issued by the PMS 5, each public telephone 10, 10 ', 10 "which integrates an FTP client entity, will connect to FTP 4 and download or download the appropriate files. The ITSMS 7 application server is more particularly dedicated when sending SMS messages by 10, 10 ', 10 "phones. All SMS messages sent from the different public telephones 10, 10 ', 10 "converge on the ITSMS server 7. The ITSMS server 7 then directs these messages to the SMSGAT server 8, which then re-routes them directly, thanks to a network communication 3 and access adapted to the different SMS-C servers of the different radio-telecommunications operators. The ITSMS 7 server therefore fulfills several functions, mainly those of translating, insofar as the PROXY 6 server has not done so, requests to send SMS messages, transmitted by phones 10, 10 ', 10 "according to the PFSP protocol in requests in http format, so that these can be processed by the SMSGAT server 8. The other functions of the ITSMS 7 server can be: kept up to date statistics on SMS messages sent by the telephone network 1, as well as on the acknowledgments received in return from public telephone operators. Similarly, the ITSMS 7 server can also have the function of resending an SMS message to the SMSGAT 8 server, when the latter has been unable to access the server SMS-C suitable for posting said SMS message (due in particular to a saturated connection or a problem of access to said server).

The diagram in Figure 2 describes the data exchange process between the servers surrounding the sending of an SMS message by a public telephone: The message is sent via a PFSP POST request, translated into http formalism for sending to the platform -MS-C form of the operator. This request contains the mobile number of the recipient, the language, the body of the message. Of course the protocol interfacing with the ITSMS 7 and SMSGAT 8 servers could be something quite different from the http protocol. The content of the request, once analyzed by the ITSMS server 7 (message, mobile number ...), will be sent through the SMSGAT server 8 to the mobile network 9.

The SMSGAT server 8 has more particularly the role of serving as a gateway between the public telephone network 1 and the operators of radio communication by directly accessing their SMS-C message servers. The SMSGAT 8 server identifies, from the recipient's telephone number, the radio operator concerned and the address of the corresponding SMS-C server. It then possibly translates the message into the proprietary protocol (SMPP, XML) of the SMS-C server thus identified and routes the message to said server through a telecommunication network 3 of the Intranet, Internet, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, etc. type. The SMSGAT 8 server is responsible for the correct reception of the SMS message by the receiving mobile through various operator networks. The SMSGAT 8 server is thus composed of different software components performing routing, surveillance or monitoring and management of statistics related to the delivery of SMS messages. The SMSGAT 8 gateway supports almost all SMS center operators (SMS-C).

The core of the SMS network is the SMS-C message server. This equipment is a relay which temporarily stores the received message before delivering it to its recipient. Thus the sender can send his message at any time without worrying about the state of the destination station. The message server transmits the message only when the receiving terminal is in the network, that is to say on. During the periods when a terminal is switched off, that being then out of the network, the message server keeps the messages intended for this terminal, to deliver them when it returns to the network.

The SMS-C message server is connected to the GSM 9 network, which mainly consists of mobile radio telephones MP (mobile phone), radio subsystems BSS (Base Station System), and Network and Switching Sub-system (NSS) management and routing subsystems.

A BSS radio subsystem is a piece of equipment which covers a specific geographical area. The BSS radio subsystem provides a control function using BSC (Base Station Controller) controllers and a radio transmission function supported by BTS (Base Transceiver Station) base stations. Each BTS base station covers a territory called a cell. This manages the connections with the mobile phones MP using an interface called radio interface. The BTS base stations are directly connected to BSC base station controllers, by wired site or by radio. The communications between a BTS base station and its BSC base station controller are defined by an interface called the Abis interface. Communication between the BSC base station controllers and the NSS management and routing subsystem is also done by wired own site or by radio, using an interface called A. NSS management and routing system is mainly composed of a set of elements hereinafter called MSC, HLR and VLR. The Mobile Service Switching Center (MSC) are switching centers for the mobile radio service responsible for routing communications to and from MP mobile phones as well as to the public telephone switching network PSTN. Each MSC element is connected by interfaces A to a set of BSC base station controllers as well as to the other MSC elements of the network. Each MSC element is also connected to HLR and VLR elements. HLR elements are databases where subscriber parameters are saved; they also contain information for each MP phone to locate it which is updated permanently. Finally, the VLR elements are databases where the precise locations of MP mobile phones in the call area are recorded.

The SMS-C message server connects to the NSS management and routing subsystem via an SMS Gateway MSC server which acts as an interface between the short message database and the GSM network. This interface allows messages to reach the destination terminals MP.

A message having been recorded with its characteristics (sender, recipient, priority, expiry date, etc.) in the SMS-C server, the latter then interrogates the HLR of the recipient subscriber to locate the latter. The HLR provides the references of the MSC switch responsible for the recipient. The message server transmits the subscriber's message and references to the MSC switch which manages the domain in which the mobile subscriber is located.

The switch queries its VLR visitor database to obtain the most recent contact details for the subscriber. This request is accompanied by a procedure for presentation of the message, verification of the state of the telephone, identification and then authentication of the subscriber. The switch delivers the message to the subscriber as soon as the subscriber activates his MP telephone. According to the system which has just been described, the process of sending an SMS message to an MP telephone from a public telephone 10 (or 10 ′, 10 ") is as follows:

The user introduces a means of payment such as a phone card or coins. The user then presses an appropriate service button on telephone 10 and accesses then to the service for sending SMS messages. An appropriate GUI (Graphical User Interface) is displayed on the screen of the telephone 10 and guides the user. The user then enters the phone number of the recipient of the SMS as well as the text to send, and activates the button for sending the message. This actuation then gives rise to the collection of a predetermined amount.

The telephone 10 then proceeds to send the SMS message. This sending can take place without delay or else it is operated later at a predetermined time. The telephone 10 can thus wait to have several messages before sending them. He can still wait for a more favorable period of day to make this shipment and this, in particular to increase his availability.

The sending is carried out by connection to the PROXY 6 module and emission of an appropriate request which is then received by the ITSMS server 7. The request in PFSP protocol format is then transformed into an http request then re-routing to the SMSGAT 8 server which then transfers the message to the SMS-C server of the radio communication network corresponding to the recipient's number. The SMS-C server in turn routes the message to the recipient's mobile phone MP as soon as this MP phone is connected to the network.

In return, the SMS-C server transfers to the SMSGAT 8 server an acknowledgment of receipt, which is communicated in its entirety to the ITSMS server for statistical processing. The response sent by the SMSGAT 8 server can take different forms (HTML, PDU ...) but contains a certain amount of information on the delivery or not of SMS message. By way of example, we may cite:

An error status or code (message correctly sent, protocol error, unknown network, etc.), A unique message identifier for tracking purposes. All of this information will be used by the ITSMS 7 server, in particular for statistical purposes, enabling the operator to be provided with certain indicators enabling the quality of the network, the volume of message transmitted, the income generated, the distribution of SMS messages to be measured. sent by operator, public telephones (type and location) sending SMS messages, etc.

Furthermore, if the SMS message is not received by the SMS-C message server, the ITSMS 7 server is able to re-iterate the sending of this SMS message to the second SMSGAT 8 server. non-reception of the SMS message by the SMS-C server can for example take the form of the non-reception by the ITSMS server 7 of a transmission acknowledgment message coming from the SMSGAT server after a predetermined period of time. Obviously, the illustrated embodiment has been given by way of example and is in no way limitative of all of the solutions that can be implemented thanks to the present invention. Thus, all or part of the modules and application servers PROXY 6, PMS 5, FTP 4, ITSMS 7 or SMSGAT 8 can be hosted on separate machines as in Figure 1, or even can be grouped in a single computer, for example PC type. It should be noted that the servers and in particular the SMSGAT 8 can be arranged outside the LAN 30 network, in the same way as any other server. The public telephone operator is therefore the sole owner of the solution and is able to fully exploit it.

It should be noted that the SMSGAT 8 gateway, and possibly the ITSMS 7 server, can just as easily be hosted on a remote network accessible by the operator's network allowing it to reduce its operating costs by fair payment for the service rendered. We will then talk about hosting solution.

Claims

1 / Method for sending a short message (SMS) from a public telephone (10, 10 ', 10 ") belonging to a public telephone network intended for a mobile telephone (MP), characterized in that said short message (SMS) is transmitted by said telephone (10, 10 ', 10 ") to a first server (ITSMS) using a first request according to a first communication protocol, in that said first server (ITSMS) transmits said message to a second server (SMSGAT) using a second request according to a second communication protocol distinct from said first protocol and in that said second server (SMSGAT) transmits said message using a third request to a message server (SMS-C) belonging to the telecommunications network (GSM) to which said mobile telephone (MP) is connected.

2 / A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said first request is routed to said first server via an application module (PROXY) to which said first request is addressed.

3 / Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first server (ITSMS) concentrates all the short messages sent from public telephones (10, 10 ', 10 ") of said mobile telephone network.

4 / A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first server (ITSMS) has the function of establishing statistics concerning short messages sent from public telephones (10, 10 ', 10 ") of said network mobile phone. 5 / Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said third request is sent by the second server (SMSGAT) using a third communication protocol distinct from said second protocol.

6 / A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said second server (SMSGAT) reports the reception or not, of said short message (SMS) by said message server (SMS-C).

7 / A method according to claim 6, characterized in that in case of non-reception of said message (SMS) by the message server (SMS-C), said first server (ITSMS) proceeds to the reiteration of the sending of said message (SMS) to said second server (SMSGAT).

8 / A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first protocol is a proprietary protocol (PSTN) specific to the public telephone network while said second protocol is a standard protocol of the http type.