JP2015039223A - Device and method for use in femtocell - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a femtocell base station for routing a text-based message.SOLUTION: A text-based message originated from a user device or apparatus existing locally is rerouted locally, when a destination device also exists in an area covered by a femtocell. A femtocell base station is configured to activate a certain autonomous control of a local apparatus, based on a rule, and to determine a desired receiver of a message originated locally.

Description

  The present invention relates to message routing by femtocell base stations. The present invention more particularly relates to local rerouting of text-based messages, for example by a femtocell base station at home.

  Short message service (SMS) messages are a well-known and popular means of sending interpersonal messages. SMS is also found in use in sending messages from home appliances to users and vice versa. Thereby, for example, the status of the device can be notified to him / her while the user is not in the vicinity and / or the user can send operational commands to the device from a remote location. This type of message may include, for example, an alert message that the device is not operating as intended. Examples of such messages include a message indicating that the device (eg, a freezer) has lost power, or a message indicating that the device has finished operating (eg, an alert that the washing machine has completed the washing cycle). ) It will be appreciated from the above that short message services are not only popular, but also provide considerable scope for remote operation of buildings and equipment. It will be appreciated that because of its popularity and usefulness, the amount of messaging traffic based on the above types of messages is quite large and is heading for further increase.

  A standard network architecture for SMS revolves around the Short Message Service Message Switching Center (often referred to as SMSSMSC, sometimes also referred to as SMSC). The SMSSMSC is installed within public land mobile networks (PLMN). Each PLMN has one or more SMSMSCs that provide store-and-forward functionality. The message is stored in the SMSSMSC until the user equipment designated as the destination for the message is ready to receive it. To this end, the SMSSMSC works with one or more voice call switching centers and / or home and visit location registers that track the current location of the user equipment. The SMSSMSC can store and deliver messages based on information from these switching centers and registers. WO 2009/046159, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, provides an example of a network that incorporates SMSSMSC. US 2009/0067417 and US 2009/0052395, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, disclose additional networks in which SMS traffic is routed via a network backhaul. The format of the mobile incoming SMS message frame (referred to as SMS-MT) transmitted over the air interface and the format of the mobile outgoing SMS message frame (referred to as SMS-MO) transmitted over the air interface are GSM (registered) Trademark) / 3GPP standards (which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) also include several textbooks on this subject (eg, Redl, Weber & Oliphant, “SM and Personal Communications Handbook”, Artech House, 1998, pp. 216-218, etc., which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

  For the purposes of this description, a femtocell base station (or 3GPP term home NodeB / home eNodeB (hereinafter referred to as “HNB”)) has a limited number of (compared to a full-size cellular base station). It is thought to be a small user-located base station that supports connected terminals and provides small capacity coverage for the size of a single home. The femtocell base station may connect to the network operator's infrastructure over the Internet via a broadband connection (eg, home broadband connection, etc.). References to femtocell base stations are intended to include the above-referenced HNB as well as limited size cells based on wireless metropolitan area network technologies (eg, WiMax, etc.).

  In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a text-based addressed to a recipient received from a transmitter that is in direct communicative contact with a femtocell base station. A femtocell base station is provided that includes switching means configured to route messages, wherein the receiver is also in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station for direct transmission to the recipient. The In other words, the femtocell base station is a locally originated message within a femtocell area covered by the femtocell base station, further covered by a femtocell created by the femtocell base station. Reroute messages that are destined for a destination device that currently exists within the area being addressed. Thereby, such messages are sent to the intended receiver without having to be sent on the backhaul (generally the internet connection) or on a macrocell or similar deployment belonging to a public land mobile network (PLMN). Is done. The increase in the amount of text-based messages in the area covered by the femtocell base station therefore does not result in a comparable increase in the amount of backhaul data traffic. Compared to the capabilities of known femtocell base stations, the femtocell base station of the present invention intercepts locally originated messages on the way to the backhaul and simply relays the message to the backhaul. Rather, if the destination devices are located within the area covered by the femtocell base station, it may be considered to reroute them for local retransmission.

  Femtocell base stations are known in the art as a means for providing wireless access to a telecommunications network and to further reduce the size of cells through which user equipment can access the network. Created. It has long been understood that the transmission bandwidth of a network is severely limited by the range of its access points (base stations) (ie by the size of its cells). It has been particularly recognized that a given cell can only provide a limited number of devices access to the network. Larger cells are likely to contain a large number of devices attempting to access the network accordingly. The likelihood of interference between different device access attempts increases with the number of devices attempting to gain access to the network via the same access point. For a finite number of resources (radio channels), there is a maximum number of devices that can be given access simultaneously. Cell size can therefore be a limiting factor for network access. Subdividing the coverage area into smaller cells (each covered by a low power access point with the potential for frequency reuse in non-adjacent cells) to increase capacity Can do. Based on this, there was a tendency to reduce the size of the network cell. And the beginning of femtocells is part of this trend. Base stations have been specifically designed to provide highly localized access points to mobile networks. And the coverage provided by each femtocell may have a radius as small as 10 m. Due to the small size of the femtocell, it is likely that a correspondingly small number of users will be simultaneously in the area covered by the femtocell base station. A femtocell base station thus “sees” a satisfactory number of user devices with respect to routing functions within the femtocell base station to become a useful and effective known femtocell base station. And therefore does not include such routing functionality. Instead, a known femtocell base station simply extends from a device present in the femtocell to a public land mobile network without determining where to send the message being made at the femtocell base station. Conversely, it relays messages received over the air. As described above, the message is then sent to the SMSSMSC, stored in the SMSSMSC, and forwarded by the SMSSMSC. An example of a femtocell arrangement is disclosed in EP 0 268 375. The entirety of which is incorporated herein by this reference. Further examples can be found in http://3ginthehome.wordpress.com/page/2/ and a paper published by C.-S. Hwang, T.-S. Wey and Y.-H. Lo (title “ An integration platform for developing digital life applications ”published in Parallel and Distributed Systems, 2007 International Conference on, Volume 2, pp 1-2). The entirety of both of these documents is incorporated herein by this reference.

  The inventor has realized that the possibility that the destination device is in a femtocell is not the same for all message types. In particular, for messages sent from the user to the relevant appliance and vice versa, it is even more likely that the intended recipient is located in the same femtocell as the device that originated the message. I realized that there was. Such messages are text-based messages, so this type of message benefits more from local rerouting functionality than other / non-text-based messages. It is this local rerouting functionality that the present invention adds to the femtocell base station. This functionality reduces the amount of backhaul traffic created by text-based messages and thus increases the network bandwidth available to other types of communications. Text-based messages between members of a group of people (eg family members) who live daily in the same building are also local if they use text-based messages for communication. Benefit from rerouting functionality.

  Text-based messages can include any form of message that utilizes text as a means of communicating information. The most prominent example is the short message service message (in this case, the rerouting function provided by the femtocell base station is considered to constitute a local SMS message exchange center provided in the femtocell base station. And email. Multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages that include text elements can also be considered text-based communications. The SMS message format is standardized and therefore sends commands to devices (ie, household devices (eg, freezer, washing machine, fire alarm, burglar alarm, etc. to name a few)) Essentially suitable for doing. Devices that are configured to be remotely controlled using SMS messages are commercially available. An example of a system for controlling devices using SMS messages is available from EP 1 045 355. The entirety of which is incorporated by reference. This document, however, proposes to control the device through messages received via the public land mobile network, thereby creating enhanced traffic on the public land mobile network. Other documents, such as US 2009/0088155 and WO 2009/046159, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, propose that the device that can be controlled by SMS is HNB itself. This is different from the present invention. This is because the present invention does not use text-based messages as a means of communicating control information to the femtocell base station. Rather, the present invention provides text-based messaging to additional devices that may be in an area covered by a femtocell base station but that do not form part of the femtocell base station. It is intended to communicate.

  A femtocell base station is configured to receive a text-based message from an area covered by the femtocell base station, and to transmit a message to the covered area A transmitter may be included. The receiver and transmitter may be a receiver and transmitter commonly found in femtocell base stations, or may operate wirelessly. They may also serve the same functions as receivers and transmitters commonly found in femtocell base stations (ie, local transmission and reception of any type of message supported by femtocell base stations). . The femtocell base station, however, does not go through the messages it originates locally (such as devices that form part of a macrocell / backhaul / public terrestrial mobile network). Rather than a message received directly by a femtocell base station) in that it is retransmitted to a device or user equipment that is also located in the area covered by the femtocell base station. Different from femtocell base station. The present invention thus eliminates the need to route this type of message through the femtocell base station to the public land mobile network. The femtocell base station may nevertheless be connected to the public land mobile network in the usual way. As a result, messages destined for the user equipment that is currently outside the area covered by the femtocell base station can be relayed to the user equipment without delay, and the area covered by the femtocell base station Outgoing messages can be sent to user equipment and / or equipment currently in the area covered by the femtocell base station. The femtocell base station sends rerouted text-based messages using the same air interface used for sending / receiving messages routed through the public land mobile network. Also good.

  The switching means may include means for determining a destination address from a message received at the femtocell base station. Since mobile outgoing and mobile incoming SMS message formats are standard and e-mail and MMS message formats are well known, text-based messages received at femtocell base stations are parsed, and thereby the message destination address. Can be extracted. The destination address is often in a well-defined and delimited field, and this extraction is done directly.

  The switching means is also configured to determine whether a device having a destination address specified by a message received at the femtocell base station is located in an area covered by the femtocell base station. Means or detectors may be included. The detector may take the form of physical means (eg, a transceiver) for determining that the user equipment and / or equipment is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station. Based on the output of this detector or detection means, the node may then determine whether the message should be retransmitted locally or directed over the macrocell / backhaul. For stationary devices such as bulky household equipment, such detection is not necessary and the problem is that these devices are permanently located within the area covered by the femtocell base station It can also be assumed that nothing can be assumed. As a result, it may only need to register the device once as a fixed device with the femtocell base station (eg, after installation of the device or the femtocell base station).

  The detection means / detector may be a record / list of those devices that are in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station, or may include the record / list. The record may include, for example, the MSISDN number of the user device or device as an identifier of the user device or device. Then, whether or not the device identified by the extracted destination address is within the area covered by the femtocell base station may be determined by examining / searching the record. If the destination address in question is not in the recording, it can be concluded that the destination device is not currently within the area covered by the femtocell base station. Records / lists may be configured to be dynamically updated. The femtocell base station may, for example, add to the record the identifier of the user equipment and / or equipment identified as having direct communication contact with the femtocell base station. This takes note of the address of the user equipment and equipment that sent the message to the femtocell base station via a direct communication contact / link, and the address of such user equipment and equipment is now directly with the femtocell base station. It may be done by adding to the list of addresses of devices or equipment that are in communication contact. At the same time, devices that are detected as being within the area covered by the femtocell base station by an ongoing detection step may also be added to the record. The femtocell base station may be configured to delete an entry from the record if no message is received from the device during a predetermined period of time.

  The femtocell base station further includes a processor configured to associate a message received from within an area covered by the femtocell base station with one or more destination addresses according to a predetermined rule. But it ’s okay. This allows received messages to be rerouted to multiple destination addresses. Such rerouting is useful, for example, for messages received from devices. For example, an alarm message from a fire alarm is covered by the femtocell base station to alert the same number of people currently in the area covered by the potentially dangerous femtocell base station. It may be important to be rerouted to all user equipments currently located in the area being played. Other messages that may be desired to be sent to more than one user device may be messages related to the need for emergency action. For example, it can be assumed that a message from a freezer that has been damaged by a loss of mains power should be rerouted to multiple people so that prompt action can be taken. In order to ensure the quickest possible response, recipients of such messages may be detected within the area covered by the femtocell base station. A message to be sent to more than one recipient may be referred to as a multicast message, while a message to be rerouted to only a single recipient may be referred to as a unicast message. Once the processor has associated the message with one or more destination addresses, the message can be sent over a direct communication link to the device with each selected destination address. The association of a message with one or more destination addresses is not limited to selecting a destination address of a device or user equipment that is currently known to be within the area covered by the femtocell base station, Of course it will be recognized. Such a message (eg, an alert message sent from the burglar alarm to the femtocell base station indicating that the burglar alarm has been activated) is within the area covered by the femtocell base station. Forwarding to a non-current user equipment can be equally important. The processor may therefore associate the message with one or more destination addresses of user equipment or equipment that are either within the area covered by the femtocell base station or not directly within the area.

  From the above, it will be appreciated that it may be beneficial for some messages to be directed to one or more recipients not specified by the application sending the message to the femtocell base station. Instead, one or more recipients of such a message are users who are currently in an area covered by the femtocell based on predetermined rules and / or upon receipt of the message from the device. The femtocell base station may determine based on the type and / or number of devices. As already implied in the above, such a rule is that some messages (for example, messages that emit alarms such as fire alarms or theft alarms) are considered most suitable for responding to the alarms. May be directed to multiple user devices known to be owned by These people may be known and identified to the femtocell base station in that the addresses of multiple user equipments owned by them are stored at the femtocell base station. The rule is based on other criteria (for example, the presence or absence of a plurality of specific user devices in the area covered by the femtocell, the type of alarm, etc.). It may be similarly directed to a plurality of user devices in various but predetermined groups.

  Relocating the burden of selecting one destination address or multiple destination addresses from a device that can send a message is based on rules stored in advance (and need to receive instructions for the target destination) Without) a femtocell base station that can direct messages to user equipment or other equipment can interact with and manipulate equipment that is technically unable to send messages to specific recipients. It has further advantages.

  This was found to be advantageous by itself. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, therefore, a femtocell base station determines a message type of a message received at the femtocell base station by direct communication, and the message is sent to one or more destinations. Provided by a femtocell base station configured to select the destination address based on the message type and according to a predetermined rule, the processor configured to forward to an address Is done. The message type may include an alert message from the device. And it indicates the movement of user equipment or equipment within the area covered by the femtocell or indicates the completion of the process (eg washing machine washing cycle or tumble dryer drying cycle) May be an alert message.

  The femtocell base station may further include means for allowing further rules and associations to be entered or to change existing ones of predetermined rules or associations. Such means may be wireless.

  The predetermined rule may further associate / logically link the device with one or more user devices (eg, mobile phone, laptop, PDA, etc.). At the same time, multiple user devices may be associated / logically linked to each other. For example, a mobile phone can be assumed to be logically linked by the rules to a user device that is physically connected to a bunch of keys or wallets and / or to a laptop or PDA. The femtocell base station may associate user equipment / devices with each other. This detects a corresponding change in the position of the associated user equipment when a change in the position of the user equipment (eg, transfer of the user equipment from an area covered by the femtocell base station) is detected. If not, an alert message is issued from the femtocell base station. For example, if the femtocell base station detects that the user is about to leave the home, for example by detecting a change in the location of the mobile phone, and at the same time, the femtocell base station If the femtocell base station confirms that the location of the key, laptop or PDA has not changed to match that being carried by the user, the femtocell base station will send an alert message to this effect. May be sent to the mobile phone (which, in other words, reminds the user to take the item he / she is leaving without having them). The femtocell base station may include a locator configured to determine a position of a device within an area covered by the femtocell base station.

  The position of a device (eg, a television) may be further associated with another device (eg, a burglar alarm) by a rule. For example, in this television set example, if a change in the position of the device is detected after the burglar alarm has sent a message that it has been activated to the femtocell base station, an alert message to this effect is provided. It can be assumed that the message may be sent to a further user equipment (eg mobile phone). The change in position of the device may be, for example, in the nature of transfer of the device from the area covered by the femtocell. Such a transfer can be detected by the femtocell base station polling for devices that are expected to be within the area covered by the femtocell. The lack of response from the device can be handled to indicate that the device in question has moved out of the area covered by the femtocell (especially from the burglar alarm described above, for example). (In situations where activation messages make such a conclusion reasonable).

  More generally, the femtocell base station may associate / logically link equipment or user equipment with other equipment and / or user equipment through rules and / or others. May be associated / logically linked to the location of the device and / or user device. If it is determined that one or more conditions under the rule governing such association have been met, the femtocell base station will result in transmission of a message to the user equipment or equipment. Further, it may be configured.

  This was found to be advantageous by itself. According to another aspect of the present invention, therefore, to monitor the rules for linking two or more user equipment and / or equipment and the location of the linked device within the area covered by the femtocell base station. A femtocell base station is provided. The femtocell base station determines whether the position (or relative position) of the linked device matches a predetermined rule or a plurality of predetermined rules, and the position of the device Further includes means for sending a message to the device or user device if the one or more rules are not met.

  The processing power associated with localized message rerouting, and in particular the processing power associated with identifying a message type and associating a destination address with a particular message type based on rules, is also a home base device. It was further recognized that it could be used to provide automatic control based on the rules of Any spare processing power in the femtocell base station may be used to control them, for example, in a manner that reduces costs associated with equipment operation. Devices that require a large amount of operating power may be controlled by the processor of the femtocell base station, for example, so that they do not operate during peak power hours. The processor instead determines a more optimal time zone (e.g., a daytime zone during which peak power demand is not normally encountered) and power aggregation (e.g., after a peak power time zone). A message may be sent to switch on the household appliances so that they do not operate during peak power hours (by simply switching on the household appliances). The processor may coordinate household devices with each other, or reduce or limit the total power consumed, or provide other efficient ways to operate the devices. Further, it may be configured. For example, a device may be controlled such that a device that may depend on another device is controlled and / or started as soon as the dependent device generates a state necessary for such control and / or activation. May be. For example, it can be envisaged that the washing machine and the tumble dryer can be selectively switched on so that the washing machine and the tumble dryer simultaneously complete the washing cycle / drying cycle respectively. The processor of the femtocell base station monitors the control message, specifically the date and time, and determines the activation message determined to be appropriate for the activation of the device based on a predetermined rule. It may be configured to achieve by transmitting to.

  This was found to be advantageous by itself. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is a femtocell base station configured to control a device, the femtocell base station needing to change an operation parameter of the device from a predetermined rule. Or text to determine a request or trigger event, monitor a condition associated with the change in the operating parameter of the device, and change the operating parameter to control the device if the condition is met A femtocell base station configured to transmit a base control message is provided.

  The femtocell base station can determine whether the locally rerouted text message is, for example, by counting the number of locally rerouted messages or by determining the bandwidth used to reroute these messages locally. A traffic monitoring arrangement configured to monitor the amount of base message traffic may further be included. The information obtained by the traffic monitor may be used as a basis for charging the femtocell base station owner for rerouting services.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a femtocell base station including a short message service / message exchange center is provided.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described femtocell base station, but includes an apparatus including a femtocell base station as described above, and a device and a user apparatus capable of entering a direct communication contact with such a femtocell base station, and It extends to the system. Such equipment and user equipment may include a suitable transmitter, receiver or transceiver.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a method for local messaging within a femto cell is provided. The message receives a text-based message with a destination address at the femtocell base station and determines whether a device associated with the destination address is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station; , If it is determined that the device is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station, including sending the message directly to the device. If it is determined that the destination address is not currently one of the devices in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station, the method may route the message to a macrocell / backhaul / public land mobile network.

  The method further identifies the type of message received at the femtocell base station, and a predetermined type of message with one receiver or multiple receivers according to a predetermined rule. It may be related. The method further determines the position of the device within the area covered by the femtocell base station and / or determines a change in the position of the device, and sends a message to the device or further device You may send it. Prior to sending the message, it may be ascertained that the conditions for sending the message are met.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for routing a message at a femtocell base station, wherein the femtocell base station receives the message via a direct communication link; and the received message. A method is provided that includes determining a message type of the message and forwarding the message to one or more destination addresses selected based on the message type and a predetermined rule.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for creating an alert message in a femtocell base station, wherein two or more user equipments capable of establishing a direct communication link with the femtocell base station and / or Using one or more rules for linking equipment; monitoring the location of the linked user equipment and / or equipment within an area covered by the femtocell base station; Determining whether the location of the user equipment and / or device is within the one or more rules and, if the location is not within the rules, a message to the user equipment and / or equipment A method is provided that includes transmitting to.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a device in a femtocell base station, wherein an instruction for changing a device operating parameter is obtained, and conditions relating to the change of the device operating parameter And sending a text-based control message to the device to change the operating parameter if the condition is met.

  Furthermore, this solution is equally effective in unlicensed mobile access (UMA) situations.

  Embodiments of the present invention are described below by way of example only.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified architecture of an HNB / home hub according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a process for locally rerouting an appliance message. FIG. 3 shows the process of routing messages to the macrocell. FIG. 4 shows a process for locally rerouting mobile originated messages. FIG. 5 shows a process for routing a mobile outgoing message to a macro cell.

Detailed description

  FIG. 1 shows a structural diagram of a femtocell base station (in this case, a home nodeB) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The HNB includes a connection interface 103 that allows the HNB to be connected to the backhaul / WAN, and a connection interface 104 to provide air interface cellular connectivity. Known femtocell base stations or hubs send incoming and outgoing messages between these two interfaces. For this reason, transmission of any message involves backhaul traffic. Additional connectivity 102 may optionally be provided by low data rate home networking technologies (eg, ZigBee®).

  In addition to these input / output devices, the femtocell base station includes a smart home server 101. The smart home server 101 may be a processor. One of the functions of the smart home server 1010 is to integrate and control the devices according to the instructions of the femtocell base station.

  The smart home server 101 may also operate as a hub for other / all communications in the home. Thereby, for example, all information traffic relating to televisions and laptops is routed through it. The smart home server 101 may further perform the functions of a home media server and hold media content included in information traffic to and from the area covered by the femtocell.

  The smart home server 101 may provide smart meter functionality, for example, to enable reduction of power consumption during peak hours. The femtocell base station may therefore be operatively connected to equipment with high energy consumption (eg, tumble dryer) so that the home server 101 is associated with the appropriate SMS message. By simply transmitting to any device, such devices can be switched off during peak times, or they can be placed in a reduced duty cycle. This enables operation of household devices according to the operation pattern specified by the user in a centralized manner by using the femtocell base station and the smart home server 101. The smart home server 101 may also automatically control some devices. Such automatic control can take a variety of forms. For example, it is assumed that the smart home server 101 may operate kitchen equipment (for example, a coffee maker) during a predetermined time of day, week, or month so as to meet the user's request. . Alternatively, such a user device may be automatically activated in response to a specific event. Usually, a household device (for example, a coffee maker) used in the morning by a specific user is activated by the smart home server 101 in response to reception of a signal from the alarm clock indicating the activation of an alarm clock, for example. good.

  In addition or alternatively, the smart home server 101 may control the home device according to the position determined by the user. The smart home server may, for example, turn on the oven immediately or after a predetermined time after the presence of a user in the area covered by the femtocell is detected. Such detection may be facilitated by detecting the presence of a mobile user device (eg, mobile phone or PDA) that is known to be carried by the user.

  In other embodiments, the smart home server 101 may not control some of the household equipment that it communicates with. For some devices, the smart home server 101 may instead only be able to redirect messages from the device to the appropriate person or group of appropriate people. This is useful, for example, in situations where a device is damaged from a failure that cannot be corrected by using remote commands (eg, a power failure in a freezer). It will be appreciated that in such situations, notification of failure occurrence is important. Such notification is facilitated by the smart home server 101. The device may send a message with an appropriate alert to the femtocell base station, and the femtocell base station's smart home server 101 then sends the message into the area covered by the femtocell. You may reroute to the user apparatus of a certain arbitrary user. Thereby, the failure can be appropriately addressed. The alarm signal from the fire or smoke detector may be equally directed to all user equipment currently in the coverage area of the femtocell to ensure the safety of the individual who is the carrier of the user equipment. To provide this functionality, the smart home server 101 can identify the type of message received. The message may include, for example, an urgent instruction or an indication that the message should be sent to all users in the vicinity. Alternatively, the message may be sent to the femtocell base station without a destination address. The smart home server 101 may view this as an indication that the message should be sent as a multicast message that is sent to all user devices currently in the coverage area of the femtocell base station.

  The smart home server 101 may optionally include a billing unit configured to record a number of “home oriented” messages. A “home oriented” message is a message sent from a source in the area covered by the femtocell to a recipient who is also in the femtocell, without data transmission over the backhaul connection. It is. Such log information may be sent to an operator of the femtocell base station, for example, for posting purposes.

  The smart home server 101 identifies messages that do not specify one specific destination address or multiple specific destination addresses (eg, messages from home devices) and provides appropriate destination addresses for such messages Further configured to. The message from the fire alarm sensor may be directed, for example, to the user device of each user currently in the area covered by the femtocell base station. Other messages may relate to or originate from an object specific to a particular user (eg, a transmitter or transceiver associated with and connected to the user's wallet or key). The smart home server 101 may be configured to direct these messages to a user associated with the object.

  The femtocell base station shown in FIG. 1 further includes a local message exchange center LMSC 107. The local message exchange center 107 includes a routing table that dynamically lists the user equipment and equipment currently in the coverage area of the femtocell base station. Local messaging centers use their telephone numbers (MSISDN) to index user equipment and equipment.

  In the femtocell base station shown in FIG. 1, means 106 are also provided for identifying the destination address of a particular message (referred to as Destination Address Sniffer Process (DASP) in FIG. 1). ). An SMS message format that conforms to the referenced and incorporated standards described above includes a destination address field that identifies the MSISDN / phone number to which the text message is destined. The SMS message format can be parsed and the destination address of the SMS message can be extracted and / or looked up.

  The operation of the DASP module 106 depends on the type of message received by the femtocell base station. As indicated above, if the message is received from a “smart” home device, the smart home server 101 appends a destination address to the message. In this case, the DASP simply queries the local messaging center 107 for the destination address to determine if the destination device is within the area covered by the femtocell base station. In contrast, if the message is a mobile originating SMS (SMS-MO) received from within the area covered by the femtocell base station, the DASP extracts the destination address from the SMS originating message format. This is provided to the local message exchange center to determine if the destination device is currently within the area covered by the femtocell base station.

  The femtocell base station further includes a rerouting unit 105. If the local message exchange center 107 or DASP 106 indicates that the destination device or user equipment is currently in an area covered by the femtocell base station, the rerouting unit 105 is covered by the femtocell base station. Message received from a user equipment or equipment located in a certain area is retransmitted to a destination device in the area covered by the femtocell base station. If the input information received from the local messaging center 107 and / or DASP 106 indicates that the destination user equipment or equipment is not within the area of the femtocell base station, the rerouting unit 105 Route messages along the backhaul to the network operator's infrastructure server.

  The femtocell base station may be further configured to determine the location of a particular device / object / equipment (eg, user wallet or key). This makes it possible to confirm the presence or absence of such an object in the area covered by the femtocell base station. This may be accomplished using RFID technology or similar technology, which has been omitted from FIG. 1 for clarity.

  Those skilled in the art will recognize that the modifications that need to be made to known communication systems to enable the rerouting functions described above are localized message exchange center 107, destination address detection process 106, rerouting function 105, And it will be appreciated from FIG. 1 that it only provides the addition of an optional smart home server 101. No further changes need to be made to the femtocell base station, to equipment or user equipment supported by the femtocell base station, or to the network to which the femtocell base station is connected.

  It will be appreciated that in the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the entity that makes the decision as to whether the rerouting function should be enabled is incorporated into the functions of the DASP 106 and the localized message exchange center 107. Let's go. However, it will be appreciated that alternatively, an independent decision module may be provided that relies on input from DASP 106 and / or localized message exchange center 107.

  FIG. 2 illustrates the message flow associated with redirecting an alert originating from a device in an area covered by a femtocell base station to a device or user equipment that is also within the area covered by the femtocell. explain. The message originates at the device and is transmitted wirelessly to the femtocell base station transceiver 102 or 104 and forwarded to the smart home server 101 from step 201. Smart home server 101 then forwards the message to DASP 106. Then, in step 202, DASP 106 extracts the destination address of the message by analyzing the message. In step 203, the extracted destination address is given to the local message exchange center 107. Then, the local message exchange center 107 determines whether a device having an address corresponding to the destination address is located in the area covered by the femtocell, in the area covered by the femtocell base station. Based on a list of destination addresses associated with the current device. The result of this address check is reported to DASP at step 204. If the local message exchange center 107 determines that the device having the address corresponding to the destination address is currently in the area covered by the femtocell, the rerouting function of the femtocell base station is It is activated. This activation results in the received message being routed in step 206 from the smart home server 101 to the local femtocell base station cellular communication stack. If smart home server 101 recognizes that the message is destined for multiple recipients, DASP 106 will provide multiple destination addresses. In this case, steps 203 and 204 are performed for each destination address, and multiple messages are sent to the cellular communication stack of the femtocell base station, as indicated by the presence of message paths 206 and 207.

  Messages from equipment or user equipment located in the area covered by the femtocell base station may, of course, be directed to user equipment not in the area covered by the femtocell base station. In FIG. 3, the message flow associated with this scenario is illustrated. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the message flows in steps 201-203 are the same as those in FIG. For this reason, similar reference numbers are used for similar parts of the process. However, subsequently, the local messaging center determines that the intended recipient of the message has not been recorded / listed as being within the area covered by the femtocell. This may be because a device with the destination address is simply not in the area, or a device with the destination address is usually not in the area covered by the femtocell. It may be. As a result, in step 301, the local message exchange center 107 sends a message to the DASP 106 indicating that the intended recipient is not local. Therefore, the local rerouting function is not enabled, so the smart home server 101 can receive the received message for macro cell / WAN / backhaul for transmission to the recipient, as indicated by message path 206. Forward to. If the message is of a type that requires transmission to multiple recipients (for example, a message that signals the activation of a burglar alarm), the smart home server 101 is illustrated by the presence of two message paths 302 and 303. As shown in FIG. 3, this results in the transmission of a message to the plurality of receivers.

  As discussed with respect to FIG. 2, localized rerouting is, of course, not limited to the device sending the message. The localized rerouting technique of the present invention is also applied to mobile outgoing messages, which are messages sent from user devices. Here, the message may be generated by the user rather than automatically or by a device. FIG. 4 shows the message flow that occurs during the rerouting of such messages. The message originates from the mobile device / user equipment 401 and is communicated 402 to the femtocell base station communication interfaces 102 and 104. The message then proceeds to DASP 106 at step 403. The DASP 106 analyzes the message and extracts a destination address. In step 404, DASP 106 provides the destination address to local message exchange center 107. It is then determined whether the device associated with the destination address is located within the area covered by the femtocell. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the local messaging center 107 finds that the device associated with the destination address is within the area covered by the femtocell, and a notification to that effect is received in step 405. Returned to DASP 106. In response to receiving this notification, DASP 106 sends an enable message to rerouting unit 105 at step 406, and then at step 407, rerouting unit 105 sends the received message to the local recipient device. To enable retransmission of the communication port 102 and / or 104. Communication port 102 and / or 104 then resends the message to the destination device (which may be a device or a portable user device) at step 408. In this scenario, the femtocell base station PLMN core (ie it is the core responsible for the transmission of messages to the WAN / backhaul / macrocell / public terrestrial mobile network) needs to be activated. It will be appreciated that there is no. It will be appreciated that backhaul traffic can be reduced by re-routing messages locally in this manner. This is particularly beneficial when the message is a device control message.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a scenario involving a device or user equipment where the message is mobile originated, as in the scenario described in FIG. 4, but the destination address of the message is not currently in the area covered by the femtocell. . The steps of receiving a message, extracting a destination address in DASP 106, and forwarding a destination address for a message destined for a device located outside the area covered by the femtocell are in the scenario described in FIG. In fact, the destination address is compared with the local message exchange center record for the user equipment and equipment currently in the area covered by the femtocell (it relates to the destination address). It will be appreciated that the device to do is only determine that it is not local to the femtocell. For this reason, steps 401-404 in FIG. 5 have been given the same reference numbers as the corresponding steps in FIG. However, the local message exchange center 107 determines that the destination address record does not exist in the current list of local devices, and the local message exchange center 107 determines that the user equipment associated with the destination address If it is determined that it is not within the area covered by the cell and, as a result, the DASP 106 is notified in step 501, the femtocell base station performs the same step as in the known HNB case. At 502, the PLMN core is activated to forward the message to the WAN / macrocell / backhaul.

  In a further arrangement according to the invention, a message sent to a femtocell base station is intentionally sent to a non-existent destination address or to an address that identifies the femtocell base station as a recipient, or otherwise To a predetermined address. In this arrangement, the message is not understood to be directed to the femtocell base station itself, but rather is a message directed to multiple recipients that have not been identified so far. Is interpreted by the localized message exchange center 107. The activation message from the fire alarm received at the femtocell base station is an example of such a message. From this type of message received at the femtocell base station, the DASP module 106 obtains an “invalid” address, an address that identifies the femtocell base station, or other predetermined address. It is configured to extract and send the extracted information to the localized message exchange center 107. The localized message exchange center then provides instructions to redirect the message to all user equipment in the area covered by the femtocell. This ensures that any user who can be at risk from fire alarm activation is appropriately warned of the potential danger.

  As indicated above, by using a destination address that identifies a femtocell base station, or by using another predetermined address, or by using an invalid destination address This message type is apparently directed to the femtocell base station, but is interpreted by the localized message exchange center 107 as intended to be communicated to a predetermined group of users. Can also be assumed to be good. For example, the activation message received from the burglar alarm will be similar to that described above with respect to the activation message received from the fire alarm, and all users in the area covered by potentially dangerous femtocells. To deal with all user devices currently in the area covered by the femtocell, as well as predetermined user devices (e.g. activation of theft alarm and its consequences) It may also be directed to a user device that is known to be owned by a possible adult.

  It will be appreciated that the above description of the invention has been made by way of example only to illustrate the invention. One skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited by the examples provided above.

Claims (26)

At the femtocell base station,
Comprising switching means configured to route a text-based message directed to a recipient received from a transmitter in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station, wherein the recipient is also A femtocell base station in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station for direct transmission to the recipient.   The femtocell base station according to claim 1, wherein the exchange means includes means for determining a destination address from a message received at the femtocell base station.   The switching means includes means configured to determine whether a destination device identified by a message received at the femtocell base station is located in an area covered by the femtocell base station. The femtocell base station according to claim 1 or 2.   The femtocell base station according to claim 3, wherein the means includes a record of devices in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station.   And further comprising means configured to determine that the device is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station and add an identifier of the device to a record of the device in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station. Item 5. The femtocell base station according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   6. The processor of claim 1 further comprising a processor configured to associate a message received from within an area covered by the femtocell base station with one or more destination addresses according to a predetermined rule. The femtocell base station of any one of Claims.   The femtocell base station according to claim 6, further comprising input means allowing to input further rates and / or to modify existing ones of the predetermined rules. At the femtocell base station,
Including a processor configured to determine a message type of a message received at the femtocell base station by direct communication and forward the message to one or more distribution addresses;
The femtocell base station, wherein the processor is configured to select the destination address based on the message type and according to predetermined rules.   Femtocell base station including short message service and message exchange center. One or more rules linking two or more user equipment and / or equipment capable of establishing a direct communication contact with the femtocell base station;
Means for monitoring the location of the linked user equipment and / or equipment in an area covered by the femtocell base station;
Determining whether the location of the user equipment and / or device matches the one or more rules, and sending a message to the user equipment and / or equipment if the location is not within the rules. A femtocell base station comprising a configured processor. In a femtocell base station configured to control equipment, the femtocell base station
From a predetermined rule, determine a change in the operating parameters of the device,
Monitor conditions associated with the change in operating parameters of the device;
A femtocell base station configured to send a text-based control message to change the operating parameter to the device when the condition is met. The femtocell base station according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
Including one or more devices configured to establish a communication contact with the femtocell base station. In the method of local message routing inside the femtocell,
Receiving a text-based message with a destination address at a femtocell base station;
Determining whether a device associated with the destination address is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station;
Transmitting the message directly to the device when it is determined that the device is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station.   The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a destination address from the received message. Maintaining a record of devices in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station;
15. A method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising placing the basis of the recording in the determination. Determining that the device is in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station;
16. The method of claim 13, 14 or 15, further comprising adding the device identifier to a record of a device in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station. Identifying the type of message received at the femtocell base station;
17. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, further comprising associating a predetermined type of message with one or more destination addresses according to a predetermined rule. In a method for routing a message at a femtocell base station,
Receiving the message via a direct communication link;
Identifying the message type of the received message;
Selecting one or more destination addresses based on the identified message type and predetermined rules;
Forwarding the message to the selected destination address.   The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, further comprising determining a position of a device in direct communication contact with the femtocell base station within an area covered by the femtocell base station. Determining a change in the position of the device;
The method of claim 19, further comprising transmitting a message to the device or to a further device based on the determination.   21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, prior to the sending the message, determining whether a condition for sending the message is met. In a method for creating an alert message at a femtocell base station,
Using one or more rules for linking two or more user equipment and / or equipment capable of establishing a direct communication link with the femtocell base station;
Monitoring the location of the linked user equipment and / or equipment within the area covered by the femtocell base station;
Determining whether the location of the user device and / or device is within the one or more rules;
Sending the message to the user equipment and / or device if the location is not within the rules. In a method for controlling equipment in a femtocell base station,
Determining a change in the operating parameters of the device from predetermined rules;
Monitoring conditions associated with the change of the operating parameter of the device;
Sending a text-based control message to the device to change the operating parameter if the condition is met. In a method for controlling equipment in a femtocell base station,
Obtaining an instruction to change the operating parameters of the device;
Monitoring conditions associated with the change of the operating parameter of the device;
Sending a text-based control message to the device to change the operating parameter if the condition is met.   25. Computer program code configured to cause the femtocell base station to perform the method of any one of claims 13 to 24 when executed at the femtocell base station.   A data carrier comprising the computer program code of claim 25.

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