JP5675909B2 - Local information service - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for providing a local information service using an infrastructure of a cellular communication network, a system for providing such a local information service, a network entity of a cellular communication network, and such a network It relates to a method for controlling an entity.

  It is known that services called location-based services (LBS) are provided in cellular communication networks such as cellular radiotelephone networks. Such services typically include a mechanism for estimating the location of the terminal with the help of, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS) or the Mobile Positioning System (MPS). Prepare. This mechanism can determine the location of the terminal using cell ID information or algorithms based on timing advance and / or triangulation. Based on the knowledge about the location of the terminal, a service based on a specific location (for example, recommendation of restaurants and sightseeing around the terminal) can be provided to the terminal.

  Furthermore, a service that distributes information to a plurality of terminals in one or more cells by broadcasting information with the help of a service called a cell broadcast service (CBS) is known. It has been. Each terminal must enable the ability to listen to each broadcast channel. There is known a service called multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) that provides broadband broadcast to mobile terminals. Transmission of content to the terminal can be performed on the application layer using file transmission or streaming transmission. File transmission uses, for example, FLUTE (File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport), and streaming transmission uses RTP (Real Time Transport Protocol).

  In addition, an emergency service is known, and in response to receiving an emergency message from a mobile terminal, the location of the terminal is determined, for example at that location (for example, in the form of an ambulance) In) you can send a rescue.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved location-based service using the infrastructure of a cellular communication network, such as a cellular radiotelephone network.

  This object is achieved by the embodiments of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims.

  According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for providing a local information service using the infrastructure of a cellular communication network is proposed. The cellular communication network includes a service originating terminal that transmits a network upload message to the cellular communication network, and the network upload message includes a payload portion. A cellular communication network is provided with a reflection entity (eg, in or connected to the cellular communication network). The reflection entity receives the network upload message, generates one or more reflection messages with a payload portion, and the one or more reflection messages are in a predetermined spatial location with the service originating terminal. To the service destination terminal group.

  Thus, a novel concept called data reflection is proposed in the present application. That is, the transmitting terminal transmits specific content in the payload portion of the network upload message. A network upload message is a message that does not contain the destination address of the other terminal (for example, this may be considered in the case of SMS or MMS). However, the network upload message is configured so that it can be recognized as a message to be reflected, for example, by carrying or not having a predetermined piece of information. A reflection entity is provided in the network, and the reflection entity is configured to recognize the network upload message. The reflection entity “reflects” the content in the payload portion. This reflection is done by simply inserting it into the message destined for the destination terminal that has a predetermined spatial location with the terminal that sent the network upload message. This predetermined spatial positional relationship can be determined in an obvious way by the reflection entity. This is done, for example, by determining the location of the service originating terminal that sent the network upload message, and determining a destination terminal within a predetermined distance, for example, from the service originating terminal. Alternatively, the spatial positional relationship can be established implicitly. This can be done, for example, by the location of the reflection entity itself, associating the reflection entity with a network base station, for example, and sending a reflection message to all terminals within that base station's coverage area. Can be configured to.

  This concept of data reflection allows information to be distributed at high speed to a limited number of terminals that are spatially limited. This means that information can be distributed without significant delay. This means that little processing needs to be done and the content in the payload portion is “reflected” and no further processing is done in the communication network.

  In this way, it is possible to provide a local information service, in which a service originating terminal (which should also be able to act as a service destination terminal at the same time) sends an upload message, thereby reducing the flow of information. Can be activated. This upload message is then immediately reflected by the reflection entity to a spatially limited group of service destination terminals. Such services can be particularly fast and have low latency when the reflection entity is deployed with a base station or eNodeB (ie, in a radio access network). The closer the reflection entity is to the terminal, the less delay. However, the reflection entity may be located inside the core network of the cellular communication network, or may be external to the network.

  A network upload message carries an appropriately shaped indicator so that the communication network is determined to be a network upload type message, i.e. reflected by the reflection entity. Note that it can be recognized. It should be noted that such an indicator is a server address (here, if the reflection entity is not the destination server, in fact, the destination need not have a server. In other words, the server The address may be for a virtual server). Alternatively, it may be any other appropriate form of indicator such as a predetermined flag in the message header. Even if there is no predetermined piece of information, such as no information in the address field of the message, it is possible to identify the network upload message as well.

  According to a further embodiment, a system for providing a local information service using the infrastructure of a cellular communication network is proposed. The cellular communication network comprises a service originating terminal configured to send a network upload message to the cellular communication network. Here, the network upload message includes a payload portion. The system further comprises a reflection entity of the cellular communication network. The reflection entity receives a network upload message, generates one or more reflection messages with a payload portion, and sends the one or more reflection messages to a service originating terminal in a predetermined special relationship. It is configured to transmit to a group of destination terminals.

  According to a further embodiment, a network entity is proposed as a reflection entity of a cellular communication network. The network entity includes a receiver for receiving a network upload message comprising a payload portion from a service originating terminal, a message generator for generating one or more reflection messages comprising a payload portion, and A message transmitter for transmitting the one or more reflection messages to a group of service origination terminals having a predetermined special relationship with the service origination terminal.

  According to a further embodiment, the invention relates to a method for controlling such a reflection entity. The method includes a procedure for receiving a network upload message comprising a payload portion from a service originating terminal, a procedure for generating one or more reflection messages comprising a payload portion, and the one or more reflections. A procedure for sending a message to a group of service destination terminals in a predetermined special relationship with the service originating terminal.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This is provided for a better understanding of the concepts of the present invention and should not be viewed as limiting the present invention.

3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the terminal and network to which this invention is applied. FIG. 3 shows a network entity according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention for controlling a reflection entity. FIG. 3 illustrates elements of an example network involved in providing a local information service. FIG. 4 is an overview showing various different variations that can be used in embodiments of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the protocol stack for describing embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling between network elements in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows an example of signaling between network elements in a further embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 shows an example of signaling between network elements in a further embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 illustrates protocol layering in one embodiment in which a reflection entity is provided in a base station. FIG. 6 shows an example of signaling between network elements in a further embodiment of the invention.

    FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a basic embodiment of the method of the invention. In a first step S10, the terminal of the cellular communication network transmits a network upload message to the cellular communication network. Here, the upload message comprises certain content in the payload portion.

  The term “network upload message” means that the message is uploaded to the cellular telecommunication network, but this is also a specific message designed for local information services. I mean. This is because the network upload message contains an indication of the appropriate form, so that the cellular communication network is a message whose network upload message comprises a payload part, which is the service destination in the local information service. This is because it can be recognized that the content to be reflected back to the terminal is included. The indicator can be selected in any suitable or desirable manner. It may be a predetermined data string such as a server address or any other indicator such as a flag in the header of the message. The indicator may also be missing a specific piece of information, for example an address.

  Initiation of sending a network upload message can also be selected in any suitable or desirable manner. For example, the message can be transmitted by the user of the mobile terminal by appropriately operating an application on the mobile terminal. Alternatively, such a network upload message can be sent automatically. This is because, for example, in an emergency situation it is desirable to issue an alarm to the surroundings that can be placed in danger or hazard. In this manner, the inventive concept is configured to automatically send a network upload message with warning or alarm content to the outside automatically when an appropriate detector in the vehicle recognizes the dangerous situation. The present invention can be advantageously applied to the case of a vehicle mounted system. This is the case, for example, when an accident detector detects that an accident has occurred.

  In step S11, the reflection entity in the cellular communication network receives the network upload message. The term “entity” refers to a device or group of devices for providing the indicated functionality. Thus, nodes, node parts or groups of nodes can form network entities.

  As mentioned above, the network upload message carries an appropriate indicator. The reflection entity is configured to recognize this indicator. This can be done in various ways. For example, the indication may simply be the address of a service comprising a reflection entity, whereby a network upload message is forwarded by the network to the reflection entity. In this sense, the server automatically recognizes the upload message. However, for example, placing one or more nodes in a cellular communication network, analyzing the message for an indication (eg, a given server address), and thereby a network upload message It is also possible to recognize and intercept it. For example, the reflection entity can be installed in a base station and can detect one or more given server addresses. Then, the reflection operation can be directly executed. That is, in this case, the message is not actually transferred to the designated address. Thus, in this case, it can be understood that the server need not actually exist under the given address. Similarly, network entities can be configured to recognize indicators such as flags in message headers.

  In step S12, the reflection entity generates one or more reflection messages. The reflection message comprises the payload portion received in the network upload message. For example, the payload portion may comprise alert or warning information that the sending terminal wishes to distribute within a specific area around itself. The generated reflection message is reflected, for example, with the payload part of the message (comprising a header with control information and a payload part with content) untouched, only the message header is modified. You can be like that.

  The determination of the group of service destination terminals, i.e., which of the receivable terminals should actually receive the reflection message can be made in various ways. For example, the reflection entity can perform a dedicated determination process to establish a spatial positional relationship. Or already running. This can be done, for example, by estimating the location of the sending terminal (eg with the help of GPS or Cellular System Mobile Positioning System (MPS)) and based on the estimated location of the terminal that is a possible endpoint for this information service Then, a specific rule (such as “find all terminals within the radius xy”) can be applied.

  However, the spatial positional relationship can also be determined implicitly. For example, it can be based on the location of the reflection entity itself. That is, if the reflection entity is associated with a node of a cellular communication network that is serving a given area (such as a base station), the spatial location relationship is all of the given area. It can be established by sending a reflection message to the terminal. This is because the transmitting terminal is located in the predetermined area. Of course, spatial location also allows reflection messages to be transmitted not only to terminals within a given area (eg, cell), but also to a given given area (eg, It can be specified that the data is also transmitted to a terminal in the cell.

  It should be noted that the local information service can provide a service in such a manner that only a terminal registered for the service can operate as a service source terminal and / or a service destination terminal.

  In step S13, the reflection entity transmits the one or more reflection messages to a plurality of service destination terminals that terminate in the predetermined spatial positional relationship with the service transmission terminal. This transmission can be done in a variety of different ways. This will become clear from the examples that follow.

  FIG. 2 shows several terminals 21-24 of the cellular communication network 20. The cellular communication network 20 comprises a reflection entity 25. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the network terminal 21 operates as a service transmission terminal and transmits a network upload message 200 toward the cellular communication network 20. This network upload message 200 is received by the reflection entity 25. This is because, for example, the network upload message 200 is destined for the server comprising the reflection entity 25. Or, for example, because the reflection entity 25 can read a dedicated indicator in the network upload message 200 and thus intercept the message. Then, the reflection entity 25 generates reflection messages 201 and 202 and transmits them to the network terminals 22 and 23, respectively. In this embodiment, these terminals 22 and 23 are in a predetermined spatial positional relationship 203 with the terminal 21, and the terminal 21 operates as a service transmission terminal. More specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the spatial positional relationship is shown as an area 203 around the terminal 21. As can be seen, the terminal 24 is not located in the area. That is, the terminal 24 is not in a predetermined spatial positional relationship with the terminal 21. Therefore, the reflection message is not transmitted to the terminal 24.

  In the embodiment shown here, the terminal 21 operates as a service transmission terminal, and the terminals 22 and 23 operate as service destination terminals. The local information service is a format in which each group of terminals (terminals 21 to 24, etc.) can operate as both a service transmission terminal and a service destination terminal if they register with the service. It is desirable to be provided.

  Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 2, the reflection messages 201 and 202 were transmitted to the terminals 22 and 23 but not to the calling terminal 21. Optionally, the reflection entity 25 could also be configured to send a reflection message back to the service originating terminal 21. Thereby, for example, the service transmission terminal 21 can confirm that the network upload message 200 has been properly received.

  As mentioned above, it is desirable that a terminal enabled for the local information service can operate as a service source terminal and a service destination terminal. However, it is also possible that some terminals operate only as service origination terminals and other terminals operate only as service destination terminals.

  It should be noted that FIG. 2 is merely an example, and a local information service will typically involve more terminals. In addition, more than one reflection entity can be provided.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the service originating terminal and the reflection entity are configured to establish and maintain a reflection upload session to provide a local information service. In other words, the service transmission terminal such as the terminal 21 in FIG. 2 and the reflection entity 25 initially exchange session setting parameters to establish a reflection upload session. Furthermore, it is desirable that the service destination terminals 22 and 23 and the reflection entity 25 establish and maintain their respective reflection download sessions. In other words, a terminal desiring to act as a service destination terminal initially exchanges session setup parameters with the reflection entity 25 and establishes a reflection download session. Note that the reflection upload session and the reflection download session can be kept independent of each other. If a terminal can act as both a service origination terminal and a service destination terminal, those terminals hold a reflection upload session and a reflection download session at the same time, which are then reflected It is desirable to have a single local information service session for the given terminal associated with the entity.

  An important aspect of establishing and maintaining a session is that the reflection entity tracks which network terminals are participating in the local information service as potential service origination terminals or potential service destination terminals. It is a point that can continue. Thus, maintaining a session can include sending a keep alive message from the terminal to the reflection entity to inform the reflection entity that the terminal is still present.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the reflection upload session is a unicast channel of the cellular communication network for the duration of the session so that the connection between the terminal and the reflection entity can be maintained. A step of holding. Such a unicast channel may be, for example, a circuit-switched connection or a packet-switched connection between a terminal and a reflection entity (general packet radio service (GPRS) connection or general-purpose mobile). Communication system (such as in UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems) connection). The network upload message is then transmitted via the unicast channel thus established and maintained.

  Similarly, a reflection download session includes the steps of maintaining a unicast channel of the cellular communication network between the reflection entity and each service destination terminal for the duration of the reflection download session. Can be included. Such a unicast channel may also be, for example, a circuit switched channel or a packet switched channel between the service destination terminal and the reflection entity.

  The advantage of having such a unicast channel is that the transmission of network upload and / or reflection messages can be very fast (ie, there is little delay). This is because it is not necessary to first set up a communication channel when sending an upload message or a reflection message. The delay in operating the service is reduced when the service is used as a local warning or warning system (for example, a vehicle-mounted terminal that issues a warning to the surroundings in case of an emergency or accident) Is especially important).

  Considering the communication between the terminal and the reflection entity, each application establishes a session between the terminal and the reflection entity, and the communication is over the transport layer connection (eg, user datagram protocol ( UDP (User Datagram Protocol), transmission control protocol (using TCP: Transmission Control Protocol), etc. are retained, and transfer layer connection is retained on a lower layer (MAC (Media Access Control) layer, etc.) Is desirable. One embodiment is shown in FIG.

  When a keep alive message is transmitted from the terminal to the reflection entity as part of session maintenance, it is desirable that the keep alive message be transmitted periodically. The time interval of this cycle is preferably set to a time shorter than the time interval of any timeout timer used in the lower layer communication protocol (for example, in the transfer layer, link layer, MAC layer, etc.). In other words, in this mode, the application in the application layer and the application in the reflection entity will lose its connection due to a timeout in the lower layer before exiting in a controlled manner, for example. It can be avoided. The keep-alive time interval can be preset in the terminal. Or, the terminal can be adapted to perform an analysis of previous connections and determine the keep-alive time interval from the results. In addition, the terminal has an adaptive procedure, so that the keep-alive time interval can be adaptively changed. That is, the currently set keep alive time interval can be increased using the test execution mechanism. This can be done, for example, by extending the time interval and testing if the connection is maintained, and if this extension is successful, use this extended time interval. If a problem is detected, the terminal can return to a preset value. Such a test procedure can define a time interval extension in a step-wise manner. Alternatively or additionally, the reflection entity can signal a time interval to the terminal, which uses this time interval as a default value or any other time interval that has been preconfigured in the terminal. Can be rewritten.

  In the above description, it is noted that according to the preferred embodiment, the terminal and the reflection entity can maintain a unicast channel. In addition or alternatively, serving on a shared upload channel such as a random access channel of a cellular communication network and sending a reflection message on a broadcast or multicast channel of the cellular communication network is also possible. Is possible. Using a shared upload channel and a multicast or broadcast channel has the same advantages as maintaining a unicast channel. This is because these channels are already set up, and therefore channel setting delays in the local information service can be avoided.

In other words, in a local information service, it is desirable to send network upload messages and / or reflection messages using a communication channel that is pre-established and maintained continuously. The entity can be configured to perform a spatial positional relationship determination process to determine a group of service destination terminals having a predetermined spatial positional relationship. This determination process can include estimating the location of a service originating terminal that has transmitted the network upload message and estimating the location of a potential terminal as a service destination terminal. This can comprise as an example the step of analyzing location indicators in network upload messages such as positioning data obtained from GPS or cell IDs. Similarly, estimating the location of the service destination terminal may include a step where a potential terminal as a service destination terminal periodically sends a message to the reflection entity. This message comprises location indicators such as GPS positioning data or cell IDs. Such a location indicator can be sent formally, for example, as part of a reflection download session, which is probably sent with a keep alive message. Similarly, the network can estimate the location of the service destination terminal by using the MPS of the cellular network.

  In order to reduce the delay that may be involved in the spatial location determination process when a network upload message is received, the spatial location determination process consists of a reflection upload session and a reflection download. -It is desirable to run continuously during the session. This is because, for each terminal that is likely to be a service origination terminal, the reflection entity continues a group of service destination terminals that have a predetermined spatial positional relationship with each terminal that may be a service origination terminal. It is desirable to be executed in such a manner as to establish it. Therefore, in that case, when a network upload message is received from one of the terminals that are potential service origination terminals, a group of service destination terminals for the service origination terminal has already been established. The reflection message can be sent immediately. In other words, the reflection entity is a continuous group of service destination terminals that are in a predetermined spatial location (eg, within a predetermined radius) for each terminal that may be a service originating terminal. It is desirable to keep a record so that when a network upload message is received, a group of service destination terminals is immediately available. Therefore, there is no delay with respect to the step of determining the group.

  The determination of the predetermined spatial relationship can also be done in an implicit manner. That is, a reflection entity can be associated with a node of a cellular communication network that provides a service in a predetermined area. In this case, the network upload message received from a given area may simply be reflected back into the area, and there is no need to perform a specific determination process of the spatial relationship. For example, a reflection point can be installed at a base station of a cellular communication network, and a network upload message from the base station cover area can be reflected back into the cover area as a reflection message.

  Attention should be paid to the following points. The concept of executing a clear determination process of a spatial positional relationship in the reflection entity and the concept of performing an implicit determination of a group having a predetermined spatial positional relationship can be combined. This can be combined by a reflection entity that can be provided with nodes that serve a given area. At the same time, it is also possible to execute a spatial positional relationship determination process for one or more terminals related to the local information service.

  According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the reflection entity is preferably configured to perform a message anonymization process to delete information identifying the service originating terminal from the one or more reflection messages. . In other words, in order to protect the privacy of the service origination terminal, only the information that the service origination terminal wants to distribute in the payload portion of the network upload message is copied into the reflection message, and the service origination terminal It is possible to configure the reflection entity so that information (such as address information) for identifying is not copied.

  As already mentioned, the basic concepts of the present invention and the above embodiments can be advantageously applied in the context of service when the service origination terminal and / or the service destination terminal are onboard. . Thus, one form of traffic alert information service is made possible by the inventive concept. More specifically, an alert or emergency message can be sent as a network upload message, after which traffic participants in the vicinity of the service originating terminal (eg, within a predetermined radius) It can be reflected. The transmission of the network upload can be activated in any desired manner. This may be done, for example, manually by the driver of the vehicle, or automatically when a detector in the vehicle detects a predetermined condition that it is determined to warn nearby traffic participants. It is desirable to be performed automatically.

  Furthermore, when using a reflection upload session and / or a reflection download session, the onboard terminal will automatically establish a respective session whenever the vehicle ignition is activated, for example. Can be configured. Of course, this establishment could also be manually activated by the driver of the vehicle. Similarly, the session can be automatically terminated when the ignition is deactivated. That is, the terminal then sends an appropriate session termination message to the reflection entity.

  Furthermore, it should be noted that the term onboard means that the terminal is attached to the vehicle, which may be permanent or detachable. For example, a terminal that can operate as a service originating terminal or a service destination terminal may be a mobile telephone terminal suitably attached to the vehicle interface system. This vehicle interface system may be, for example, a known mobile telephone interface for automobiles. However, the terminal may also be fixedly mounted on the car.

  FIG. 3 illustrates a network entity 30 configured to operate as a reflection entity. The network entity 30 includes a receiver 301 for receiving a network upload message comprising a payload portion from a service originating terminal, and a message generator 302 for generating one or more reflection messages comprising the payload portion. A message transmitter 303 for transmitting the one or more reflection messages to a group of service destination terminals in a predetermined spatial position relationship with the service originating terminal.

  The entity 30 may be, for example, a server, and the receiver 301, message generator 302, and message transmitter 303 may be provided as hardware, software, or any suitable combination of hardware and software. For example, they can be provided as part of computer code for execution on a programmable processor.

  FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a basic control method for a network entity, such as entity 30. This control method includes a procedure S41 for receiving a network upload message including a payload portion from a service originating terminal, a procedure S42 for generating one or more reflection messages including a payload portion, A procedure S43 for transmitting the above reflection message to a group of a plurality of service destination terminals located in a predetermined spatial positional relationship with the service transmission terminal.

  The basic control method can be changed according to any of the embodiments described above, and the control method itself can be implemented as a computer program or a storage medium storing a computer program. Here, the computer program or the storage medium storing the computer program comprises a portion of computer code for executing the control method when executed on the programmable network entity.

  In accordance with the previously described embodiment, the network entity 30 is also provided with a reflection upload session manager for establishing and maintaining a reflection upload session with the service originating terminal. Is desirable. Further, the network entity 30 may include a reflection download session manager for establishing and maintaining each reflection download session with the service destination terminal. The reflection upload session manager is preferably configured to maintain the unicast channel of the cellular communication network for the duration of the reflection upload session. Here, the receiver 301 is configured to receive a network upload message via a unicast channel. Alternatively or additionally, receiver 301 may be configured to receive upload messages over a common access channel of a cellular communication network.

  Similarly, the reflection download session manager is configured to include a step in which one or more download sessions maintain a unicast channel of the cellular communication network for the duration of the reflection download session. Is desirable. Here, the message transmitter 303 is configured to transmit the reflection message via the unicast channel. Additionally or alternatively, the message transmitter 303 can also be configured to transmit the one or more reflection messages over a broadcast or multicast channel of the cellular communication network.

  Note that the session manager can be provided as hardware, software, or any suitable combination of hardware and software.

  Preferably, the reflection entity 30 further includes a processor for performing a spatial positional relationship determination process to determine a group of service destination terminals. The processor can comprise an analyzer for analyzing a location indicator in the network upload message. Note that the analyzer can be provided as hardware, software, or any suitable combination of hardware and software. The processor may further comprise an estimator for estimating the location of the service destination terminal. Again, the estimator can be provided as hardware, software, or any suitable combination of hardware and software.

  As already specifically mentioned, the reflection entity 30 can be associated with a no in the cellular communication network. This node provides a service in a predetermined area such as a base station of a cellular communication network or an eNodeB.

  Further, the reflection entity 30 may include a message anonymizer (anonymizer) for deleting information identifying the service transmission terminal from the one or more reflection messages. The message anonymizer can be provided as hardware, software, or any suitable combination of hardware and software.

  More detailed examples are described below. Among them, some of the embodiments mentioned above are modified and combined.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a case where the present invention is applied to a 3G cellular communication system. Here, the terminal 50 mounted in the vehicle transmits a network upload message 501 to the network via the NodeB. The network includes an RNC (Radio Network Controller), an SGSN (Serving GPRS Service Node), a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Service Node: Gateway GPRS Service Node), and a data reflector. A data reflector is one example of a reflection entity and is connected to a GGSN. Furthermore, BM-SC (Broadcast Multicast Service Center), CBC (Cell Broadcast Center), and MPS (Mobile Positioning Center) are shown.

  FIG. 6 provides an overview of three preferred concepts for installing a reflection entity. This is shown as a data reflector unit and illustrates its operation. Three mechanisms are described below. As already mentioned, a “network upload message” is characterized by a reflection indicator (eg, a header element such as a flag, and / or a specific address or port, etc.) in the header of the message.

  Number 1 represents the case of unicast transmission, where the data reflector manages a list of terminals (eg in the vehicle) connected to the data reflector (ie holding a connected session) To do. The list includes an estimated position of the current position of each terminal. By receiving a network upload message with a geo-tag, the data reflector selects the terminals affected by the message and sends a network upload message to these terminals (vehicles). return. Each terminal attempts to avoid establishing a time-consuming connection by maintaining a transfer layer connection with the data reflector and continuously allocating radio resources.

  The number 2 represents the case where the network supports a broadcast mechanism, and the data reflector will forward the packet to which area (ie a certain set of cells) based on the location information of the network upload message. Decide what should be. MBMS is one broadcast mechanism that could potentially be used.

  The number 3 represents the case where the network can be strengthened by adding a new reflection entity integrated into the base station. Such a reflection entity allows high-speed reflection of messages even when no location information is embedded in the packet. Thus, the base station can implicitly perform location-based reflection on the cell that sent the upload message (and optionally the neighboring cells).

  In the following, these three cases will be examined in more detail.

  In the case of unicast (number 1), as shown in FIG. 7, each vehicle tries to keep the transfer layer connection (TCP, UDP,...) With the data reflector. The application layer (reflection) protocol is responsible for maintaining this connection. When a data packet is to be transmitted, radio resources are allocated on the media access control (MAC) layer. The application layer (reflection) protocol can prevent the resource allocation procedure from being performed by retaining the allocated radio resources for the entire duration of the session.

Thus, in this embodiment, the following procedure can be used.
The terminal (vehicle) initiates an application layer (reflection) session by establishing a transfer layer connection and allocating radio resources. Session parameters such as application type and update frequency are exchanged with the data reflector. One example of this is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows an application layer protocol entity (app.ent.), A transport layer protocol entity (tran.ent.), And a MAC layer protocol entity (MAC ent.). The left three entities 80, 81, 82 are installed in the calling terminal, the central MAC entity 83 belongs to the network, and the right entities 84, 85 belong to the reflector entity. It should be noted that the procedure in FIG. 8 is represented by a single arrow “reflection session start” in the following FIG. 9, FIG. 10, and FIG. It should be further noted that in these figures, an alert message is shown as an example of a network upload message, and a reflective alert message is shown as an example of a reflection message. These messages are preferably exchanged on the application layer. Also, the keep-alive message shown here is preferably exchanged on the forwarding layer.
The terminal sends an upload message to the data reflector and receives reflection messages from other terminals (vehicles) from the data reflector. The message is embedded in a transfer layer (TCP, UDP) packet. Upload messages arriving at the data reflector are sent back (reflected) according to their location to terminals in the terminal list that have an estimated location in the relevant area associated with the upload message. The area is a geographical area that can be arbitrarily defined depending on the reflection message type and the reflection session parameters.
The data reflector can perform the following procedure after receiving the upload message:
--Identifies the session ID (which could be included in the message or obtained by correlating the terminal ID / address with the session ID).
-Extract relevant session parameters.
--- Read message parameters (message type, location reference). The position reference may be positioning data or cell ID obtained from GPS, for example.
-Deriving the corresponding (predetermined spatial location) area of the upload message depending on the session and message parameters For example, if an upload message having an “accident alarm” flag and a cell ID 4711 is received, in the case of a hexagonal cell, the corresponding area corresponds to all six cells (ID: 4708, 4709, 4710, 4712, 4713, 4714).
-Match the list of connected terminals with their estimated locations to the area (obtained via cellular network or GPS based tracking). And all terminals (-> affected terminals) in the corresponding area are extracted. The message transmission terminal may be excluded or included.
-Before sending back a reflection message (including the payload portion of the network upload message, and therefore the content that the service originating terminal sending the upload message intends to distribute) to the affected terminal (vehicle) Next, the message start point ID and the message start point address are deleted (in accordance with privacy regulations). However, to prevent misuse, the sender ID and possible signatures can be recorded in a dedicated monitoring server to later identify intentional infringement.
-During a certain time interval, if no data packet is sent over the established connection, the terminal sends a keep-alive message (possibly containing useful application data). This will only be reflected by the originating terminal and will not be reflected by other terminals. See FIG. 9 for this. This application layer message causes the result of resetting the forwarding layer timer and the MAC layer timer without knowing the machine operation of a particular protocol state. The timer can be determined by knowing the protocol configuration or by using pre-measured results.
-The terminal can determine the end of the data reflection session by sending a message to the data reflector indicating the end of the session at the reflector or a timeout. The result of receiving a keep-alive message for a timed-out session is a new session establishment procedure.

  Hereinafter, the broadcast embodiment (number 2) will be described with reference to FIG.

The procedure can be as follows.
The terminal initiates an application layer session (eg for counting or registration history) by establishing a transfer layer connection and allocating radio resources. After exchanging parameters with the data reflector (application type, update frequency, etc.), it is not necessary to keep the application layer session active.
When there is no data to send, the terminal sends a short keep alive message (possibly containing useful application data). This will not be reflected by any terminal. This application layer message results in resetting the forwarding layer and MAC layer timers without knowing the machine operation of the particular protocol state of the underlying access network. UE (User Equipment) tracking can be applied, but this tracking is not mandatory for this kind of embodiment of the data reflector.
-The terminal sends a network upload message to the data reflector. The upload message can be embedded in a transfer layer (TCP, UDP) packet. The network upload message that arrives at the data reflector is sent to the broadcast service, and the message is distributed within the corresponding area of the network upload message. Alternatively, only the content part having the instruction of the corresponding area is transferred. Alternatively, a complete reflection message is generated and forwarded with the corresponding area indication. The area is a geographical area that can be arbitrarily defined depending on the network upload message type and upload session parameters.
The terminal receives the reflection message by constantly monitoring and listening to a specific broadcast channel dedicated to the reflection message.
-The data reflector can perform the following procedure after receiving the upload message.
--Read message parameters (eg message type, location reference). The position reference may be positioning data or cell ID obtained from GPS, for example.
-Derive the corresponding area of the upload message depending on the message parameter.
-Map the corresponding area to a broadcast area specific to the available broadcast service (ie service area in the case of MBMS).
-Anonymize the reflection message by deleting the message start point ID and message start point address (in accordance with privacy regulations).
-The reflection message, or upload message, or the content part of the upload message is sent to the broadcast service node in the network together with the corresponding area information, and the broadcast service node sends a message in the affected cell. Start broadcasting. That is, a reflection message is sent to the BM-SC, and the BM-SC initiates distribution within the associated service area.
-The broadcast service always maintains a shared channel dedicated to high-speed reflection messages in order to guarantee high-speed data transmission. If MBMS is used, an MBMS transport channel could always be assigned for reflection messages.
-When different services or different priority classes are multiplexed onto one transport channel, the reflected road traffic alerts are all over the broadcast area with the highest priority via the broadcast channel. Could be sent to other terminals.
-Optionally, the terminal can end its data reflection session in an explicit manner by sending a data packet to the data reflector and instructing the end of its data reflection session.

  In the following, a local reflection embodiment (number 3) will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The reflection entity in the base station makes it possible to reflect messages very quickly. This is possible when the base station is enhanced by a reflection entity (see FIG. 11). In some communication systems based on infrastructure equipment (such as WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution)), the data link layer of the radio link is terminated in the base station. However, the new reflector entity has access to network layer packets.

The reflector can perform the following procedure.
-Check if the input message is an upload message. This could be accomplished, for example, by looking up the specific IP address that the outgoing message is destined for. Another option is to check the application protocol to see if a reflective tag is set.
-If the message is an upload message, the reflector entity can perform one or more of the following steps.
-The message itself is returned to the starting cell in the downlink direction. This can be achieved by changing the network layer address to a multicast / broadcast address.
-Furthermore, depending on the message type, messages can be sent to surrounding base stations. In LTE (Long Term Evolution) this would be a data exchange through the X2 interface. The base station can maintain a neighbor list for this function.
-In addition, the network upload message or the information on it is transferred via the core network to the server (indicated as “monitoring server” in FIG. 12), and a log of all reflection messages is logged. Can be taken (to prevent abuse). Note that such a monitoring server can be used in all of the above embodiments.

  In this embodiment for data reflection, no location reference is required. Knowledge about the place is implicitly taken into account.

  Embodiments of the present invention improve the delay performance of local information services in cellular networks (reduce transmission delay), thereby enabling new applications. A new application is an application to road traffic hazard warnings, etc. That is, the vehicle can warn vehicles in close proximity regarding accidents, dangerous driving situations, slippery road conditions, etc.

  Although detailed embodiments have been described above, these are provided only for a better understanding of the invention and should not be viewed as limiting the invention. The invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (21)

A method of providing a local information service using a cellular communication network infrastructure,
When a detector provided in the vehicle recognizes a dangerous situation, the vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal automatically transmits a network upload message including a payload portion to the cellular communication network; and
A reflection entity of the cellular communication network receives the network upload message, generates one or more reflection messages including the payload portion, and transmits the one or more reflection messages to the vehicle-mounted type see containing and transmitting to the service calling terminal and a predetermined group of service destination terminals located in spatial relationship,
The vehicle-mounted service origination terminal and the reflection entity establish and maintain a reflection upload session that provides the local information service;
The vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal periodically transmits a keep alive message including a location index indicating the location of the vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal to the reflection entity. Method. The reflection upload session comprises maintaining a unicast channel of the cellular communication network during the period of the reflection upload session;
The method of claim 1 , wherein the network upload message is transmitted over the unicast channel. The method of claim 1, wherein the network upload message is transmitted over a shared channel of the cellular communication network. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the service destination terminal and the reflection entity establish and maintain respective reflection download sessions. Each reflection download session includes maintaining a unicast channel of the cellular communication network during the reflection download session;
The method of claim 4 , wherein the reflection message is transmitted over the unicast channel. The one or more reflection messages A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is transmitted over a broadcast channel or multicast channel of said cellular communication network. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the reflection entity performs a spatial positional relationship determination process for determining a group of the plurality of service destination terminals. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the determination process of the spatial positional relationship includes a step of analyzing a location index in the network upload message. The method according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein the determination process of the spatial positional relationship includes a step of estimating locations of the plurality of service destination terminals. The said reflection entity performs the message anonymization process which deletes the information which identifies the said vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal from the said 1 or more reflection message, The one of the Claims 1 thru | or 9 characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The method according to item 1. A system for providing a local information service using a cellular communication network infrastructure,
A vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal that transmits a network upload message including a payload portion to the cellular communication network when a detector provided in the vehicle recognizes a dangerous situation;
Receiving the network upload message, generating one or more reflection messages including the payload portion, and sending the one or more reflection messages to the vehicle-mounted service origination terminal and a predetermined spatial location; A reflection entity of the cellular communication network for transmitting to a group of service destination terminals located in a relationship ,
The vehicle-mounted service origination terminal and the reflection entity establish and maintain a reflection upload session that provides the local information service;
The vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal periodically transmits a keep alive message including a location index indicating the location of the vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal to the reflection entity. system. The reflection upload session is maintained on a unicast channel of the cellular communication network during the reflection upload session;
The system of claim 11 , wherein the network upload message is transmitted over the unicast channel. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network upload message is transmitted over a shared channel of the cellular communication network. The system according to any one of claims 11 to 13 , wherein the service destination terminal and the reflection entity establish and maintain respective reflection download sessions. Each reflection download session maintains the unicast channel of the cellular communication network during the reflection download session,
The system of claim 14 , wherein the reflection message is transmitted over the unicast channel. 15. A system according to any one of claims 11 to 14 , wherein the one or more reflection messages are transmitted over a broadcast channel or a multicast channel of the cellular communication network. The system according to any one of claims 11 to 16 , wherein the reflection entity executes a spatial positional relationship determination process for determining a group of the plurality of service destination terminals. The system according to claim 17 , wherein the determination process of the spatial positional relationship includes a step of analyzing a location index in the network upload message. The system according to claim 17 or 18 , wherein the determination process of the spatial positional relationship includes a step of estimating locations of the plurality of service destination terminals. The said reflection entity performs the message anonymization process which deletes the information which identifies the said vehicle-mounted service transmission terminal from the said 1 or more reflection message, The one of Claim 11 thru | or 19 characterized by the above-mentioned. The system according to item 1.   A computer program for causing a computer to execute each step in the method according to claim 1.

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