MXPA97002237A - Method and apparatus for providing the diffusion of messages in a communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel and improved method for providing short message transmission (SMS) services in a communication network. An objective of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that ensures the successful transmission of the message issued, while minimizing the impact of providing the short message service on the overall capacity of the system. The messages that will be transmitted to a group of users are provided by the broadcast location warning generator (20) to a buffer (24) of broadcast messages. The synchronization of the message transmissions is controlled by a controller (34) for transmitting paging messages and the message is modulated in an appropriate channel by means of the modulator (2).

Description

OF MESSAGES IN DMA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Field of the invention The present invention relates to communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for providing short message broadcast services.

II. Description of the Related Art In communication systems, a central communications center transmits data to remote subscriber stations. In order to efficiently use a limited communications resource, the communications resource is divided into sub-bands and channels. A typical channel allocation would include a pilot channel, a synchronization channel that provides the necessary synchronization information, a plurality of traffic channels to conduct point-to-point communications and a plurality of location channels associated with the traffic channels to provide signaling data. Normally when a subscriber station registers with the central communications center, the center of common channels and in order to subscribe which channel to locate the plurality of available localization channels to monitor. When the central communications center needs to establish a point-to-point communication with a subscriber station, it transmits a traffic location warning in the location channel that will be monitored by the subscriber station. The traffic location notice will typically comprise the subscriber station identification information and traffic channel identification information. In response to the received traffic location warning, the identified subscriber station will be prepared to conduct point-to-point communications in the identified traffic channel. Energy consumption is an important consideration of the subscriber stations, particularly in the case of mobile subscriber stations. In order to reduce the energy consumption of the subscriber stations, a method known as slotted location was designed. The slotted location in a broad spectrum communications system is described in detail in copending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07 / 847,149, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. Through this technique, a assigned at predetermined intervals, resulting in significant energy savings in relation to continuously monitoring the location channel. The central communications center must know a priori the time slots in which the subscriber station will monitor the location channel and must reserve all location notifications for that subscriber station for these slots. When the location channel is monitored at intervals, the system is referred to as a slotted location, whereas when the radio communication channel is continuously monitored it is monitored as a non-slotted location. The periods in which the subscriber station is not monitoring the location channel may vary from subscriber station to subscriber station, depending on the needs of the user of the subscriber station.

The expression slotted location comes from dividing the time into slots of a predetermined duration. In a slotted location system, the subscriber station monitors a slot, will again monitor a subsequent slot and a number of integral slots in the future. The number of slots between slots monitored periodically is referred to as the slot cycle. , the location channel to the subscriber stations. However, it is important to keep the length of these messages to a minimum because the 5-location channel resource is a shared resource and because of its natural shortage. In the communications industry, there is a need to be able to transmit broadcast messages. Broadcast messages are messages that are provided to all users in a local area. For example, a weather service can provide weather forecasts to all subscriber stations in a given area. The use of slotted location provides the challenge of providing message delivery in such a way that can be received by all subscriber stations in the area. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a novel and improved method for providing short message transmission (SMS) services in a communications network. An objective of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that ensures the successful transmission of the broadcast message while minimizing the impact of providing the short message service over the broadcast. . present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for receiving broadcast messages without depriving the receiver of the benefit of a reduced power consumption obtained by the slotted location. An advantage of the present invention is that it is capable of successfully providing a short message issuing service in communication systems that provide slotted location and an advantage of the present invention is that it is capable of operating in communications systems that support any number of localization channels. In a first embodiment of the present invention, a broadcast message is provided in each location channel and in each slot in a predetermined maximum slot cycle. This message reaches all subscriber stations without considering its individual slot cycle or its assigned location channel. This message contains a head or guide that provides the subscriber station with the information with which it discriminates between broadcast messages that the subscriber station wishes to receive and the broadcast messages that the subscriber station does not wish to receive. In a second embodiment, a broadcast location warning is provided in each location channel and in each slot in a predetermined maximum slot cycle. to incoming broadcast to all subscribing stations. The corresponding broadcast message is provided once to all broadcast channels and if the subscriber station wishes to receive the broadcast message, it monitors the location channel at the appropriate time. The broadcast location warning may either explicitly indicate a single slot position in which the corresponding broadcast message will be provided or the slot position in which the corresponding broadcast message will be provided can be determined in accordance with a deterministic algorithm . The third embodiment of the present invention provides the location of periodic emission in all location channels. In the third embodiment, all emission location notices are provided in one or more slots in a periodic cycle. The period of the emission location slots is referred to as the emission cycle. As described above, the broadcast location notice may either explicitly indicate a single slot position in which the corresponding broadcast message or the slot position in which the corresponding broadcast message will be provided may be calculated. using a predetermined convention. If the station , monitoring its assigned location channel during the issuance of the location announcement slot and then the subscriber station must monitor the location channel during the appropriate issuance of the message slot, in order to receive the corresponding broadcast message. The fourth embodiment of the present invention provides a single periodic emission location channel. In the fourth mode, broadcast location warnings are periodically provided in a single designated location channel. If a subscriber station wishes to receive broadcast messages, is tuned to the designated location channel at the appropriate time to receive the broadcast location notices. If the subscriber station wishes to receive any of the corresponding broadcast messages, the subscriber station is tuned to the broadcast message location channel in the appropriate broadcast message slot to receive the broadcast message. The location channel of the broadcast message may be explicitly provided in the broadcast location warning or determined in accordance with a predetermined convention. In a preferred embodiment, the warnings of oca zac e e provide in a redundant manner with a temporal relationship between them, so that all subscriber stations can receive a notice of location of emission and its corresponding broadcast message. A method for determining the optimal temporal relationship is described in detail herein. The fifth mode operates in conjunction with the periodic emission location methods described previously. In the fifth mode, a new location warning indicator is provided in each slot, in each location channel. This new location warning indicator indicates to the subscriber station whether any new broadcast location warning will be provided in the periodical broadcast location warning slot, saving the subscriber station monitoring the broadcast location warning slot , when there are no new broadcast messages. The sixth embodiment of the present invention operates in conjunction with methods in which broadcast location announcements announce incoming broadcast messages. In the exemplary embodiment, the emission location warning provides a delivery vector indicating the manner in which the corresponding emission message will be received. In the exemplary embodiment, the vector of s - frequency, a channel and a time slot in which a corresponding broadcast message will be provided. Additionally, the broadcast location notice contains an issuance handle that specifies the nature of the corresponding broadcast message. This broadcast message may contain information for the source of the message, the function of the message, the language in which the message will be delivered and a sequence number. The issuance handle provides sufficient information that allows the subscribing station to determine whether or not to receive the related broadcast message. In particular, the sequence number allows the subscriber station to ignore the duplicates thereby providing energy savings by preventing the reception of already received broadcast messages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The particularities, objectives and advantages of the present invention will be more evident from the following detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like reference characters are correspondingly identified throughout the present and, where: Figure 1 is an illustration of the environment of the present nvenc; Figure 2 is an illustration of a division of a communication resource in the emplificative mode of a broad spectrum multiple access communications system; Figure 3 is a block diagram of the transmission system of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a block diagram of the receiver system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION DF ^^ V "» OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES Referring now to Figure 1, the providers of location service 2, 4 and 6 provide messages to the central communications center 10. The messages contain a head or guide indicating the nature of the message and the actual message that will be broadcast to the subscriber stations in the area. The broadcast messages are then broadcast by the central communications center 10 to the subscriber stations 12, 14 and 16. The subscriber stations 12, 14 and 16 receive the send messages and selectively provide the messages to the subscriber station user In the exemplary embodiment, the signals are transmitted via the central communications center 10 to the subscriber stations 12, 14 and 16 of , details in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Nos. 4,901,307 and 5,103,459. The location service providers 2, 4 and 6 can be commercial or governmental services that provide broadcast messages to users in the local area. A typical example of location service providers include services that provide the stock quote or weather information. Broadcast messages can also be provided through private parties through a general network 8. A typical example of this would be the case where a patron wishes to provide a short message to his employees in the area. Figure 2 illustrates the exemplary method of dividing a communications resource, namely an assigned frequency band. In the exemplary embodiment, the spectrum is divided into two bands and the different bands will be used by different service providers. For example, the spectrum can be divided into two halves as illustrated in Figure 2. The first half of the spectrum will be used by carrier A and the second half will be used by carrier B. A carrier can divide its portion of the full spectrum into usable sub-bands. In Figure 2, carrier A has divided its spectrum band into k PU52 / 97MX su - an ace separates ace. In fact, each of these sub-bands is then divided into channels, which are designated according to their use. In Figure 2, the CDMA FREQUENCY 3 is illustrated as subdivided into a pilot channel, a synchronization channel, m traffic channels, n location channels. It can be noted that it is not necessary for each sub-band to contain all the illustrated channels. In the exemplary embodiment of a CDMA communication system, the channels are separated from each other in code space. Traffic channels are used for point-to-point data communications and are assigned to an individual user for the duration of the point-to-point service that will be provided. The location channels are a set of jointly shared channels used by all subscriber stations to receive signaling and short message data. The signaling data, such as a traffic location warning that instructs a subscriber station that a point communication will be conducted and on which traffic channel. The use of location channels is described in detail in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 07 / 847,149. When a communications system uses a P ura to e ca nce is oca za n n, the user is assigned a location channel in which to receive location notifications. A subscriber station monitors its assigned location channel for traffic location notices. In a non-slotted location communication system, the subscriber subscription continuously monitors its assigned location channel by locating location warnings. However, because constant monitoring continues the excessive energy expenditure, slotted location communication systems were developed and described in detail to the aforementioned copending United States Patent Application Serial Number 07/847, 149. In a slotted location system, the subscriber station "wakes up" or "turns on" at predetermined time intervals, referred to as slot cycles to monitor its assigned location channel by searching for traffic location warnings. The central communications center knows the times or times in which the subscriber station will monitor its assigned location channel and in accordance with this knowledge provides the location notices at these times or times when they can be received. Different subscriber stations can Mon orating your cana is e oca ac n o n gna ns at different slot cycles. In addition, in order to maximize system capacity, the slotted radio communication systems distribute the slots in which the different subscriber stations receive location warnings, as uniformly as possible, over a predetermined maximum slot cycle. The maximum slot cycle refers to the number of slots within which all subscriber stations must monitor their assigned location channels by searching for incoming traffic location warnings. Changing the slot cycles and the distribution of slots monitored in a maximum slot cycle poses challenges in the emission location, because it is rarely the case that all users in the area are simultaneously monitoring a localization channel. The first embodiment of the present invention provides the broadcast message in each location channel and in each slot in the maximum slot cycle.

Referring now to Figure 3, a message that will be disseminated comprises a message and a guide or head indicating the nature of the message that will be supplied to the message generator and broadcast location warnings. The generator 20 of messages and warnings of emission location generates a message of emission ofwith orm a with a orma. The broadcast message is supplied to an emission message buffer 24. In response to the synchronization signals from the location warning transmission controller 34, the transmit message buffer 24 supplies the transmit message to the encoder 27. The location message transmission controller 34 conforms to a signal from the transmit message. The clock coming from the synchronization element 32 provides the synchronization signals, such that the emission message is supplied redundantly in each slot in the maximum slot cycle. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast message for the purposes of error detection or correction or privacy. The coded broadcast message is supplied by the encoder 27 to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the coded broadcast message in each location channel in accordance with the signals from the location warning transmission controller 34. In the exemplary embodiment, the modulator 26 is a code division multiple access modulator (CDMA), as detailed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Nos. 4,901,307 and 5,103,459. The modulated emission message data is supplied to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28 which converts in n s a se to provide the data of the broadcast message to all sub-bands, in accordance with a signal from the localization warning transmission controller 34. The amplified and over-converted signal is supplied to the antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the area. Figure 4 illustrates the exemplary reception system of the present invention. The signal transmitted from the antenna 30 is received at the antenna 50 and supplied to the receiver (RECEIVER) 52, where it is converted downwards and amplified. The controller 62 for receiving the localization message in accordance with a clock signal from the synchronization element 58 determines the appropriate slot times, so that the receiving system monitors its assigned location channel. In this first exemplary embodiment, the reception system monitors its assigned location channel once per slot cycle, for traffic location notices and broadcast messages. At the appropriate slot time, the location warning reception controller 62 provides a synchrony signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver to activate and monitor its assigned location channel. The received signal is supplied to the demodulator 54 in on e is emo u a a. In the exemplary embodiment, the demodulator 54 is a CDMA demodulator as described in detail in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,901,307 and 5,103,459. The demodulator 54 supplies the demodulated signal to the decoder 56. The decoder 56 decodes the demodulated signal and selectively provides the broadcast message to the subscriber station user. In a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in each slot of each location channel an emission location warning is provided which gives notice of an incoming broadcast message. The corresponding broadcast message is supplied in a slot of each location channel. The temporal relationship between the emission location warning and its corresponding emission message can be explicitly provided in the emission location warning or, they can be determined in accordance with a deterministic algorithm. Referring to Figure 3, a message that will be broadcast and that comprises a message and a head or guide indicating the nature of the message is supplied to the message generator and broadcast location warnings. The generator 20 of messages and announcements of emission location generates an emission message and a av so e oca zac n e em e n e with orm a with a default broadcast format, for example, a shredding algorithm. In an exemplary shredding algorithm, it is assumed that each broadcast location warning contains an issuance handle that provides the subscriber station with information with which to determine the nature of the broadcast message. It assumes then that there exists a function H that correlates or maps the space of all the emission handles in a uniform distribution within the interval 0 = H (handle) <; N, where N, is a value determined to provide an acceptable distribution of the broadcast messages in the location channel. If the emission location warning is supplied in the slot ^ location warning / then the corresponding message will be supplied in slot 1¾ß9 given by the value: J½eg = bo + H (handle), (1) where bo is a displacement fixed that follows the slot in which the last of the emission location notices for the broadcast message -½Bg is presented. In cases where the emission location warning is only provided once, bo is the slot in which the only broadcast location warning is provided. In a preferred shredder algorithm, the center P1152 / 97MX and common messages to reconcile two messages that shred the same slot. In the preferred shredding algorithm, the transmission location warning is delineated into two separate subfields, one is referred to as the sequence number, i, and, the other is referred to as the identifier, x. If the emission location warning is provided in the localization slot · then the corresponding message will be supplied in the slot l½8g given by the value: b-, eg = b0 + (H (x) + i) mod B, ( 2) where bo is a fixed displacement that follows the slot in which the last broadcast location warning is presented for the broadcast message, l½Bg, H (x) maps the space of all the identifiers for the interval of 0 < H (x) < N and B is the emission cycle. In general, the sequence numbers for two broadcast messages supplied in the same broadcast cycle will be the same. However, in the case where two broadcast messages shred to the same slot number, the central communications center can reconcile the broadcast messages by changing the sequence number, i, of one of the messages. The broadcast message is supplied to the buffer 24 of the broadcast message and the broadcast location warning is supplied to the memory . The location warning transmission controller 34 provides timing signals to the emission location warning buffer 22, such that the emission location warning is provided in each slot of the maximum slot cycle. In response to the timing signals from the location warning transmission controller 34, the transmit location warning buffer 22 supplies the emission location announcements to the encoder 27. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast location and location announcements. provides the coded emission location warnings to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the coded broadcast location warnings in such a way that the broadcast location warnings are supplied in each location channel according to the signals coming from the controller 34 of location warning transmission. The modulated emission location warnings are supplied by the modulator 26 to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28 which up-converts and amplifies the signal to provide the broadcast location warnings to all the location channels in accordance with a signal from the controller 3. 4 of transm s n e av so e oca zac n. The location of the amplified and over-converted emission location is supplied to antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the local area. After the emission location warnings for the entire maximum slot cycle have been transmitted, the location warning transmission controller 34 provides an appropriate slot timing synchronization signal of the broadcast message to the buffer 24 of message. The message buffer 24 provides the send message to the encoder 27 in accordance with the synchronization signal. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast message and provides the coded broadcast message to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the coded broadcast message in each location channel in accordance with the signals from the location warning transmission controller 34. The modulated broadcast message is supplied by the modulator 26 to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28 which converts it upwards and amplifies the message to provide the broadcast message to all the location channels in accordance with a signal from the controller 34 of location warning transmission. The broadcast message amplified and converted upwards is sum n s ra to a an ena and se a e as as stations subscribers of the local area. Referring to Figure 4, the location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchronization signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver 52 to monitor its assigned location channel. The emission location warning is supplied via antenna 50 to receiver 52, where it is converted downstream and amplified. The received broadcast location warning is supplied to the demodulator 54 where it is demodulated and supplied to the decoder 56. The decoder 56 decodes the broadcast location warning and supplies the decoded emission location announcement to the location notice reception controller 62. . The location warning reception controller 62 determines, in accordance with a predetermined set of user preferences, whether the incoming broadcast message will be of interest to the subscriber station user. If the location warning reception controller 62 determines that the incoming broadcast message is of interest to the subscriber station user, then it generates signals to receive the broadcast message. The location warning reception controller 62 e erm na to slot in to be sum n s to the broadcast message. The slot containing the broadcast message can be extracted from the broadcast location warning or determined in accordance with a deterministic algorithm. The location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchrony signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver to monitor the location channel at the appropriate time to receive the broadcast message. The receiver 52 receives the broadcast message supplied through the antenna 50 and downconverts and amplifies the received broadcast message. The received broadcast message is then supplied to the demodulator 54 which demodulates the received broadcast message. The demodulated broadcast message is supplied to the decoder 56 which decodes the broadcast message and supplies the broadcast message to the subscriber station user. In a third exemplary embodiment, the broadcast location notices are periodically delivered in a designated slot to all location channels. As previously described, the broadcast location warnings provide information about incoming broadcast messages. The corresponding broadcast messages are provided at least once in each location channel. The period in E n g lish s and o ns are supplied is referred to as the emission cycle. If a subscriber station is to receive broadcast messages, it must monitor its assigned location channel during the slot times in which the broadcast location notices are supplied. Referring to Figure 3, the message that will be disseminated comprises a message and a guide or head indicating the nature of the message that will be supplied to the message generator and emission location warnings. The generator 20 of broadcast location messages and warnings generates a broadcast message and a broadcast location warning in accordance with a predetermined broadcast format. The broadcast message is supplied to a broadcast message buffer 24 and the broadcast location warning is provided to the broadcast location warning buffer 22. The location warning transmission controller 34 provides a synchronization signal to the broadcast location warning buffer 22 to provide the broadcast location warning in the appropriate broadcast location warning slot. In response to the synchronization signal from the location warning transmission controller 34, the warning buffer 22 and transmitting location to the encoder 27. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast location warning and provides the encoded broadcast location announcement to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the encoded broadcast location announcement to provide the broadcast location warning in each location channel in accordance with the signals from the location warning transmission controller 34. The modulated emission location warning is provided by the modulator 26 to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28, which up-converts and amplifies the broadcast location warning signal to provide the broadcast location warning to all location channels in accordance with a signal from the location warning transmission controller 34. The amplified and over-converted emission location warning signal is supplied to the antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the local area. During transmission of the corresponding broadcast message, the location warning transmission controller 34 provides a synchronization signal to the broadcast message buffer 22 indicating the appropriate slot in which to provide the message em n n replies to, memo and e emission message provides the broadcast message to the encoder 27. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast message and supplies the encoded broadcast message to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the encoded broadcast message in each location channel in accordance with the signals from the controller 34 of transmission of location warning. The modulated broadcast message is supplied by the modulator 26 to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28 which upstream and amplifies the broadcast message to provide the broadcast message to all the location channels in accordance with a signal from the controller 34 of transmission of notice of location. The signal of the amplified and over-converted broadcast message is provided to the antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the local area. Referring to Figure 4, the location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchrony signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver 52 to monitor its assigned location channel during the broadcast location warning slot. The received emission location warning is supplied to the demodulator 54 where it is demodulated and provides the · Eco caor. e) of the broadcast location warning and provides the decoded emission location warning to the location warning reception controller 62. The location warning reception controller 62 5 determines in accordance with a set of user preferences if the corresponding broadcast message will be of interest to the subscriber station user. If the 0 location warning reception controller 62 determines that the incoming broadcast message is of interest to the subscriber station user, then it generates signals to receive the broadcast message. The location warning reception controller 62 determines the slot in which the broadcast message will be provided. As previously described, the slot containing the broadcast message can be extracted from the broadcast location warning or determined by a deterministic algorithm. The location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchronization signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver 52 to monitor its location channel at the appropriate time to receive the broadcast message. The receiver 52 receives the broadcast message provided through the antenna 50 and downconverts and amplifies the received broadcast message and Provide a se a a emo u a or. emo or a demodulating the received broadcast message and providing the demodulated broadcast message to the decoder 56 which decodes the broadcast message and provides the broadcast message to the subscriber station user. In the fourth exemplary embodiment, the broadcast location notices are periodically delivered in a single designated location channel. In the exemplary embodiment, the corresponding broadcast messages are provided in the same designated location channel. If a subscriber station is to receive broadcast messages, it must be tuned to the designated location channel at the appropriate slot time to receive the broadcast location notices. If the subscriber station wishes to receive the corresponding broadcast message, it must tune to the designated location channel and monitor it at the appropriate slot time of the broadcast message. As previously described, the temporal relationship between the broadcast location warning and the corresponding broadcast message can be explicitly provided in the broadcast location warning or can be determined by a deterministic relationship. Referring to Figure 3, the message that is to be issued comprises a message and a guide or head that The nature of the message is added to the message generator and emission location warnings. The generator 20 of broadcast location messages and warnings generates a broadcast message and a broadcast location warning in accordance with a predetermined broadcast format. The broadcast message is provided to the broadcast message buffer 24 and the broadcast location warning is provided to the broadcast location warning buffer 22. The location warning transmission controller 34 provides a synchronization signal to provide the broadcast location warning in the appropriate slot. In response to the synchronization signal from the location warning transmission controller 34, the emission location warning buffer 22 provides the emission location warning to the encoder 27. The encoder 27 encodes the emission location warning and provides the coded emission location announcement to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 provides the coded emission location warning in the designated location channel in accordance with a signal from the location warning transmission controller 34. The announcement of modulated emission location it is proportional to e mo a or or or (((((((((((TRANSMITTER) 28, which up-converts and amplifies the broadcast location warning signal to provide the location al-channel broadcast location warning designated in accordance with a signal from the location warning transmission controller 34. The amplified and over-converted emission location warning signal is supplied to the antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the local area. During the transmission of the corresponding broadcast message, the location warning transmission controller 34 provides a synchronization signal to the broadcast message buffer 22 indicating the appropriate slot in which it will provide the broadcast message. The buffer 22 of the broadcast message provides the broadcast message to the encoder 27. The encoder 27 encodes the broadcast message and provides the coded broadcast message to the modulator 26. The modulator 26 modulates the coded broadcast message in the location channel designated in accordance with the signals from the location warning transmission controller 34. The modulated emission message is provided by the modulator 26 to the transmitter (TRANSMITTER) 28 which converts in direction The transmitter and the transmitter in the location channel designated in accordance with a signal from the transmitting controller 34 of the paging message will be set up. The signal of the amplified and over-converted broadcast message is provided to the antenna 30 and broadcast to all subscriber stations in the local area. Referring to Figure 4, the location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchronization signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver 52 to tune to the designated location channel and monitor it during the location detection slot of the receiver. issue. The emission location warning is received through the antenna 50 and converted downstream and amplified by the receiver 52. The receiver 52 provides the emission location warning to the demodulator 54, where it is demodulated and provided to the decoder 56. The decoder 56 decodes the emission location warning signal and provides the decoded emission location warning to the location warning reception controller 62. The location warning reception controller 62 determines in accordance with a set of user preferences if the corresponding broadcast message is of interest to the station user.

Subscriber If the location warning reception controller 62 determines that the incoming broadcast message is of interest to the subscriber station user, then it generates the signals to receive the corresponding broadcast message. The location warning reception controller 62 determines the slot in which the broadcast message will be provided. The location warning reception controller 62 provides a slot synchronization signal to the receiver 52 which causes the receiver 52 to be tuned to the designated location channel and monitor it at the slot time of the broadcast message. The receiver 52 receives the broadcast message provided through the antenna 50 and downconverts and amplifies the received broadcast message. The demodulator 54 demodulates the received broadcast message and provides the demodulated broadcast message to the decoder 56 which decodes the broadcast message and provides the broadcast message to the subscriber station user. In a preferred embodiment of the fourth embodiment, the broadcast location warning and the broadcast message data are each provided twice in order to ensure that two consecutive broadcast location slots or any two transmissions You get a message from the traffic location slots of any subscriber station. Subscriber stations in the system can be assigned a slot cycle of a specified period, Sn. Each subscriber station may choose its slot cycle from a range of ranur cycles, Sj, S2, .... For an arbitrary subscriber unit, x, having a Sn slot slot, its location slots, Sn , will occur in accordance with: Sn = (n * Sn) + F (x), (3) where F (x) evenly maps a unique station identifier of the subscriber in the interval 0 < F (x) < Sn. The system may also specify a broadcast location slot cycle having a period B wherein at least one slot of each broadcast cycle is used to transmit broadcast location announcements. In this system, it may be desirable to select broadcast location slots such that there are no two consecutive broadcast location slots that both match the traffic location slot of an arbitrary subscriber. This can be done by selecting consecutive location slots such that the distance between them, in slots, is not uniformly divisible by any c c o e slot e r co n, which is a sponsor for the subscriber stations. In the exemplary embodiment, the subscriber stations may select from a set of traffic location cycles having a period as specified by: S "= 2n * 16, (0 <; n < 7) (4) Letting the period of the emission location cycle for all subscriber stations be specified by: B = 2m * 16, (0 = m < 7) (5) If bk represents a number of relative to the beginning of the emission cycle k. Then the succession emission location warning slots will be defined by the following recurrence relation. * > k = (bk-i + i) moa B (6) Note that any value of 1 < < 15 will produce emission location slots that have the desired property of mismatching with the traffic location slots. However, in a variant of the aforementioned embodiment, the subscriber stations can actually monitor the immediately preceding slot and the one immediately following its assigned slots, thereby restricting the value of such that 2 < = 1 Also note that you can being that maximizes the distance between two broadcast location warnings, both can coincide with the traffic location slot of some subscriber unit. A value of i = 3 has this property and is the value selected for the exemplary mode. In fact, any value of i that is less than and relatively prime for the least common factor of B and Sn has this property. To ensure that two consecutive localization notices? ¾ and? ¾ +? do not match the traffic slots of a subscribing subscriber station, the difference (P * and Pjt + i -?)?) must not be divisible by Sn.

In a first method for reconciling the broadcast and traffic slots, a first broadcast location warning is transmitted by announcing two incoming broadcast messages, then a second broadcast location warning is transmitted by announcing the same two incoming broadcast messages. If, as described above, the two emission location warnings are separated by a broadcast cycle plus several slots that is less than and relatively prime with the minimum common factor of B and Sn, then all subscriber stations may receive one or the other of the two emission location notices. If in addition, of the two broadcast messages proportions in a range are separated by an emission cycle plus several slots that are less than and relatively raw with the minimum common factor of B and Sn, then all subscriber stations can receive one or the other of the two broadcast messages. The positions of the broadcast messages can be explicitly provided in the broadcast location warnings or the number of slots between the second broadcast location warning and the corresponding first broadcast message can be determined in accordance with the previously described shredding algorithms. It should be noted that providing more than one location notice or broadcast message in a given broadcast cycle may result in an unacceptable distribution that may be set by additionally shifting a broadcast cycle provided between any location notices or broadcast messages .

In a second method for reconciling the broadcast and traffic slots, a first broadcast location warning is transmitted by announcing an incoming broadcast message, then a second broadcast location announcement is transmitted announcing the same incoming duplicate broadcast message. In this method, the two emission location warnings are separated by one emission cycle plus several slots that are smaller than and relativmente pr mas con e ac or com m n mo mo e y n. The relation between the emission location warning and its corresponding emission message must be equal to a multiple integer of the minimum common multiple of the possible slot cycles. The fifth exemplary embodiment operates in conjunction with any of the methods previously described for the location of periodic emission in the fifth mode, the transmission system provides a new location warning indicator in each slot in a maximum slot cycle and in each channel of location. When a subscriber station monitors its location channel for traffic location notices, it can determine from the new location alert indicator if it needs to monitor for new emission location notices. This may result in energy savings for the subscriber station, as it will not unnecessarily monitor for incoming broadcast location notices. This exemplary modality operates in conjunction with the second, third or fourth exemplary modalities. In the exemplary embodiment, the emission location warning essentially consists of two fields. The first field refers to how the emission handle is used by the subscriber station to d scr m in re es os mes es que esaa rec r and those who do not want it. The second field refers to how the supply vector and as previously described tells the subscriber station which channel and which sub-band to tune to and in which slot to receive the corresponding broadcast message. The emission handle consists of four subfields as an option. Subfields include source address, function code, sequence number and language indicator. The source address identifies the message sender. The function code indicates the subject of the message. The sequence number identifies the version of the message, so that in case where the broadcast location warning is provided redundantly, the subscriber station may avoid receiving the same message twice. The language indicator indicates the language in which the message is provided (ie, English, Spanish, French, etc.). It is not necessary for each subfield to be uniquely specified as long as the aggregate issuance handle is uniquely specified. Nor is it necessary to provide information in all subfields. The supply vector consists of three subfields which in the exemplary embodiment included subfields of band frequency, channel frequency and frequency subfields. groove. its field is repeated according to the frequency of the subband in which the corresponding broadcast message will be supplied. The channel subfield specifies the location or traffic channel in which the corresponding broadcast message will be supplied. The slot subfield specifies the slot number within the specified subband and the channel where the broadcast location announcements will be supplied. As described above, any or all of the subfields of the delivery vector may be explicitly provided or determined in accordance with a predetermined calculation format. It may be desirable to provide localization using a combination of the aforementioned techniques. For example, it may be desirable to use a more efficient emission localization method in general situations, but to provide an explicit localization notice in all slots in an emission cycle in the case of an emergency message. The prior description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. The various modifications to these modalities will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and, the generic principles in the modalities without the use of the inventive faculty. Thus, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to the embodiments shown herein but will be in accordance with the broader scope consistent with the novel principles and features set forth herein.

Claims (8)

NOVELTY OF THE IMVEHCIÓK Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and, therefore, what is contained in the following is claimed as property

1. In a network containing an emission component wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for transmitting broadcast messages, comprising: a location warning transmission controlling means for providing a plurality of broadcast signals; synchrony indicative of all slot positions in a predetermined maximum slot cycle; a means of buffering emission messages to redundantly provide the broadcast message in accordance with the plurality of synchronization signals; a modulator means for receiving the broadcast message provided in redundant form for all localization channels; and a transmitting means for transmitting the broadcast message in all slots in the maximum slot cycle in all location channels.

2. In a network containing an emission component where a plurality of receivers receive a Only transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for receiving broadcast messages, comprising: a location warning reception controlling means for providing a synchronization signal 5 indicative of a slot in a predetermined traffic slot cycle; a receiving means for monitoring an assigned location channel at specified intervals of - compliance with the synchronization signal and for receiving the 10 broadcast message; and a decoding means for decoding the broadcast message and for selectively providing the decoded broadcast message.

3. In a network containing an emitting component wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for transmitting broadcast messages, comprising: a transmitting means of location warnings to provide a plurality of synchronization signals indicative of all slot positions in a predetermined maximum slot cycle and to provide a single message synchrony signal; a means of buffering emission messages to redundantly provide a broadcast location warning in accordance with the plurality of synchrony signals; a means of buffering emission messages to provide the broadcast message in accordance with the message synchrony signal; a modulator means for receiving the emission location warnings provided in a redundant manner and for providing the emission location warnings provided redundantly to all the location channels and for providing the broadcast message to all the location channels; and a transmitting means for transmitting the redundant emission location warnings and the broadcast message.

4. In a network containing an emission component wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for receiving broadcast messages comprises: a location warning receiving controller means for providing a synchronization signal indicative of a slot in a predetermined traffic slot cycle; a receiving means for monitoring a assigned location channel at determined intervals in accordance with the synchronization signal and for receiving a broadcast location warning; Y a decoding means for decoding the broadcast location warning and for providing the decoded broadcast location announcement to the location warning reception controller; and wherein the location warning reception controller further determines, in accordance with a predetermined set of user preferences, a signal to receive a corresponding broadcast message.

5. In a network containing an emission component in which a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for transmitting broadcast messages, comprising: a location warning transmission controlling means for providing a broadcast signal; location warning synchrony indicative of a slot position in a predetermined transmission cycle and to provide a message synchronization signal; an emission location warning buffer means for providing a broadcast location warning in accordance with the plurality of synchronization signals; a means of buffering emission messages to provide the broadcast message in accordance with the message synchrony signal; the modulator means to receive the notice of emission location and to provide the broadcast location warning on all location channels and to provide the broadcast message on all location channels; and a transmitting means for transmitting the broadcast location warning and the broadcast message.

6. In a network containing an emission component wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for receiving broadcast messages, comprising: a location warning receiving controller means for providing a broadcast signal; indicative synchrony of a broadcast location warning slot; a receiving means for monitoring a assigned location channel in accordance with the synchronization signal and for receiving a broadcast location warning; and a decoding means for decoding the broadcast location warning and for providing the decoded broadcast location announcement to the location warning reception controller; and wherein the location warning reception controller further determines, in accordance with a predetermined set of user preferences the f 46 signals to receive a corresponding broadcast message.

7. In a network containing an emission component wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for transmitting broadcast messages, comprising: a localization message transmission controlling means for providing a broadcast message; location warning synchronization signal indicative of a slot position in a predetermined emission cycle and to provide a message synchrony signal; an emission location warning buffer means for providing a broadcast location warning in accordance with the location warning synchronization signal; 15 a means of buffering send messages to provide the broadcast message of conformance with the message synchrony signal; a modulator means for receiving the broadcast location warning and for providing the broadcast location announcement on designated location channels and for providing the broadcast message on all the location channels; and a transmitting means for transmitting the broadcast location warning and the broadcast message. 25

8. In a network that contains a component of transmitting wherein a plurality of receivers receive a single transmitted broadcast message, an apparatus for receiving broadcast messages, comprising: a location warning receiving controller means for providing a synchronous signal indicative of the location announcement slot; issue; a receiving means for tuning the designated location channel and for monitoring the same in accordance with the synchronization signal and for receiving a broadcast location warning; and a decoding means for decoding the broadcast location warning and for providing the decoded broadcast location announcement to the location warning reception controller; and wherein the location warning reception controller further determines, in accordance with a predetermined set of user preferences, the signals to receive a corresponding broadcast message. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a novel and improved method for providing short message transmission (SMS) services in a communication network. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that ensures the successful transmission of the message issued, while minimizing the impact of providing the short message service on the overall capacity of the system. The messages that will be transmitted to a group of users are provided by the broadcast location warning generator (20) to a buffer (24) of broadcast messages. The synchronization of the message transmissions is controlled by a controller (34) for transmitting paging messages and the message is modulated in an appropriate channel by the modulator (26).