WO2003026330A1

WO2003026330A1 - Method for transmitting data in a data communication network, associated transmitter/receiver unit and radiocommunication system

Info

Publication number: WO2003026330A1
Application number: PCT/DE2002/003106
Authority: WO
Inventors: Josef Laumen; Markus Trauberg
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2001-08-31
Filing date: 2002-08-23
Publication date: 2003-03-27
Also published as: EP1421807A1

Abstract

In order to transmit data in a data communication network, control information (SI1) is allocated to the data signals (ZN1, ZN2) in one or several additional data elements (DE1) containing an identifier of the order of data objects of the same name.

Description

description

Method for data transmission in a data communication network, associated transmitter / receiver unit and radio communication system

The invention relates to a method for data transmission in a data communication network, in particular text and / or image data with and without sound.

The object of the invention is to show a way in which data or message signals can be transmitted in a data communication network in the most efficient manner from a first user application unit to at least one second user application unit and evaluated there. This object is achieved in a method of the type mentioned at the outset by assigning at least one piece of control information to the respective data signal in at least one additional data element which contains an identifier for the order of data elements of the same name.

Such additional control information, with the aid of which data elements of the same name are additionally identified with respect to their arrangement with respect to one another, allows these data elements of the same type or the same name to be uniquely related to one another, ie to be arranged in a defined manner. This makes it possible in particular to subsequently reconstruct in the respective receiving user application unit which order of data elements of the same name in the same data or message signal in the respective transmitting user application unit and / or on its transmission path has been impressed by one or more intermediate components of the data communication network , This enables efficient evaluation in the respective receiving unit, since the individual data elements can now be brought into relation and evaluated by the additional identification. The invention also relates to a transmitter / receiver unit of a data communication network, which is designed to carry out the method according to the invention.

The invention also relates to a radio communication system which has at least one transmitting and / or receiving unit for carrying out the method according to the invention.

Other developments of the invention are given in the subclaims.

The invention and its developments are explained in more detail below with reference to drawings.

Show it:

1 shows a schematic representation of the multiple forwarding of a message signal starting from a first transmission unit of a data communication network, in particular a radio communication system, over several user application units, each user application unit being assigned one or more additional data elements of the same type to the message signal to be transmitted and identified by an identifier specified according to the method according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of the basic structure of a header field in a message signal of the multimedia messaging service and / or Internet e-mail.

Mails, and

Figures 3, 4 in a schematic representation the structure of a recipient delivery message for a user application unit according to Figure 1, the one to be transmitted

Forward message to another user application unit and thereby according to the invention Procedure enters control information in an additional data element for identification.

Elements with the same function and mode of operation are provided with the same reference numerals in FIG. 1 with 4.

Various services are used in communication technology, which enable a message exchange between units of this service. Message types are often used that contain control information in a message header, a so-called header, in addition to the user information that is actually to be transmitted. These services include, for example, Internet e-mail, whose messages are in accordance with the specifications (RFC822 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages, Crocker D., August

1982 and RFC2045 Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies, Freed N. November 1996). Another service of the type mentioned above is in particular the multimedia messaging service (MMS) desired for UMTS. With this service, message signals such as Voice, data, images, music, noises, etc. are jointly transmitted to one or more subscriber devices, in particular mobile radio devices, in a predefined group. This group-wise transmission is provided in particular in a radio communication system according to the UMTS standard (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System). This group-wide forwarding and transmission of message signals is carried out both via at least one air interface between the subscriber devices of a predefinable group and at least one base station. On the other hand, this sending and / or receiving of group messages in the multimedia messaging service is also carried out between the other network components of the radio communication network which are assigned to the respective base station, or for other control and operation of the

Serve radio communication system. The previous specification of the multimedia messaging service is preferably based on two specifications of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which on the one hand basically describe the service (3G TS 22.140 Version 4.1.0, Release 4; Third Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Terminals; Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS); Service

Aspects; Stage 1, 2001) and on the other hand abstractly define the specific functionality (3G TS 23.140 Version 4.2.0, Release 4; Third Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Terminals; Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS); Functional Description; Stage 2, 2001) , One possible - and so far the only - implementation of MMS is described in three specifications of the WAP forum (Wireless Application Protocol) (WAP-205-MMS Architecture Overview, Specification; Wireless Application Protocol, Multimedia Messaging Service; Architecture Overview Specification) , 2001;

WAP-206-MMS Client Transactions, Specification; Wireless application protocol; WAP Multimedia Messaging Service Client Transactions; 2001; WAP-209-MMS Encapsulation, Specification Change Document; Wireless application protocol; Multimedia messaging service; Message encapsulation; 2001).

An implementation of MMS via WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) currently appears to be cheap. According to WAP-209-MMS Encapsulation, Specification Change Document, Wireless Application Protocol, Multimedia Messaging Service, Message Encapsulation, 2001 the use of the WAP is used to bridge the respective air interface between an MMS-capable terminal and a respectively assigned WAP gateway on the network side Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) provided. MMS also exchanges messages with a message header that contains header fields with control information and a data section with user information between different units of this service.

Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of the basic, logical structure of a header field KF according to the specification WAP-209-MMS Encapsulation, Specification Change Docu- ment, Wireless Application Protocol, Multimedia Messaging Service, Message Encapsulation, 2001. Such a header field of a message / data signal has a header field name KFN in a first section, to which a header field value KFW is assigned in a second section.

If necessary, messages can contain several types of header fields several times in order to integrate several pieces of information of the same type into the same message. An example of this are multiple addresses, i.e. when a message is addressed to several recipient units, each with a separate header field for each recipient unit. If it is now desired to encode all recipient addresses in the same message, this can be done, for example, by using a separate header field in the same message signal for each recipient address. In other words, for n recipient addresses, n header fields are generated by the respective addressees and inserted into the same message. This large number of header fields are then preferably equivalent within the data structure of the respective message signal. There is preferably no order of content associated with the order in which they appear in the message. The order of the header fields in the messages is often irrelevant and can / may also be changed when processing and / or forwarding the message.

So far, it has not been possible in the above-mentioned message services to give several header fields of the same type, ie of the same type, an order in the sense of a weighting. Instead, the contents of several header fields of the same type stand side by side in an equal message. Your order in the message is preferably irrelevant. The header fields of a multimedia message in accordance with WAP contain, in addition to the information of the type of the header field, a value which as a rule does not contain an enumeration of several information elements of the same type. Rather, for several information elements of the same type a plurality of header fields of the same type, each encoded with one, ie the same information element. The basic logical structure of such a header field is illustrated in FIG. 2. Further details can be found in particular in WAP-209-MMS Encapsulation, Specification Change Document, Wireless Application Protocol, Multimedia Messaging Service, Message Encapsulation, 2001.

In order to provide an improved evaluation option and more efficient transmission and distribution in a data communication network for such distribution messages, which are each sent to a group of a plurality of receiving units, one or more control information items in one or more additional data elements are assigned to the data of the respective message signal , which contains an identification of the order of data elements of the same name. In particular, a coding of the order of several header fields of the same type is carried out in one and the same message. This order is preferably independent of the coded order of the header fields in the message and defines an order that e.g. a chronological order, a logical order, a causal order, an order of priority, an order of spatial allocation to one another, or any other classification.

The additional identification of the order of a large number of data elements of the same name within one and the same message is shown below by way of example using the encodings of messages exchanged in the MMS defined by the WAP forum. The time sequence of participants who have forwarded the same message in succession is specified as the classification or identification. For this purpose, a new header field with the name * X-Mms-Forwarded-By ", which has not yet been specified, is used. This field is expediently defined and inserted as a header field in the MMS an MMS connection unit in the data communication network is sent to a further MMS user application, for example on the end device of the respective subscriber or user, in order to inform about the presence and the possibility of retrieving an upcoming multimedia message (in WAP: M-

Retrieve.conf message). The basic definition or structure of such a message in the WAP forum is shown schematically in FIGS. 3 and 4, which together contain a large number of data elements of a recipient delivery message. The header field 'X-Mms-Forwarded-By' has been newly introduced to illustrate the invention and is designated by DE1. In particular, it has a name, which in textual coding is the character string 'X-Mms-Forwarded-By', and a header field value , which is referred to as * Forwarded-By-Value ". The value contains the address of the subscriber who forwarded the message and also a numerical value which by definition describes the chronological order of several forwarding processes. Here in the exemplary embodiment, the value * Forwarded-By-Value "is preferably assigned a whole positive number. Several header fields of this type then have different numbers, with a larger number indicating a later point in time when the multimedia message is forwarded. Even with several header feathers of this type it is therefore possible to reconstruct the sequence of the forwarding processes at the respective receiver by means of control information SI1 which is additionally added in this way.

The respective coding of the header field value, "forwarded-by-value", in messages of the MMS takes place in particular according to the following principle:

Forwarded-By-Value = Integer-Value + Encoded-String-Value

This means that the forwarded-by-value is assigned a field value that is formed by a whole positive number that determines the position of the field in a sequence of header fields (integer value), and then a character string. te that contains the address of the forwarding user (encoded string value).

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the forwarding of a multimedia message from an output user application or transceiver unit across a plurality of transceiver units or user applications. An MMS send request SA is first sent from a first MMS user application NA to a first MMS connection unit VA. An MMS delivery message ZN1 is then transmitted from the MMS connection unit VA to a further MMS connection unit VX. The latter then transmits an MMS recipient notification EB1 to a second MMS user application NG as the first recipient unit. This first receiver unit NG does not want to receive the multimedia message offered by the sending unit NA for sending itself, but rather only to forward the delivery message, ie the offer to download the multimedia message, to at least one further MMS user application. For this purpose, the user application NG sends a forwarding request WL1 back to the MMS connection unit VX. This contains the address of the forwarding user application NG as information. The connection unit VX inserts this information into the delivery message ZN1, ie it forms the delivery message ZN2 to be forwarded by using a first header field of the "X-Mms-Forwarded-By" type with the value * 1 userGΘMMS service providerX "for the original control information (such as adds, for example, the sender address NutzerA @ MMS _c DienstanbieterA) of the first delivery message AnL. then, the connecting unit VX sends this extended delivery message ZN2 to a subsequent connection unit VE on. the second connection unit VD sends on the same principle as the first connection unit VX to another MMS -User application NR as a second receiver unit, a recipient notification EB2, via which the user application NR is informed that an MMS message is available for retrieval at the sending unit NA User application NR forwards this request by means of a forwarding request WL2 only via the connection unit VD in the network (and does not call up this multimedia message itself). The connection unit VD then generates a delivery message ZN3 and sends it to the subsequent MMS connection unit VT. It supplements the previous delivery message ZN2 with another header field "X-Mms-Forwarded-By" with the value "" 2 usersR @ MMS service providerD ", ie the delivery message ZN3 thus contains two header fields of the type" X-Mms-Forwarded- By "with the values" 1 user GMMS service provider X and * 2 user R @ MMS service provider D ". The MMS connection unit VT in turn sends a recipient notification EB3 to another MMS user application ML as the third recipient unit. This sends a forwarding request WL3 back to the connection unit VT in an analogous manner to the user application NG and user application NR. The latter then sends a delivery message ZN4 to at least one further MMS connection unit, which is indicated in FIG. 1 by three continuation points. The connection unit VT supplements the delivery message with a third header field of the type "X-Mms-Forwarded-By" with the value * 3 userLΘMMS service provider T. "The MMS delivery message ZN4 then contains a total of three header fields of the type" X- Mms-Forwarded-By "with the values" 1 userGΘMMS-service providerX ", * 2 userRgMMS-service providerD" and ^w 3 userL @ MMS-service providerT ". The recipient delivery message is routed through the chain of MMS connection units, so an MMS recipient delivery message is sent from an MMS connection unit to an MMS user application that has previously been forwarded by four other users of the service Based on the WAP implementation of MMS, the message is advantageously encoded as follows (her r only the header fields of the message are shown in the example): Receiver delivery message (in WAP: M-Retrieve.conf) MMS connection unit - MMS user application):

X-Mms-Message-Type: m-retrieve-conf X-Mms-Transaction-ID: TRANSACTION-ID # 3 X-Mms-Version: 1.0

Date: Fri, 24 August 2001 13:07:00 +0100 From: UserA @ MMS service providerA To: UserBΘMMS service providerB XM s-Forwarded-By: 1 userGΘMMS service providerX X-Mms-Forwarded-By: 3 userL @ MMS- Service providerT X-Mms-Forwarded-By: 4 usersK @ MMS service providerZ Subject: Quadruple forwarded multimedia message X-Mms-Forwarded-By: 2 usersRQMMS service providerD Content-Type: Application / *

The header field "X-Mms-Forwarded-By '* is contained four times in the same message, here the recipient delivery message. From the markings in the header fields it can be seen that the message is in the order

1. UserGΘMMS service providerX

2. UserR @ MMS service providerD

3. UserLΘMMS service providerT 4. UserKΘMMS service providerZ has been forwarded.

The order of the header fields in the message header and their position is therefore irrelevant for this statement. In terms of content, nothing changes in the statement if the position of header fields within the head is changed.

The additionally inserted data elements with the addresses of the forwarding user applications can possibly also in the request and notification signals in the communication traffic between the respective connection unit and its respective assigned user application are recorded in a corresponding manner.

In this way, additional logging of a message can be carried out in the chronological order in which it has been forwarded by user applications or receivers. In this way, it is possible in the meantime and in particular in the case of the MMS user application which then actually wants to call up the group message held by a user application, to read and evaluate a chronological assignment of user applications which have already been polled from the recipient notification. This marking makes it easier to evaluate delivery messages for the respective receiving user application. Because the additional identification of the order of data elements of the same name, which is added to such a delivery message after a user application has run through, their relationship to one another can be subsequently reconstructed and thus a selective evaluation and / or further processing can be carried out at the receiving end.

In particular, it can be expedient to carry out the marking in such a way that, in addition to the coded useful information, a numerical value or a letter combination and / or any other marking is also coded in an added header field value, which denotes an order of the header fields of the same type. On the basis of this defined order, the useful information contained in the header fields can be subsequently put into a corresponding order by the respective recipient of the message. This order can be, for example, a chronological order, a logical order, a causal order, an order of priority, a spatial assignment or any other sequence. In particular, the meaning of the order can be determined with the help of the definition of one or more header fields be determined. The same applies to the type and meaning of the label of the order. In this way, it is possible, in particular for the receiving element or the receiving user application that wishes to have the group message actually provided, to read previously performed requests from other user applications from the received delivery message. In particular, the history that a delivery message has passed through on its way through a data communication network can thus be recorded in a clear manner and made selectively evaluable.

This type of data transmission is preferably expedient in a radio communication system. This can preferably be designed according to the so-called UMTS standard (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or also according to a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) standard his. The user applications can in particular be implemented in subscriber devices of this radio communication system. Subscriber device is preferably understood to mean a mobile radio device that is mobile in the radio cells of such a radio communication network. 1 can also be provided in a corresponding manner in the network components of such a radio communication system. Network components are in particular base stations and their associated higher-level radio network control units, such as RNC (Radio Network Controller). Accordingly, this data transmission principle can also be used in a GPRS radio communication system (General Packet Radio Service).

Claims

claims

1. A method for data transmission in a data communication network, in particular text and / or image data with and without sound, characterized in that the respective data signal (ZNl, ZN2) at least one control information (SIl) is assigned in at least one additional data element (DEl) which contain an identification drawing of the order of data elements of the same name.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the respective data signal (ZN2) has a plurality of data elements.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the order features a temporal order, an order of importance, a causal order, a logical order, a spatial order, or the like.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the identification of the order by numbers, by letters, by combinations of numbers and letters, and / or by symbols and characters is realized, which are suitable as a basis for a comparison operation.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data elements within one or more data signals (EB1) are arranged freely selectable.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the UMTS standard (universal mobile telecommunication system) is selected for the data communication network.

7. Transceiver unit of a data communication network, which is designed to carry out the method according to one of the preceding claims.

8. Radio communication system with at least one transmitting / receiving unit according to claim 7.