Patent Application
20060089999
The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, in particular, to providing IMS-based (IP multimedia subsystem) wireless download services.
At present, standards bodies such as OMA (Open Mobile Alliance), 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2) are developing standards specifications for multimedia content delivery to wireless devices. (These groups may be contacted via http://www.openmobilealliance.com, http://www.3gpp.org/ and http://www.3gpp2.com/, respectively.) For example, IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) has been initially specified in 3GPP 23.228. However, as currently defined, IMS, and wireless content delivery in general, have some shortcomings.
For example, the present solutions lack sufficient control over download QoS (quality-of-service) for either the service user or the service provider. Also, the present charging (or billing) model is inflexible, usually forcing the service provider to charge based only on content size. Furthermore, authentication specific to content delivery is not supported. Rather, authentication is typically limited to the existing wireless network authentication procedures.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method that provides improved wireless download services.
Specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below with reference to
Various embodiments are described to provide wireless download services that are more robust than those currently available. Signaling between and among the user equipment (UE) obtaining download service, one or more IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) servers, and the download server from which the content is obtained enable an improved level of service. Some improvements that may be realized include guaranteed QoS levels for content downloads, user selection of QoS (in real-time and per content request, possibly), flexible pricing options (e.g., per session, content-based, QoS-based billing), and authentication on a per-content basis.
The disclosed embodiments can be more fully understood with reference to
More specifically, communication system 100 comprises user equipment (UE) 101, radio access network (RAN) 121, packet data network 131, IP (internet protocol) network 141, IMS server 151 and download server 161. Those skilled in the art will recognize that
User equipment is known to refer to a wide variety of consumer electronic platforms such as, but not limited to, mobile stations (MSs), access terminals (ATs), terminal equipment, gaming devices, personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cable set-top boxes and a satellite set-top boxes. IMS and download server platforms are also well-known. In general, download servers are content providers, perhaps operated by third parties, independent of the wireless communication network operator. Download servers may also perform content translation and distribution functions such as protocol translations and bearer encoding/decoding transformations.
Since UE and server platforms are well-known and given an algorithm, a logic flow, a messaging/signaling flow, a call flow, and/or a protocol specification, those skilled in the art are aware of the many design and development techniques available to implement a platform that performs the given logic. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the download-server aspect, the IMS server aspect and the UE aspect of the present invention may each be implemented in and across various physical components and none are necessarily limited to single platform implementations.
Relevant operation of various UE, IMS-server, and download-server embodiments will be described with reference to
As depicted in
Receiving the request for content triggers the download server to send a request (see messaging 204) to the IMS server for download-related information associated with the UE. This information is maintained by the IMS server/HSS for the UE/user and includes subscription information such as authorization and accounting information. In response, the IMS server sends the download-related information for the UE to the download server.
The download server then uses the download-related information to generate a download descriptor for the UE. In some embodiments, this descriptor takes the form of an extended OMA Download Descriptor. For example, QoS extensions may be added to the current OMA Download Descriptor to provide flexible download options to the UE user. Such QoS extensions could be added to enable the UE user to select a download bandwidth, a bearer protocol for the content delivery, available content versions with different quality, and time when the content will be available. The bearer protocol options might include a push protocol, an on-demand delivery protocol, a broadcast protocol, a multicast protocol and/or streaming. For example, the UE user could be given the option to choose either a default download without any extra charges, a premium download with the applicable additional charges, or a premium download using DVB-H protocol with the applicable additional charges.
The QoS extensions described above may take the form of Session Descriptions. A Session Description is based on SDP (Session Description Protocol), which is intended for describing multimedia sessions for the purposes of session announcement, session invitation, and other forms of multimedia session initiation. The SDP simply provides a format for session description; it does not incorporate a transport protocol. To illustrate how an OMA Download Descriptor might be extended with one or more Session Descriptions, an example is provided below:
Line numbers 8 to 14 above show a Download Session Description for which the service provider does not charge anything for the corresponding Media Object download. The service provider may only charge for the Media Object itself or the Rights Object which govern the consumption of the Media Object.
Line numbers 15 to 21 show a Download Session Description for which the service provider will guarantee 128 Kbps download bandwidth but charge 50 cents for the Media Object download. In some case, in order to provide the download bandwidth, the service provider may relocate the Media Object onto a server (192.168.2.55) which is geographically closer to the UE. Therefore, the total charge for the Media Object download will be 50 cents plus any charge for content itself.
Line numbers 22 to 38 show a Download Session Description for which the service provider will use broadcast bearer for the Media Object delivery. Once the UE chooses to download using this session, then the UE is joined to the broadcast session and constructs the whole Media Object by gathering individual UDP packets. In general, using Session Description as described above can enable the use of download mechanisms in addition to on-demand downloads (like HTTP, e.g.), much faster downloads when broadcast bearer is selected (1 Mbps with DVB-H, e.g.), scheduled downloads (the start and end times of broadcasts can be scheduled, e.g.), and improved resource reservation/allocation.
Referring again to
In some embodiments, the UE initiates a signaling session using the QoS extension selected from the download descriptor. In these embodiments, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) may be used by the UE, the IMS server, and the download server. SIP is a text-based protocol, similar to HTTP and SMTP, for initiating interactive communication sessions. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) may be contacted for a more complete description of SIP. Hence, the download request that the UE sends may take the form of a SIP INVITE message (see messaging 206).
The IMS server receives the download request (see messaging 208) indicating the selected QoS option and sends an indication of the download request and QoS option on to the download server. The download server coordinates with the IMS server to provide the download to the UE with the QoS download option selected. The IMS server facilitates support for the download by obtaining the appropriate network resource reservations to provide at least the QoS level selected. Thus, the UE is able to receive the download at the speed, time, price, and manner selected.
For the embodiments in which SIP is used, messaging 208 and 210 depict some of the additional SIP messaging between the UE, the IMS server and the download server to coordinate the download and selected QoS option. However,
As depicted in
In addition to authentication, the download server may also prepare the download content for delivery. There may be some content transcription required for the target UE or according to the UE's QoS option selection. The download server may also transfer the content to another server which is, for example, closer to the subscriber geographically for improved downloading. Again, depending on the QoS selection and/or service subscription the content may be pushed, delivered on-demand (e.g., by HTTP), or broadcast. Once the download is complete, the UE may report back to the download server with a download status indication (see messaging 212) for the content delivery. Such a status indication or delivery notification is optional since certain bearer protocols guarantee delivery. Also, based on the status of the content delivery, the download server may send billing-related information (see messaging 214) for the download, such as a charging record, to the IMS server for processing.
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments of the present invention. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause or result in such benefits, advantages, or solutions, or cause such benefits, advantages, or solutions to become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof is intended to refer to a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article of manufacture, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements in the list, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article of manufacture, or apparatus.
The terms a or an, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term plurality, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term another, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms including and/or having, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term coupled, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The terms program, computer program, and computer instructions, as used herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. This sequence of instructions may include, but is not limited to, a subroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, a shared library/dynamic load library, a source code, an object code and/or an assembly code.
The present application claims priority from provisional application, Ser. No. 60/621564, entitled “METHOD FOR PROVIDING IMS-BASED, WIRELESS DOWNLOAD SERVICES,” filed Oct. 22, 2004, which is commonly owned and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60621564 | Oct 2004 | US |
