RU2351089C2 - Method of retrieving and sending multimedia messages using session initiating protocol - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics; communication.

SUBSTANCE: present invention pertains to the method of retrieving and sending multimedia messages (MMS) using session initiating protocol (SIP). Proposed here is a method of retrieving an MMS message (N404) by an MMS user agent (180), comprising the following stages: generation of an MMS subscription request (M401); sending the MMS subscription request (M401) to an MMS server (130); reception of an MMS report (M405) on the MMS message (N404) from the MMS server (130); in reply to the MMS report (M405), generation of an MMS message select query (M409) for retrieving the above mentioned MMS message (N404); sending the above mentioned MMS message select query (M409) to the MMS server (130); reception of an MMS message select query (M411), containing the above mentioned MMS service; and in reply to the received MMS message select query (M411) from the MMS server (130), sending a confirmation (m413) to the MMS server (M130). The above mentioned an MMS subscription request (M401) is sent using the SIP SUBSCRIBE method. The above mentioned MMS report is received using the NOTIFY method. The MMS message select query (M409) is sent using the FETCH method and the above mentioned confirmation is sent using the INFORM method.

EFFECT: possibility of retrieving MMS messages using SIP.

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Description

Technical field

The invention relates to a method for retrieving and delivering multimedia messages using a session initiation protocol.

Description of the Related Art

The multimedia messaging service (MMS) in its modern form is defined in 3GPP TS 23.140 “3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Terminals; Multimedia Messaging Service (”MMS”); Functional description; Stage 2 (Release 6). ” The architecture of the respective networks, as well as the functions of the various modules, in particular the MMS user agent and MMS relay / server (hereinafter referred to as MMS server), are described in more detail below.

Notifications of incoming MMS messages are delivered from the MMS server to the MMS user agent using WAP pumping. The MMS user agent sends a GET (“receive”) WAP or HTTP request to cause the MMS server to send an MMS message.

Multimedia messaging services for Multimedia Messaging Services are typically accomplished using the WAP application forwarding protocol or the HTTP hypertext transfer protocol. Extracting the MMS message is then done by sending a WAP or HTTP GET request, respectively.

The messaging services implemented by the IMS network, which is a subsystem of the IP multimedia core network, are currently being discussed by the 3GPP working group. IMS messaging services include message types such as instant messaging, delayed messaging, and session-oriented messaging. With the immediate transmission of messages, the message is delivered immediately from one user to another, while with the delayed transmission of messages it is delivered as soon as the recipient of the message becomes available. In session oriented messaging, a communication session must be established before any other transmission can take place.

The IMS network uses the SIP Session Initiation Protocol to create, modify, and end sessions with one or more participants. The two methods defined in the SIP protocol are SUBSCRIBE (“subscribe”) and NOTIFY (“notify”). The SUBSCRIBE method is used by the user terminal to subscribe to event packets from resellers or servers. Whenever an event belonging to the subscription event package is fired, the terminal is informed using the SIP NOTIFY method.

From a commercial point of view, it can be very important to be able to retrieve MMS messages directly from IMS, which, however, and despite the great work, has been impossible to date

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide new features to the SIP Session Initiation Protocol, by which MMS messages of the Multimedia Messaging Service can be retrieved or delivered using only the SIP protocol.

The goal of retrieving MMS messages using the SIP protocol can be achieved by a method corresponding to the independent claim 1, or by using a terminal corresponding to the independent claim 4.

The goal of delivering MMS messages using the SIP protocol can be achieved by a method corresponding to the independent claim 5, or by using an MMS server corresponding to the independent claim 8.

The dependent claims describe various preferred embodiments of the invention.

Advantages of the Invention

The devices and methods of the invention allow the use of SIP as the only transport protocol for the extraction and delivery of MMS messages. As a result, terminals do not need to have other protocols than the SIP protocol supported by their protocol stacks, thereby helping to reduce terminal manufacturing costs. In addition, since there are fewer required protocols in the protocol stack, the likelihood of software errors is reduced, which also shortens the testing period of devices, resulting in a reduction in preparation time for sale.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1-4, where the following is presented:

FIG. 1 - a mobile network containing a multimedia subsystem of the IP network;

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a new SIP message used to retrieve or deliver an MMS message;

FIG. 3A and 3B are the structure of two different SIP messages and

FIG. 4 - messaging (41) used to subscribe to an event package, messaging (43) used to notify the terminal about receiving MMS messages, and messaging (45) used to download MMS messages to the subscriber terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 shows a terminal 101 in a radio access network RAN 11 of a mobile network 12. A RAN 11 comprises a plurality of base stations BS 103 controlled by a network radio controller RNC 105, the terminal 101 communicating wirelessly with a mobile network 12 through a base station BS 103. Typically, one mobile network 12 contains multiple RNCs 105, but for simplicity, in FIG. 1 shows only one such RNC controller.

The terminal 101 comprises communication means 165, preferably those typically used for radio communications, and all associated means for successful communication with the mobile network 12. At terminal 101, the processing unit 170 uses communication means 165 to transmit and receive data. Both the data to be transmitted and the received data are filtered by the protocol stack 175 before further operations are performed on them. Terminal 101 may have many applications stored in its memory. These applications also include an MMS user agent that supports all MMS-specific interactions between the source network 14 and the terminal 101. The applications are executed in the processing unit 170, and they use data obtained by communication means 165 and filtered using the protocol stack 175.

For packet traffic, mobile network 12 contains a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 107 and a gateway GPRS support (GGSN) 109. Terminal 101 receives an IP address that is reserved to GGSN 109. Traffic between terminal 101 and GGSN 109 is then routed to the level of the GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) through the SGSN 107 and the RAN 11 network, while there are additional specific protocols for the level of the radio interface that facilitate the resource-efficient transportation of data via the radio interface. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a more detailed description of the associated protocols can be found in any of the various standards that describe these mechanisms.

The terminal 101 may roam in the mobile network 12, even if its original network 12 was anywhere. The transmission of packet data is then either directly between the terminal 101 and its source network 14 or through any other network, in particular the Internet 13.

The source network contains the source serving server HSS 115, which has subscriber data and knows which mobile network the terminal 101 is roaming in. The call state management function (S-CSCF) 113 is located in the source network of the terminal 101. If the terminal 101 is roaming to another of the mobile network 12, the S-CSCF 113 of the source network 14 is used through the P-CSCF 111 call state control intermediary function. The P-CSCF 111 function contains data about services to which the terminal 101 has subscribed; this data is transmitted from the S-CSCF 113 to the P-CSCF 111 as a response to the request sent by the P-CSCF 111.

In mobile telecommunication systems, such as GSM, UMTS, SIP is used for the multimedia subsystem IMS of the core network of the IP protocol. The IMS subsystem includes a P-CSCF 111 function, an S-CSCF 113 function, and MMS servers providing some of the services. In particular, for MMS messages, the MMS server 130 is used as a server providing all MMS-related services.

MMS server 130 contains communication means 185 for communication between terminals 101 with other MMS servers 130 and servers on the Internet 13. The processing unit 190 of MMS server 130 uses communication means 185, as well as protocol stack 195. The 195 protocol stack contains IMS protocols to provide various services. The protocol stack 195 may further comprise a portion specific to the MMS portion. MMS server 130 executes MMS application 196, which provides registration of subscriptions to event packets, notification of subscriber terminals of received MMS messages belonging to the event packet corresponding to the subscription, and delivery of MMS samples in response to receiving MMS sample requests.

In FIG. Figure 2 shows the structure of the MMS part of new SIP messages used to subscribe to an event package or select and deliver an MMS message. SIP message 20 contains fields 21 (X-Mms_Message-Typ) (MMS message type), 22 (X-Mms_Transaction ID) (MMS transaction identifier), 23 (X-Mms_MMS-Version) (MMS version), 24 (To) (to), 25 (From) (from). These fields 21-25 are usually transmitted in the header of the SIP message 20.

In FIG. 3A and 3B show the structures of two different SIP messages 20. The SIP message 20a used to transmit the MMS subscription request message M401 is shown in FIG. 3A and contains the identifier “m-sreg” in its field 21, as well as the “yes” flag in field 36A. The SIP message 20b used to transmit the MMS subscription response message M403 is shown in FIG. 3B and contains the identifier “m-sref” in field 21, as well as the confirmation “OK” in field 36B.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the examples shown in FIG. 2, 3A, 3B are schematic in nature. A more detailed description for all header and message formats can be found in the IETF specifications RFC 3261 and 3265. RFC 3261 describes the SIP protocol, and RFC 3265 describes the SIP-specific event notification. Both of these documents define the methods used in the SIP protocol, which are further referenced in the present description.

Dotted block 41 in FIG. 4 shows how to subscribe to an event package. The MMS user agent 180 requests, by sending an M401 MMS subscription request to the MMS service server 130, that the MMS service server 130 uses the SIP NOTIFY method to send MMS notifications. The MMS subscription request M401 is in the form of a message 20b shown in FIG. 3b, and sent by terminal 101 as soon as it is turned on for the first time and has network coverage. The receipt of an M401 MMS subscription request is confirmed by the MMS service server 130 using an M403 response to the MMS subscription request.

Dotted block 43 shows how terminal 101 is informed of the receipt of MMS message N404. As soon as the MMS service server 130 receives the MMS service message N404, which belongs to the event package corresponding to the subscription, it sends an MMS service notification M405 to the MMS user agent 180, informing it that the MMS service message N404 has arrived at the MMS service server 130. The MMS user agent 180 responds to the MMS service notification M405 with the response M407 to the MMS service notification.

Dotted block 45 shows how the MMS service message N404 received by the MMS service server 130 can be downloaded to the terminal 101. In response to the MMS service notification M405, the MMS service agent 180 may decide to download the MMS service message N404 by sending an M409 request to select the MMS service message to the MMS service server 130. The MMS request M409 is a FETCH (Sample) SIP message.

In response to receiving a request M409 to sample an MMS service message, the MMS service server 130 sends a sample M411 MMS service message to the MMS service server 130. The MMS service message selection M411 includes the information content (content) of the MMS service message N404.

The MMS user agent 180 confirms the receipt of the MMS service message sample M411 by returning the MMS service message selection confirmation M413. In response to receiving an acknowledgment M413 of receiving a sample of M411 messages of an MMS service, the MMS server 130 responds with an acknowledgment M417 of reception.

All messages - M401 request for MMS subscription, M403 response to MMS subscription request, MMS service notification M405, M407 response to MMS service notification, M409 request for MMS message retrieval, MMS service message selection M411 and MMS service message reception confirmation M413 - have structures similar to those shown in FIG. 3A and 3B, except that the value in field 21 changes in accordance with the identification of the message type. The structure of these messages is otherwise as defined in 3GPP, TS 23.140, mentioned above.

Messages M401 through M417 forwarded between the terminal 101 and the MMS server 130 are routed, if necessary, through the BS 103, SGSN 107, GGSN 109, P-CSCCF 111 and S-CSCF 113.

For an M401 request for an MMS subscription, the “event” field is set to “mms” indicating the purpose of the M401 request for an MMS subscription, that is, the MMS user agent 180 requests from the MMS service server 130 to use the SIP notification method for sending notifications M405 MMS service.

Since the “event” field is set to “mms” in the M401 MMS subscription request, as well as in the MMS service notification M405, this means that the terminal 103 is informed of the incoming MMS notification in the MMS service notification M405.

Messages M401 - M417 contain SIP-specific header fields and header fields at the MMS level.

An M401 MMS subscription request is sent using the SUBSCRIBE (subscribe) SIP method. The MMS subscription request M401 contains an event identifier that determines that the SIP protocol NOTIFY method must be used to send the MMS service notification M405. After receiving the MMS service notification M405, the terminal 101 generates and sends an M409 request to sample the MMS service message.

In the first embodiment, the header fields at the MMS level are added to the header fields in the messages M401-M417. The S-CSCF 113 then analyzes the SIP headers of each incoming message. If MMS-specific headers are detected, for example, by detecting the “X-Mms” keyword in the fields, then the S-CSCF 113 routes the message to the MMS service server 130. Similarly, all SIP messages received by the terminal 101 are checked for any MMS-specific headers, and if such a header is found, the message is sent to the MMS user agent 180. The advantage of this header structure is that both the SIP headers and the MMS headers have the same format and encoding. In particular, for a terminal with SIP capabilities only, this reduces implementation costs, since a single coding scheme can be applied to the SIP protocol stack as well as at the application level.

In the second embodiment, the SIP message header fields contain only SIP-specific fields. With this approach, MMS service information is an attachment for SIP message. S-CSCF 113 checks if the attachment is a SIP message. If the keyword “application / vnd.wap.mms-message” is found in the “Content-Type:” field of the header, then this is the case with high probability, and the message is then routed to the MMS service server 130. The “Content-Type:” field of the SIP message header received by the terminal 101 is checked in the same way. If the header field contains “application / vnd.wap.mms-message”, then the SIP message is sent to the MMS user agent 180. The advantage of such a header and coding structure is that in this way it is possible to provide better compatibility with current existing MMS systems. In particular, terminals containing modern MMS client software that only communicates with the SIP protocol stack do not require any additional encoders or decoders for processing M401-M417 messages, which makes it easier to implement terminal 101 that supports MMS service functionality.

Some of the acknowledgment messages, for example, the response of the M403 to the MMS subscription request, the response of the M407 to the MMS notification, the selection of the M411 MMS messages are “200 OK” messages. In addition, they contain relevant MMS headers, and the MMS service message selection M411 further comprises an MMS service message N404 received by the MMS service server 130. All of these confirmation messages may contain either SIP-specific header fields or, in addition to SIP-specific header fields, also some MMS-specific header fields. In the first case, other necessary data is placed in the payload.

In other acknowledgment messages, i.e. acknowledgment M413 of receiving a sample of a MMS message and acknowledgment M417 are also “200 OK” messages. In contrast to the “200 OK” messages described above, they do not contain information specific to the MMS service.

List of Reference Items

eleven radio access network RAN 12 mobile network fourteen source network 101 terminal 103 base station BS 105 radio network controller RNC 107 Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) GPRS Gateway Support Node (GGSN) 109 GPRS Support Gateway Node (GGSN) 111 call state management proxy
P-CSCF 113 S-CSCF serving call state management function 115 HSS source server 130 MMS service server 165 communication tools 170 processing unit 175 protocol stack 185 communication tools 190 processing unit 195 protocol stack 196 MMS service application

Claims (8)

1. A method of retrieving a message (N404) of a multimedia messaging service (MMS) intended for execution on an MMS user agent (180), comprising the steps of: generating a request (M401) for an MMS subscription; sending the above request (M401) to an MMS subscription to the MMS service server (130); receiving a notification (M405) of the MMS service about a message (N404) of the MMS service from the MMS service server (130); in response to receiving said MMS service notification (M405), generating a request (M409) to sample an MMS service message to retrieve said MMS service message (N404); sending said request (M409) to sample the MMS service message to the MMS service server (130); receiving a sample (M411) of an MMS service message containing said MMS service message (N404); and in response to receiving said sample (M411) of the MMS service message from the MMS service server (130), sending a confirmation (M413) to the MMS service server (130); wherein the improvement is that said MMS subscription request (M401) is sent using the SIP SUBSCRIBE (subscribe) method; said MMS service notification (M405) is received using the SIP NOTIFY method; said request (M409) to sample an MMS service message is sent using the FETCH (sample) SIP protocol; and said acknowledgment (M413) is sent using the INFORM (inform) SIP protocol method. 2. The method according to claim 1, in which the MMS-specific header fields of said MMS subscription request (M401), MMS service notification (M405), said MMS request (M409) to sample an MMS service message and said acknowledgment (M413) or accepted as attachments. 3. The method according to claim 1, in which the MMS service-specific header fields of said MMS subscription (M401), MMS service notification (M405), said MMS request (M409) and MMS confirmation message (M413) are included in the header fields of the SIP protocol. 4. A terminal (101) containing communication means (165) for communicating with a mobile network (12), a protocol stack (175) for filtering data transmitted and received by means of communication means (165), a memory for storing a variety of applications, including a user agent (180) an MMS service that supports MMS-specific interaction between the source network (14) of the terminal and the terminal (101), a processing unit (170) for executing applications using data obtained by communication means (165) and filtered using using the protocol stack (175), wherein the MMS user agent (180) is configured to implement a method for retrieving an MMS service message according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A method for delivering a message (N404) of a multimedia messaging service (MMS) for execution on an MMS service server (130), comprising the steps of: receiving a request (M401) for an MMS subscription from a terminal (101);
receiving an MMS message (N404); in response to receiving said MMS service message (N404), generating a MMS service notification (M405) and sending said MMS service notification (M405) to terminal (101); receiving a request (M409) to retrieve an MMS service message from a terminal (101) to retrieve a message (N404); in response to said request (M409) to sample an MMS service message, generating a sample (M411) of an MMS service message containing an MMS service message (N404), and sending said sample (M411) of an MMS service message to a terminal (101); and receiving confirmation (M413) from the terminal (101); wherein the improvement is that said MMS subscription request (M401) is received using the SUBSCRIBE (subscribe) SIP method; said MMS service notification (M405) is sent using the SIP NOTIFY method; said request (M409) for sampling an MMS service message is received using the FETCH (sample) SIP protocol; and said acknowledgment (M413) is received using the SIP INFORM method. 6. The method according to claim 5, in which the MMS service-specific header fields of said MMS subscription (M401), MMS notification (M405), said MMS request (M409) and MMS confirmation message (M413) are received or sent as attachments. 7. The method according to claim 5, in which the MMS service-specific header fields of said MMS subscription (M401), MMS notification (M405), MMS request (M409) and MMS confirmation message and said acknowledgment (M413) are included in the header fields of the SIP protocol. 8. Server (130) of the MMS service, containing communication means (185) for communication between the terminals (101), with other servers (130) of the MMS service and Internet servers (13), a protocol stack (195) containing the protocols of the IP subsystem a multimedia core network (IMS) for providing various services, and a part specific to the MMS service, a processing unit (190) for executing the MMS application (196) for registering subscriptions to event packets, notifying subscriber terminals about received MMS messages belonging to event package corresponding to him by subscribing, and delivering MMS samples in response to receiving requests for MMS samples in accordance with the method of delivering an MMS message according to any one of claims 5-7.

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