WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

The invention relates to wireless communications, for example the field of mobile telephony.

Instant Messaging is a useful internet communication tool which enables users to transfer messages in near real time. Various Instant Messaging protocols are in existence. Session initiation protocol (SIP) Extension for Instant Messaging is an internet standards protocol that enables users to transfer messages in near real time. In this protocol, users must be registered to a SIP server in order to engage in SIP dialogues with other users. Although these protocols all differ in some respects, they usually require users to be connected to the internet and logged into an instant message server in order to transfer messages. Consequently, when a user is not connected to the internet and not logged into his Instant Messaging server, then the user cannot engage in Instant Messaging dialogues with other users. This is not a great problem for desktop computer users since fixed line broadband internet connection is commonly available in today's offices and homes and it is commonly the case that such internet connections are "always on" in nature. However, in a wireless communication environment, for example smart phones in an EDGE network, wireless communication devices typically do not have "always on" connections to the internet because of the limitations on the available bandwidth, the power consumption involved in maintaining such a connection and the billing cost that would be incurred by the user. Hence, Instant Messaging is much less useful and less popular in a wireless communication environment.

According to one aspect of the invention, it is provided a method of establishing communication with a participant of a mobile telephony network, the method comprising receiving at the participant a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication through a medium at least partially outside the mobile telephony network and in response connecting the participant to a resource outside the mobile telephony network that enables the invited communication.

The invention also consists in a participant an apparatus for a mobile telephony network, the apparatus comprising means for receiving a message through a message

service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication through a medium at least partially outside the mobile telephony network and means for responding to the message by connecting the participant to a resource outside the mobile telephony network that enables the invited communication.

The medium may be a form of Instant Messaging, e.g. SIP IM.

According to another aspect of the invention, it is provided a method for establishing communication with a participant of a mobile telephony network, the method comprising receiving at the participant a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication via a computing network and in response connecting the participant to a resource in or connected to the computing network that enables the invited communication.

The invention also consists in a participant an apparatus for a mobile telephony network, the apparatus comprising means for receiving a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication through a computing network and means for responding to the message by connecting the participant to a resource in or connected to the computing network that enables the invited communication.

The resource may be an Instant Messaging service, e.g. a SIP service.

According to another aspect of the invention, it is provided a method for establishing communication with a participant of a mobile telephony network, the method comprising receiving at the participant a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication through an Instant Message server and in response connecting the participant to the Instant Message server to enable the invited communication.

The invention also consists in a participant an apparatus for a mobile telephony network, the apparatus comprising means for receiving a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network inviting communication through an Instant

Message server and means for responding to the message by connecting the participant to the Instant Message server to enable the invited communication.

In certain embodiments, the participant may be configured to respond to the invitation by automatically attempting to connect to, as the case may be, the resource that enables the invited communication or the Instant Message server. In certain embodiments, the participant's user decides whether to accede to the invitation.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a method for establishing communication with a participant of a mobile telephony network, the method comprising determining that a participant of a mobile telephony network is not connected to a computing network for consumption of a service through the computing network and sending a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network to the participant to trigger the connection of the participant to the computing network for consumption of the service through the computing network.

The invention also consists in apparatus for establishing communication with a participant of a mobile telephony network, apparatus comprising means for determining that a participant of a mobile telephony network is not connected to a computing network for consumption of a service through the computing network and means for sending a message through a message service of the mobile telephony network to the participant to trigger the connection of the participant to the computing network for consumption of the service through the computing network.

The service may be Instant Messaging.

The participant may be a mobile telephone, in particular a smart phone.

The connection to the computing network may be through WiFi or EDGE.

The computing network may be the internet.

The message may be a Short Message Service (SMS) message.

The mobile telephony network may be an EDGE network.

In the foregoing text, aspects of the invention have been outlined in terms of certain methods. It is to be understood that the invention also extends to software or other program code for instructing suitable data processing hardware to perform such methods.

By way of example only, certain embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a communications environment including a smart phone; and

Figure 2 illustrates certain actions performed by the smart phone of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 1, a smart phone 10 is shown connected into an EDGE network 12. The smart phone 10 has a Linux operating system but, of course, different operating systems could be used in other embodiments. The smart phone has a WiFi capability to enable it to connect to the internet 14. The smart phone 10 can engage in Instant Messaging (IM) dialogues using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Extension for Instant Messaging. This is an internet standards protocol that enables users to conduct a dialogue by exchanging messages in near real time. In order to conduct an IM dialogue using this protocol, users must be registered to a SIP server. The smart phone 10 can register to SIP server 16, via the internet 14 using a WiFi connection, in order to enable communications using SIP IM. However, it will be apparent that the smart phone 10 will not have an "always on" connection to the internet 14, which will severely hamper the conduct of SIP IM communications. This drawback is addressed in the present embodiment through the following scheme.

When a party wishes to initiate a SIP IM session with the user of the smart phone 10 at a time when the smart phone 10 is not registered to SIP server 16, then SIP server 16 sends a special SMS message, hereinafter called a SIMPLE push message, through the EDGE network 12 to the smart phone 10. The SIMPLE push message in this case is a simple-invite message, which has the following format:-

<SIMPLE-INVITE>

<PARAM NAME= ¹¹ NAME" VALUE=" John"> <PARAM NAME= ¹¹ URI" VALUE="sip:john@e28.com"> <PARAM NAME= ¹¹ MSG" VALUE="Hello">

</SIMPLE-INVITE>

As is evident, the simple-invite message specifies the name of the invitor ("John"), his address for SIP IM communication (SIP:john@e28com) and some message text ("hello").

The flowchart of Figure 2 explains how the smart phone 10 reacts to the simple invite.

At step Sl, the simple invite is received by the smart phone 10. The smart phone 10 can be configured by its user to automatically accept simple-invite messages. In step S2, the smart phone 10 determines whether it is presently configured to automatically accept simple-invite messages. If the smart phone 10 is configured to accept simple-invite messages automatically, then the process moves from step S2 to step S3. In step S3, the smart phone checks to see if it is registered to the SIP server 16. If it is determined that the smart phone 10 is registered to the SIP server 16, then the process proceeds to step S4 in which the smart phone 10 launches its IM client in order to conduct an IM dialogue with the invitor that sent the simple-invite message.

If in step S2, it is determined that the smart phone 10 is not configured to accept simple-invite messages automatically, then the process moves from step S2 to step S5. In step S5, the smart phone 10 prompts the user to accept the simple-invite message. From step S5, the process moves to step S6 in which it is detected whether or not the user of the smart phone 10 accepts the simple-invite message. If it is determined that the user accepts the invitation, then the process moves from step S6 to step S3, which was described previously. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user declines the invitation, then the process moves from step S6 to step S7. In step S7, a simple-reject SMS message is sent to the invitor. The format of this message will be discussed later.

Returning to step S3 of Figure 2, if in that step it is determined that the smart phone 10 is not registered to the SIP server 16, then the process moves from step S3 to step S8. In step S8, the smart phone 10 establishes a WiFi connection to the internet 14 and registers to the SIP server 16. In step S9, it is determined whether registration of the smart phone 10 to the SIP server 16 has been successful. If successful, then the process moves to step S4, which was described previously. If, in step S9, it is determined that registration to SIP server 16 was unsuccessful, then the process moves to step SlO, in which a simple- reject message is sent to the invitor.

The general format of a simple-reject message is set out below:-

<SIMPLE-REJECT>

<PARAM NAME= ¹¹ NAME" VALUE=" Simon"> <PARAM NAME= ¹¹ URI" VALUE="sip:simon@e28.com"> <PARAM NAME= ¹¹ REASON" VALUE= ¹¹ NO WIFI CONNECTION ¹ ^ <PARAM NAME= ¹¹ MSG" VALUE= ¹ Tm busy">

</SIMPLE-REJECT>

It will be apparent that the simple-reject message has a similar format to the simple invite message in that it includes the name and the SIP address of the recipient. In addition, the simple reject message can include a message such as ¹ Tm busy", which would be applicable in the case where the process reaches step S7. The simple reject message can also include a reason such as "no WiFi connection", which might be applicable in the case where the process reaches step SlO.

The process described with reference to Figure 2 is implemented as software that is executed through the Linux operating system of the smart phone 10. The details of how such software should be formulated will be apparent to the skilled person.

It will be apparent that many other embodiments can be conceived. For example, the embodiment described in detail above conducts SIP Instant Messaging through a WiFi connection to the internet. It is of course possible to establish a connection to the internet

through other means, for example through the EDGE network 12 to which the smart phone 10 is connected.