WO2003081860A1

WO2003081860A1 - Telecommunications apparatus and methods

Info

Publication number: WO2003081860A1
Application number: PCT/GB2003/001178
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Wilson
Original assignee: Intellprop Limited
Priority date: 2002-03-20
Filing date: 2003-03-19
Publication date: 2003-10-02
Also published as: GB0206531D0; AU2003216838A1

Abstract

In a telecommunications network, such as a mobile telephone network, a user may send and/or receive messages such as text messages using short addresses. The message is sent from or to a network node via router means (3). Upon receiving the message, the router means (3) communicates with a respective address translation table (4) provided for each user. The translation table (4) provides a replacement full address of the network node corresponding to a received shortened address of the network node, and vice versa, the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address. The received address is then replaced by the replacement address, and the router means (3) transmits the message with the replacement address.

Description

TELECOMMUNICATIONS APPARATUS AND METHODS

The present invention relates to telecommunications apparatus and methods, and in particular, but not exclusively, to such apparatus and method which allows a user to use a shortened address form when sending a message to a recipient.

Text messaging is established as a popular and effective means of communication for users of mobile telephones. The Short Message Services (SMS) of the GSM mobile telephony system provide such a text messaging facility, and support for the composition, transmission and reception of Short Messages is present in the majority of mobile terminals. Text messaging requires alphanumeric entry using the standardised Man Machine Interface (MMI) of the mobile handset, and also requires that the message be addressed to the desired recipient. The destination address for the message may typically be specified either by entering a Mobile Station ISDN number (MSISDN), which is the mobile telephone number of the desired recipient, or by selecting an entry from the handset's address book, which already has the desired MSISDN pre-programmed in. The address book normally provides the MSISDN by using alphanumeric look-up of a name.

The SMS mechanism was originally defined for mobile to mobile text messaging, but the specifications support additional features such as interworking with email systems, and the use of alphanumeric addressing as well as ISDN (E.164) addressing. In GSM, alphanumeric addressing permits the use of an alphanumeric string of up to 11 characters to be used in place of a telephone number for either the source or destination address of a call or message.

The GSM specifications also indicate means for formatting destination email addresses within the body of a text message, and provide for signals to indicate that message formats should be translated within the network between various types of message transport. However use of these means for specifying email addresses is somewhat clumsy, especially as email addresses can be rather long. The address field also reduces the space available for message content within the limitations of text message length, which in the case of GSM is only 160 characters unless message- concatenation is used with its associated extra cost. Some networks support a means for mobile terminals to inter-work with email systems. In this case a mobile telephone is commonly assigned an email address that is related to the mobile telephone number and the network name. For example 07700123456@anvnetwork.net is a typical email address format for a mobile telephone. If an email is sent to this address from a normal Internet Service Provider (ISP) email account, it arrives at the mobile telephone as one or more text messages. Typically, in order to allow use of the in-built reply function in most mobile handsets, the network replaces the source address of the email by a digit string, such that any reply is directed back to the email equipment in the network. The digit string is often comprised of a short code (to provide the routing) plus a unique number which allows the email system to correlate the reply with the originally sent email, thereby allowing the destination address to be substituted and the reply to be delivered. Due to this necessity to use correlation codes in the calling line identity (CLI) field to get the reply function to work properly, the real email address has to be also included in the body of the message so that the mobile recipient can know the identity of the sender. This reduces the capacity of the text message to carry the body of the email.

Some networks support the use of alphanumeric addresses of up to 11 characters as the source address (CLI) of messages sent from SMS Host equipments or External Short Message Entities (ESMEs) attached to their network. Commonly, for advertising purposes, ESMEs will use an alphanumeric company name or product name as the CLI on bulk text mailings to mobile subscribers. Other service providers such as those who provide text message alerts may also transmit their messages with an alphanumeric source address. These messages, tagged with an alphanumeric CLI, are usually provided via a Host interface to the Short Message Service Centre (SMSC). The SS7 Mobile Application Protocol (MAP) transport as specified for GSM also supports the transport of alphanumeric addressing as an alternative to E.164 addressing for messages and calls. However support for translation of these addresses in networks is minimal, and in most cases a mobile originated call or message delivered into a mobile network with an alphanumeric destination address will fail, because the network is unable to provide a routing translation. This is true even for replies to messages from ESMEs with an alphanumeric CLI. Handset support for alphanumeric addressing is growing gradually. Many handsets can support reply to a message with an alphanumeric CLI. Many types of telephone can even support origination of a message with an alphanumeric destination address. The present invention seeks to provide an improved telecommunications apparatus and method.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided telecommuncations apparatus comprising router means, and further comprising respective address translation means for each of a plurality of users, the router means being operable to communicate with the translation means, the apparatus being arranged such that, in use, when a user sends communication data to, and receives communication data from, a network node via the router means, the respective address translation means is configured to provide a shortened address of the network node which replaces a full address of the network node, and vice versa respectively, and the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address.

The present invention may be seen as advantageously providing a means for enhancing the exchange of messages between mobile telephones and external systems such as email systems by making use of automated translation between short-form addresses and full addresses. The use of a short form address can make the sending of an email message from a mobile telephone much simpler and quicker, while the reception of a short form address can render the identity of the sender more easily recognisable.

In one preferred embodiment the invention allows short destination addresses to be used in conjunction with mobile originated text messages. The invention preferably allows such short addresses to be received as the CLI on mobile terminated messages. Messages so received may be replied to using the inbuilt Reply function in most mobile handsets. The invention also allows translation between the short addresses and corresponding full addresses, which may be E.164 telephone numbers, email addresses, web addresses or the like. The translation between short and long addresses may be defined by the user by means of a syntax that may be conducted using text-messaging means, over the web or by another method. Translations may also be defined automatically on receipt of a message from a long address for which no translation already exists. In this case the short address that is used may be derived from the long address by a simple procedure, or may be derived by some other means.

The invention advantageously permits the mobile user to send and/or receive messages using short addresses, which may be more easily memorable and also easier to enter and read. The necessity to use up space in the body of the message for the carriage of an address is eliminated.

The address translation means may comprise a look-up table which comprises shortened addresses and corresponding full addresses. In a preferred embodiment the translation tables are stored by the network or by the associated email interface system. The user is able to define a number of personal short form translations, and the system can also automatically generate short form translations for incoming messages that have no previously defined short form. The user may be able to manage the contents of his short form translation table using, for example, text messaging commands or the Web.

The translation between the short address and the full email address is stored in a translation table that is individual to each mobile subscriber, and which is held within the telephone network. The translation is desirably performed by an SMS Router which examines mobile originated (MO) messages sent by users, and in the case of messages that are to be routed via an SMSC, the translation is performed prior to their arrival at the SMSC. Messages that have a short form destination address are translated to carry the corresponding long form address from the translation table, and the message is forwarded to the appropriate equipment.

In some cases this will be via an SMSC, in which case it may be necessary to use a temporary routing and correlation code as the destination address. This is to ensure that the SMSC routes the message to the intended email server, and that the email server can identify the desired recipient from the correlation code, the correlation code and the full destination email address having been sent separately from the SMS Router to the email server. In other cases it may be desirable to route the message directly from the SMS Router to an email server.

If no translation is found in the table for a short form address, then the message could be returned to the user with an error indication, or the message could be negatively acknowledged, causing a 'Not sent' message or equivalent on the mobile terminal.

Messages in the other direction arriving with a long form source address are preferably translated automatically to carry the relevant short form address if a suitable translation already exists in the translation table associated with the recipient's CLI. If a suitable translation is not found in the table, then one is created automatically.

Alternatively or in addition to a look-up table the address translation means may comprise a data processor which generates a shortened address in accordance with predetermined rules. The shortened address preferably comprises at least an initial portion of the full address.

Preferably the translation means is operable to handle full addresses which are e-mail addresses.

The communication data may take a variety of forms and in particular may comprises a SMS text message, an EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) message, a voice call, graphics or visual material, audio material or video material. In other words the communication data is data which a user wishes to convey to a node (and typically another user) in the network.

The characters of the shortened and full addresses are those of a specified character set, which may comprise one or a combination of numeric characters, alphabet characters, alpha-numeric characters, or characters of other types such as spaces, punctuation marks or fanciful characters.

In one preferred embodiment for the GSM system the short address is an alphanumeric address. In GSM up to 11 alphanumeric characters are supported as an alternative to an E.164 telephone number. The short address may be used for example as an alias for an email address. The short form address is constrained to contain the character '@' to indicate an email translation. Other syntactic requirements could be used to indicate email. An appropriate syntax could also support other types of translation. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a network comprising the apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the invention. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of handling communication data from and to a plurality of users of a telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of causing the communication data to be sent from or to a network node via router means, on receiving the communication data causing the router means to communicate with a respective address translation means which is provided for each user, the address translation means being operative to provide a replacement full address of the network node corresponding to a received shortened address of the network node, and vice versa, the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address, replacing the received address with the replacement address, and causing the router means to transmit the communication data with the replacement address.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided address translation apparatus comprising respective address translation means for each of a plurality of users of a telecommunications network, the translation means being arranged such that in use, when a user sends communication data to, and receives communication data from, a network node, a respective address translation means is configured to provide a shortened address of the network node which replaces a full address of the network node, and vice versa respectively, and the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address. Further aspects of the invention provide a computer program for carrying out the above method, and a storage medium on which such computer program is stored.

Several embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like parts are referred to by like references, and in which:- Figure 1 is a block diagram of telecommunications apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention in which a shortened address is used to send a message; and

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the apparatus of Figure 1 in which a shortened address is used in a reply to a message. The apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a mobile telephone/terminal 1, a mobile switching centre (MSC) 2, an SMS Router 3, a translation table 4, a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) 5 and an email server 6. A suitable equipment to be used as the SMS Router 3 is a Telsis (RTM) SMS Router, manufactured by Telsis Limited. This equipment may connect to mobile telephone networks using known and standardised signalling protocols including SS7 and TCP/IP. Using known signalling routing techniques, the mobile network can arrange for SMS messages directed to the network's SMSC(s) to be routed via the SMS Router. In use, the apparatus of Figure 1 translates a short address (in this example '@1') to a long address for a mobile originated message, or for a reply to a message with a short address (in this example '@1') presented as the CLI.

The mobile originating terminal 1 formulates a message and sends it via the network's MSC 2 to alpha address '@1'; the CLI of the mobile terminal 1 is the normal telephone number 07700123456. The SMS Router 3 translates the '@1' into a full email address Geoffrey. versace@mtinternet.bank.co.uk, by means of the translation table 4 which may be internal to the SMS Router 3 or external, and passes this information to the email server 6 together with a unique correlation code which the SMS Router generates on the fly, e.g. by incrementing a counter. The SMS Router 3 then passes the message on to the SMSC 5, with a destination number formed from the unique correlation code prefixed by a short-code address (e.g. 191) indicating that the SMSC should forward the message to the network's email server.

The SMSC 5 forwards the message to the email server 6, optionally stripping the 191 prefix. The email server matches the correlation codes received from the SMS Router and the SMSC and substitutes the full email address Geoffrey. versace( ),mtmternet.bank. co.uk. It forms the source address from the sender's CLI and the network name: (07700123456(α),anynetwork.net). The email server then sends the message by email. Figure 2 shows how the network translates the long source address to a short

CLI address for a mobile terminated (MT) message.

The process shown in Figure 1 is reversed, except that the SMSC 5 need not be involved in the delivery of the MT message, and so no correlation value is required. The reply arrives at the mobile terminal 1, with the CLI presented as the short alpha address '@1'.

It will be appreciated that numeric short codes could be used instead of alphanumeric. This could overcome the limitations of some handsets in their support δ

for alphanumeric address entry. In this case it would be desirable that numeric short codes are chosen so as not to be confusable with other types of shortcode address, e.g. ones already in use by the network or those reserved by a regulator. These network short codes are typically 3 to 5 digits long, and so an embodiment of the invention could for example use short numbers of length one or two digits, giving the user potentially 110 available short addresses available for messaging. The translation tables would work in a similar way to that described for alpha short addresses. The one or two digits short codes could be translated to and from long email addresses, and/or another type of address. By way of example, one translation method is as follows :-

The incoming long address is denoted by LONG [1..N] where N is the length of the character string.

The resultant short form address is denoted as SHORT [1..11]. K is a single digit that is used in place of the 11 character of a short address in the case where a clash of short addresses would otherwise occur. K starts at 1, and allows up to nine short addresses which are otherwise identical in the first 10 characters.

++ denotes concatenation. if LONG [1..N] is already a long address in the able look up the associated short address else ifN < ll

SHORT [1..11] = LONG [1..N] padded with spaces to 11 characters else if LONG [1..10] contains '@' if LONG [1..10] is already a short address in the table

SHORT [1..11] = LONG [1..10] + + K else SHORT [l..l l] = LONG [1..10] + + < space > endif else if LONG [1..9] + + @ is already a short address in the table SHORT [1..11] = LONG[1..9] + + @ + + K else

SHORT [1..11] = LONG [1..9] + + @ + + < space > endif endif endif update translation table with SHORT [1..11] maps to LONG [1..N] endif

For example the following translations are obtained by this method:-

Other methods and techniques are possible. For example, instead of using a digit for K, any of the SMS character set could be allowed, permitting many more variants of a short address without clash.

In this example the long address will always contain the character @ since it is an email address. The short alphanumeric address is also constrained to contain the character @. Clashes in short addresses are resolved if possible by substituting a digit K from 1 to 9 in the last position of the short address, allowing up to nine different translations to be identical in the first 10 characters of the short address. The lowest value digit K is chosen that creates a unique short address. Once all possible values of K are used up and no translation is possible, the system could omit the translation step and revert to standard methods, e.g. inserting the full address into the body of the email. The user may also place entries in the translation table. In a preferred embodiment, the user may use SMS commands to administer his translation table. The user communicates with the system by sending the SMS commands to a given shortcode, for example 191. Example syntax for some commands is shown below:-

To define a translation:

< short address > space < long address > where < short address > consists of a string of up to 11 characters that contains an @ character, and < long address > is a full email address. examples are: -

@1 Geoffrey, versace@mtintemet.bank.co.uk resulting in a translation table entry

and geoff@ Geoffrey.versace@mtinternet.bank.co.uk resulting in a translation table entry

To query a translation:

< short address > ? or

?< long address > Other syntaxes are possible.

In a further embodiment usage of numeric short codes could be extended to include the use of * and/or # characters, which can be entered on most phones in numeric mode and stored and sent as addresses. The usage of * and/or # could be used to distinguish different usages of the short codes, for example to distinguish usage in connection with the current invention from other short codes in use by the network. Furthermore, the present invention supports the use of * and/or # as indications of the type of translation to be applied to a message. For example, a message sent to short code 123# could indicate to the network that the message was to be delivered as email to the long address indicated by the personal translation for 123 that had been previously set up. The syntax for setting up the translations could be readily extended to allow an email address and telephone number to be associated with the same short code.

Other examples of possible usages of * and # are tabulated below. In addition to the use of the invention in connection with SMS and email, the short code translation mechanism described could also be used to initiate voice calls, and examples of this are included in the following table. Usage of the invention is not limited to the examples given but could be applied to many types of service or network feature for which a short code translation would be advantageous.

Other functions and short code syntax alternatives are possible. In a further embodiment, numeric and alphanumeric short codes could both be used together.

In a further embodiment, the present invention could be combined with known virtual mobile techniques to allow access to the functionality from other networks. In this case the functions described as being implemented on an SMS Router with an associated translation table could be implemented on the virtual mobile equipment (VME) using a similar table.

Issues of case sensitivity in email addresses can be dealt with at translation time. Entries can be stored and retrieved with the case in which they were first presented, but matching should be done with case insensitivity.

In so far as the embodiments of the invention described above may be implemented, at least in part, using software-controlled processing apparatus, it will be appreciated that a computer program providing such software control and a storage medium by which such a computer program is stored are envisaged as aspects of the invention.

Claims

1. Telecommunications apparatus comprising router means, and further comprising respective address translation means for each of a plurality of users, the router means being operable to communicate with the translation means, the apparatus being arranged such that, in use, when a user sends communication data to, and receives communication data from, a network node via the router means, the respective address translation means is configured to provide a shortened address of the network node which replaces a full address of the network node, and vice versa respectively, and the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address.

2. Telecommunications apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the address translation means comprises a look-up table which comprises shortened addresses and corresponding full addresses.

3. Telecommunications apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the address translation means comprises a data processor which generates a shortened address in accordance with predetermined rules.

4. Telecommunications apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the shortened address comprises at least an initial portion of the full address.

5. Telecommunications apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim in which the translation means is operable to handle full addresses which are e-mail addresses.

6. A network comprising the apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5.

7. A method of handling communication data from and to a plurality of users of a telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of causing the communication data to be sent from or to a network node via router means, on receiving the communication data causing the router means to communicate with a respective address translation means which is provided for each user, the address translation means being operative to provide a replacement full address of the network node corresponding to a received shortened address of the network node, and vice versa, the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address, replacing the received address with the replacement address, and causing the router means to transmit the communication data with the replacement address.

8. Address translation apparatus comprising respective address translation means for each of a plurality of users of a telecommunications network, the translation means being arranged such that in use, when a user sends communication data to, and receives communication data from, a network node, a respective address translation means is configured to provide a shortened address of the network node which replaces a full address of the network node, and vice versa respectively, and the shortened address consisting of fewer characters than the full address.

9. A computer program for implementing a method according to claim 7.

10. A storage medium storing a computer program according to claim 9.