METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERY OF DATA-BASED/VOICE SERVICES OVER PICONETS AND WIRELESS LANs (WLANs) COUPLED TO 3GPP DEVICES INCLUDING PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE AND INFORMATION ELEMENTS RELATING TO SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS) OVER WLANs

Abstract

Method and apparatus delivering voice/data services within a piconet operating over a limited range or over a WLAN communicating with 3GPP devices by reformatting data into IP format before delivering to the WLAN. The service is short message service (SMS). Upon receipt of an SMS message, relevant routing information is retrieved. A PDGW address for the SMS message is identified and is sent to the PDGW address which identifies the WLAN user equipment (UE) for receiving the SMS and reformats the SMS message into IP format (text or encapsulation) for delivery to the UE. A protocol architecture is provided for SMS delivery over WLANs, in particular, for UMTS/CDMA based SMS over WLAN through two alternative mechanisms, i.e., SMS tunneling and SMS proxy, for protocols for the delivery of SMS across the WLAN. The invention enhances standard 802.11 in the context of UMTS and CDMA 2000; as well as other scenarios.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for use in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
 establishing a communication session with a gateway node via a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the gateway node is configured to receive a signaling system #7 (SS7) message, from a Short Message Service Gateway Message Switching Center (SMS-GMSC), including Short Message Service (SMS) data intended for the UE; and   receiving, from the gateway node, an Internet Protocol (IP) message based on both the SS7 message and information stored in a home location register (HLR) of a cellular network, wherein the IP message includes the SMS data intended for the UE, an IP-based identifier of the UE, and an IP-based identifier of the gateway node.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information stored in the HLR of the cellular network includes information related to a mapping of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the UE to an IP-based identifier of the UE. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gateway node is an IP short message gateway (IP SM GW). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IP message is a session initiation protocol (SIP) message. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE using user datagram protocol (UDP). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE using transmission control protocol (TCP). 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN is an Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 WLAN. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE via the WLAN. 
     
     
         9 . A user equipment (UE), comprising:
 a wireless local area network (WLAN) transmitter configured to establish a communication session with a gateway node via a WLAN, wherein the gateway node is configured to receive, from a Short Message Service Gateway Message Switching Center (SMS-GMSC), a signaling system #7 (SS7) message including Short Message Service (SMS) data intended for the UE; and   a WLAN receiver configured to receive, from the gateway node, an Internet Protocol (IP) message based on both the SS7 message and information stored in a home location register (HLR) of a cellular network, wherein the IP message includes the SMS data intended for the UE, an IP-based identifier of the UE, and an IP-based identifier of the gateway node.   
     
     
         10 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway node is an IP short message gateway (IP SM GW). 
     
     
         11 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the IP message is a session initiation protocol (SIP) message. 
     
     
         12 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE using user datagram protocol (UDP). 
     
     
         13 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE using transmission control protocol (TCP). 
     
     
         14 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the WLAN is an Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 WLAN. 
     
     
         15 . The UE of  claim 9 , wherein the IP message is received by the UE via the WLAN. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment (UE), causes the UE to perform the following:
 establishing a communication session with a gateway node via a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the gateway node is configured to receive a signaling system #7 (SS7) message, from a Short Message Service Gateway Message Switching Center (SMS-GMSC), including Short Message Service (SMS) data intended for the UE; and   receiving, from the gateway node, an Internet Protocol (IP) message based on both the SS7 message and information stored in a home location register (HLR) of a cellular network, wherein the IP message includes the SMS data intended for the UE, an IP-based identifier of the UE, and an IP-based identifier of the gateway node.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the information stored in the HLR of the cellular network includes information related to a mapping of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the UE to an IP-based identifier of the UE. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the gateway node is an IP short message gateway (IP SM GW). 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the IP message is a session initiation protocol (SIP) message. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the WLAN is an Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 WLAN.