System, method, and computer-readable medium for short message service termination processing by a femtocell system

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for processing short message service terminations in a communication system featuring an IP-based femtocell system are provided. The femtocell system includes a base transceiver station and a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter. The femtocell system receives message content from a core network over a packet interface that is to be delivered to a user equipment serviced by the femtocell system and depacketizes the message content. The Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter conveys the depacketized message content to the base transceiver station which transmits the message content to the user equipment via a data burst.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 generating a Session Initiation Protocol registration message on behalf of a user equipment, the Session Initiation Protocol registration message comprising a Session Initiation Protocol contact identifier for the user equipment; 
 transmitting the Session Initiation Protocol registration message to a remote Session Initiation Protocol registrar device identifying an address of at least one femtocell as a recipient address for Session Initiation Protocol signaling destined for the user equipment; 
 receiving, by a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell from a core network, message content to be delivered to the user equipment serviced by the at least one femtocell; 
 conveying an authentication challenge by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to a base transceiver station; and 
 transmitting the authentication challenge from the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 conveying a service request from the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter to the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell; and 
 transmitting, by the base transceiver station, the message content to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising receiving, by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell, a service request response from the base transceiver station. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein transmitting the message content to the user equipment comprises transmitting a short message delivery request to the user equipment. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter, a message delivery confirmation message to the core network. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the message delivery confirmation message comprises a session initiation protocol response. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving message content comprises receiving the message content from an Internet Multimedia Subsystem core network. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the message content comprises receiving the message content over a packet interface by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell, the method further comprising depacketizing the message content by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter. 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions that:
 generate a Session Initiation Protocol registration message on behalf of a user equipment, the Session Initiation Protocol registration message comprising a Session Initiation Protocol contact identifier for the user equipment; 
 transmit the Session Initiation Protocol registration message to a remote Session Initiation Protocol registrar device identifying an address of at least one femtocell as a recipient address for Session Initiation Protocol signaling destined for the user equipment; 
 receive, by a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell from a core network, message content to be delivered to the user equipment serviced by the at least one femtocell, wherein the message content is received over a packet interface; 
 depacketize, by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell, the message content; 
 convey an authentication challenge by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station; and 
 transmit the authentication challenge from the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions that receive message content comprise instructions that receive message content by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell. 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that transmit, by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter, a message delivery confirmation message to the core network. 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the message delivery confirmation message comprises a session initiation protocol response. 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions that receive message content comprise instructions that receive the message content from an Internet Multimedia Subsystem core network. 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions that:
 convey a service request from the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell; and 
 receive, by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter, a service request response from the base transceiver station. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions that:
 transmit, by the base transceiver station, the message content to the user equipment, wherein the instructions transmit the message content to the user equipment comprise instructions that transmit a short message delivery request to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       16. A system, comprising:
 a packet-switched network; 
 an Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem communicatively coupled with the packet-switched network; and 
 at least one femtocell communicatively coupled with the packet-switched network, wherein the at least one femtocell includes a base transceiver station and a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter; wherein the at least one femtocell is configured to generate a Session Initiation Protocol registration message on behalf of a user equipment, the Session Initiation Protocol registration message comprising a Session Initiation Protocol contact identifier for the user equipment, and transmit the Session Initiation Protocol registration message to a remote Session Initiation Protocol registrar device identifying an address of the at least one femtocell as a recipient address for Session Initiation Protocol signaling destined for the user equipment, and wherein the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter receives, from the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem, message content to be delivered to the user equipment serviced by the at least one femtocell over a packet interface, depacketizes the message content, conveys an authentication challenge by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station, and transmits the authentication challenge from the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter transmits a message delivery confirmation message to the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the message delivery confirmation message comprises a session initiation protocol response. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter:
 conveys a service request to the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell, and wherein the base transceiver station transmits the message content to the user equipment; and 
 receives a service request response from the base transceiver station. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the base transceiver station transmits the message content to the user equipment via a short message delivery request.