Method and apparatus for network-assisted automatic confirmation of short message service delivery
AssigneeAT&T Wireless Services, Inc.
InventorsSimon D. Byers, Nathan Hamilton, Shanmugavelayutham Muthukrishnan, James F. Parkyn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a mobile communications network, a delivery acknowledgement receipt can be sent to indicate a SMS message is delivered. A system can be based on currently-existing protocols, such as described in the IS-136 standard. Existing network signals that acknowledge receipt of a message can be captured and utilized to notify the originator when the SMS message is delivered. A variety of other scenarios (e.g., unsuccessful delivery) can also be supported.
Claims25
A method of operating a short message service center comprising:
- receiving a short message service request from a sender;
- determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;
- transmitting through a mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;
- receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit;
- and
- transmitting a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender.
A short message service center comprising:
- a first interface to a mobile network;
- a second interface to an external short message entity;
- a central processing unit connected to first and second interface for executing computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing the central processing unit to perform the following:
- receiving a short message service request from a sender;
- determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;
- transmitting through the mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;
- receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit;
- and
- transmitting through the external short message entity a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender.
A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the following in a short message service center comprising a first interface to a mobile network, a second interface to an external short message entity, and a central processing unit connected to the first and second interface:
- receiving a short message service request from a sender;
- determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;
- transmitting through the mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;
- receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit;
- and
- transmitting through the external short message entity a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender.
A network node operable to communicate with at least one mobile communication device, the network node comprising:
- a processor configured to perform at least the following:
- receiving an SMDPP acknowledgement message as a result of attempting communications with the mobile communication device;
- and
- responsive to receiving the SMDPP acknowledgement message, transmitting a delivery acknowledgement receipt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.