E-mail traffic in a mobile communications system

Abstract

The addresses of a mobile station (MS) and a second party (B) connected to the Internet (12) are converted in such a way that a short message service center (SMSC) receives an allocation request (2-1) from a mobile station for allocating a virtual number (VN) to a combination comprising the address (IAB) of a second party preferably also a mobile station identifier. The SMSC sends a reply (2-2) to the mobile station, the reply indicating the allocated virtual number (VN). The mobile station (MS) transmits a short message (2-9) to the virtual member. The SMSC forms an Internet address (IAB) of the second party (B) on the basis of the virtual number (VN) and the allocation request (2-1) and sends to the Internet address an e-mail message (2-10) whose text part corresponds to the text part of the short message. The B party can reply (2-11) by using the reply function of the e-mail, which exchanges the sender for the recipient The B party can also use (2-13) the ISDN number of the mobile station. In both cases (2-12, 2-14) a virtual number (VN) is sent to the mobile station (MS), the number indicating the sender to the user of the mobile station.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.