MDN-less SMS messaging (network solution) for wireless M2M application

A method of machine-to-machine communication via a short messaging service (SMS) of a mobile network providing wireless communication services, the method comprising:

• receiving a data message in the form of a SMS message over an airlink from a wireless client associated with an automated machine-to-machine device, the data message containing a mobile station identifier and a short code associated with a machine-to-machine application as a destination address, wherein:
• the mobile station identifier is an identifier assigned to the wireless client by an operator of the mobile network but is not a valid telephone number for routing through the mobile network, and
• a source address field of the SMS message, for a valid telephone number, is empty or contains a null value;
• and
• communicating the data message including the mobile station identifier through the mobile network for transmission to a server hosting the machine-to-machine application associated with the short code.

A machine-to-machine communication method, comprising:

• routing a first short message service (SMS) message received from a machine-to-machine application through a mobile network to a wireless client associated with a machine-to-machine device, based on a mobile station identifier contained in the first SMS message, wherein:
• the mobile station identifier is an identifier assigned to the wireless client by an operator of the mobile network but is not a valid telephone number for routing through the mobile network, and
• a destination address field of the first SMS message, for a valid telephone number normally required for SMS message routing through the mobile network, is empty or contains a null value;
• and
• routing a second SMS message from the wireless client associated with the automated machine-to-machine device through the mobile network for delivery to the machine-to-machine application, based on a destination address associated with the machine-to-machine application contained in the second SMS message service, wherein:
• the second SMS message further contains the mobile station identifier assigned to the wireless client, and
• a source address field of the second SMS message, for a valid telephone number, is empty or contains a null value.

In a mobile network providing wireless communication services, an improvement facilitating machine-to-machine communications via a short messaging service (SMS) of the network, the improvement comprising:

• a machine-to-machine gateway providing a network interface, for receiving first data messages from and sending second data messages to a machine-to-machine application, the first data messages containing mobile station identifiers of wireless clients as destination addresses and the second data messages containing mobile station identifiers of the wireless clients as source identifiers, wherein each mobile station identifier is assigned to a respective wireless client by an operator of the mobile network and is not a valid telephone number for routing through the mobile network;
• a message center in packet communication with the machine-to-machine gateway, for:
• (a) receiving the first data messages from and sending the second data messages to the machine-to-machine gateway, and
• (b) forwarding the first data messages through the mobile network for delivery to the wireless clients as first SMS messages based on the respective mobile station identifiers and for receiving first SMS messages for the second data message through the mobile network from the wireless clients;
• and
• a home location register coupled to the message center, for providing information regarding point of attachment of each of the wireless clients to the wireless communication network based on the respective mobile station identifiers, for use in the forwarding of the first data messages to wireless clients,
• wherein:
• a destination address field of each first SMS message, for a valid telephone number normally required for SMS message routing through the mobile network, is empty or contains a null value, and
• a source address field of each second SMS message, for a valid telephone number, is empty or contains a null value.