# Patent

## Title
Method and system for protocol feature communication

## Abstract

Systems and methods for communicating support or absence of support of a plurality of protocol features are disclosed. Generally, a plurality of bits is received, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol features. The received plurality of bits are analyzed to determine which protocol features are supported by a first telecommunications station.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/452,823, filed Jun. 2, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,761 the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.


TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to telecommunication networks and, more particularly, to a method and system for communicating protocol features supported by a mobile station and a base station message center inter-working.
BACKGROUND
Under the most current revision of a TIA/EIA-1 36 telecommunication standard, there are five protocols for identifying features that may be supported, mandatorily or optionally, by a mobile station and a base station message center inter-working (hereinafter “BMI”). A first protocol version TIA/EIA-1 36-A PV1 (hereinafter “PV1”) including three mandatory features and twenty-five optional features is illustrated in the following TABLE 1:










TABLE 1







PV1 FEATURES
OPTIONAL/MANDATORY









Intelligent Roaming
Optional



Multilingual Display
Optional



ISO-8859 (Latin 1)
Mandatory



ISO-10646 (BMP)
Optional



ISO-8859-8 (Latin/Hebrew)
Optional



Async Data
Optional



G3-Fax
Optional



DADS
Optional



Non-Public Mode
Optional



DTX
Optional



Subaddressing
Optional



User Group
Optional



Half-Rate DTC
Optional



Double-Rate DTC
Optional



Triple-Rate DTC
Optional



STU-III
Optional



Total Charge Info
Optional



TSAR
Mandatory



Cellular Messaging Teleservice
Optional



GUTS
Optional



OATS
Optional



OPTS
Optional



SMS Submit
Optional



R-Data Delivery on DTC
Mandatory



PFC 2 to 8
Optional



ACELP
Optional



OMEA and VPM
Optional










A second protocol version TIA/EIA-136-A PV2 (hereinafter “PV2”) includes one mandatory feature and two optional features in addition to the three mandatory features and twenty-five optional features of PV1. The specific mandatory feature and optional features of PV2 are illustrated in the following TABLE 2:










TABLE 2







PV2 FEATURES
OPTIONAL/MANDATORY









Downlink Power Control
Mandatory



Enhanced MACA
Optional



BATS
Optional










A third protocol version TIA/EIA-136-A PV3 (hereinafter “PV3”) includes zero mandatory features and five optional features in addition to the four mandatory features and twenty-seven optional features of PV1 and PV2. The specific optional features of PV3 are illustrated in the following TABLE 3:










TABLE 3







PV3 FEATURES
OPTIONAL/MANDATORY









136+ Packet Data
Optional



8-PSK Modulation
Optional



Extended Voice Mode
Optional



US1 Vocoder
Optional



Interleaving
Optional










A fourth protocol version TIA/EIA-136-B PV4 (hereinafter “PV4”) includes two mandatory features and three optional features in addition to the four mandatory features and thirty-two optional features of PV1, PV2 and PV3. The specific mandatory features and optional features of PV4 are illustrated in the following TABLE 4:








TABLE 4





PV4 FEATURES
OPTIONAL/MANDATORY







Enhanced Privacy and Encryption
Mandatory


Added Diversity For Improvement in
Optional


Channel Errors


GPRS-136
Optional


+Code Dialing
Mandatory


Charge Indication Teleservice
Optional









A fifth protocol version TIA/EIA-136-C PV5 (hereinafter “PV5”) includes zero mandatory features and nine optional features in addition to the six mandatory features and thirty-five optional features of PV1, PV2, PV3 and PV4. The specific optional features of PV5 are illustrated in the following TABLE 5:








TABLE 5





PV5 FEATURES
OPTIONAL/MANDATORY







Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM)
Optional


EGPRS-136
Optional


Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)
Optional


Fast Power Control
Optional


Teleservice Over GSM SMS
Optional


Transmit Diversity on DTC
Optional


High Penetration Paging (HPP)
Optional


System Assisted Mobile Positioning
Optional


Through Satellite









Currently, there are two mechanisms employed by telecommunication networks for communicating which mandatory features of PV1-PV5 are supported by a mobile station and a BMI. The first mechanism involves the mobile station and the BMI agreeing, during an initial registration process, on the lowest common denominator of features between PV1-PV5 that is being supported by the mobile station and the BMI. Thus, the mobile station and the BMI are able to identify the mandatory features being supported by the mobile station and the BMI. The second mechanism involves including a list of supported mandatory features within a Capability Request message and a Capability Report message.
Although the two mechanisms have utility, a limitation of the two mechanisms is the failure to communicate optional features of PV1 -PV5 that are supported by the mobile station and the BMI. As such, in order to determine if a particular optional feature is supported, for example the teleservice feature of PV5, the BMI currently sends an R-DATA message corresponding to an optional feature to the mobile station and a reception of a R-DATA REJECT message from the mobile station indicates to the BMI that the mobile station is not supporting the optional feature. However, this method can be a signaling drain.
Another limitation under the current TIA/EIA-136 is a restriction of having to implement all mandatory features from a selected protocol version and each preceding protocol version. For example, a manufacturer of a mobile station having PV5 must also implement the mandatory features of PV1-PV4. However, mandatory features of PV1-PV4 may not be commercially demanded by consumers or required by the carrier of the mobile station. Thus, the restriction has an impact on the development costs and schedules of mobile stations, which in turn affects the deployment of related mobile services.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for communicating supported mandatory and optional features under the TIA/EIA-136 standard and similar types of standards.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method of communicating supported protocol features in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram of a telecommunication network communicating an information element, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for establishing which protocol features are mutually supported by communicating telecommunication stations.
One form of the present invention is a method for communicating a set of one or more protocol features supported by a telecommunication station. First, a bit stream is defined. Each bit of the bit stream represents a separate distinct feature supported by a protocol. Second, each bit of the bit stream is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state. The first logic state indicates a support of a corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station, and the second logic state indicates an absence of support of the corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station. Finally, the bit stream is stored within the telecommunication station.
A second form of the present invention is a computer program product in a computer-useable medium for communicating a set of one or more protocol features supported by a first telecommunication station to a second telecommunication station. The computer program product comprises program code for storing a bit stream, where each bit of the bit stream represents a separate distinct feature supported by a protocol. Each bit of the bit stream is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state. The first logic state indicates support of a corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station, and the second logic state indicates an absence of support of the corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station. The computer program product further comprises program code for transmitting the bit stream to the second telecommunication station.
A third form of the present invention is a method communicating a set of one or more protocol features supported by a first telecommunication station to a second telecommunication station. First, the first telecommunication station transmits a bit stream to the second telecommunication station, where each bit of the bit stream represents a separate distinct feature provided by a protocol. Each bit of the bit stream is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state. The first logic state indicates a support of a corresponding distinct feature by the first telecommunication station, and the second logic state indicates an absence of support of the corresponding distinct feature by the first telecommunication station. The second telecommunication station identifies each bit of the first bit stream that is set in the first logic state to determine each protocol feature of the first protocol supported by the first telecommunication station.
A fourth form of the present invention is a telecommunication network, comprising at least a pair of telecommunication stations. A first telecommunication station is operable to transmit a bit stream, where each bit of the bit stream represents a separate distinct feature provided by a protocol. Each bit of the bit stream is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state. The first logic state indicates a support of a corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station, and the second logic state indicates an absence of support of the corresponding distinct feature by the telecommunication station. The second telecommunication station is operable to identify each bit of the bit stream being set in the first logic state to determine each protocol feature supported by the first telecommunication station.
The foregoing forms and other forms, features and advantages of the invention will become further apparent from the following description of the presently preferred embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following description and drawings are merely illustrative of the invention rather than limiting, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
Turning now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a flow chart 5 of an exemplary method of communicating supported protocol features.
A protocol communication method of the present invention includes defining a bit stream for each PV1-PV5 with each bit of a bit stream representing a separate distinct protocol feature (step 7). Additionally, each bit is set to either a logic “0” state for indicating an absence of support of the corresponding feature by a telecommunication station, e.g. a mobile station or a BMI, or a logic “1” state for indicating a support of the corresponding feature by a telecommunication station. The bit stream can be based on bit maps corresponding to the protocol versions, as will be described in further detail below.
Next, in step 8, bit stream is stored locally in the telecommunication station. The stored bit stream can be transferred to other stations to communicate which protocol features are supported by the telecommunication station (step 9).
An exemplary bit map for PV1 is shown in the following TABLE 6:








TABLE 6





PVI FEATURES
SUPPORT BIT POSITION OF BS3







Intelligent Roaming
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx1


Multilingual Display
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xx1x


ISO-8859 (Latin 1)
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx x1xx


ISO-10646 (BMP)
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 1xxx


ISO-8859-8 (Latin/Hebrew)
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx1 xxxx


Async Data
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xx1x xxxx


G3-Fax
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx x1xx xxxx


DADS
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 1xxx xxxx


Non-Public Mode
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx1 xxxx xxxx


DTX
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xx1x xxxx xxxx


Subaddressing
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx x1xx xxxx xxxx


User Group
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 1xxx xxxx xxxx


Half-Rate DTC
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx1 xxxx xxxx xxxx


Double-Rate DTC
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xx1x xxxx xxxx xxxx


Triple-Rate DTC
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx x1xx xxxx xxxx xxxx


STU-III
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 1xxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


Total Charge Info
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx1 xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


TSAR
xxxx xxxx xxxx xx1x xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


Cellular Messaging
xxxx xxxx xxxx x1xx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


Teleservice
xxxx xxxx xxxx 1xxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


GUTS
xxxx xxxx xxx1 xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


OATS
xxxx xxxx xx1x xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


OPTS
xxxx xxxx x1xx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


SMS Submit
xxxx xxxx 1xxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


R-Data Delivery on DTC
xxxx xxx1 xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


PFC 2 to 8
xxxx xx1x xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx


ACELP OMEA and VPM
xxxx x1xx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx









Referring to TABLE 6, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS3”) having thirty-two bits is defined for PV1. The least significant twenty-seven bit positions of BS3 are representative of twenty-seven protocol features of PV1 with the most significant five bit positions being reserved. TABLE 6 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct protocol feature of PV1. The BS3 being xxxx x000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 indicates that none of the features of PV1 are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for PV2 is shown in the following TABLE 7:










TABLE 7







PV2 FEATURES
SUPPORT BIT POSITION OF BS4









Downlink Power Control
xxxx xxx1



Enhanced MACA
xxxx xx1x



BATS
xxxx x1xx










Referring to TABLE 7, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS4”) having eight bits is defined for PV2. The least significant three bit positions of BS4 are representative of three protocol features of PV2 with the most significant five bit positions being reserved. TABLE 7 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct protocol feature of PV2. The BS4 being xxxx x000 indicates that none of the features of PV2 are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for PV3 is shown in the following TABLE 8:










TABLE 8







PV3 FEATURES
SUPPORT BIT POSITION OF BS5









136+ Packet Data
xxxx xxx1



8-PSK Modulation
xxxx xx1x



Extended Voice Mode
xxxx x1xx



US1 Vocoder
xxxx 1xxx



Interleaving
xxx1 xxxx










Referring to TABLE 8, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS5”) having eight bits is defined for PV3. The least significant five bit positions of BS5 are representative of five protocol features of PV3 with the most significant three bit positions being reserved. TABLE 8 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct protocol feature of PV3. The BS5 being xxx0 0000 indicates that none of the features of PV3 are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for PV4 is shown in the following TABLE 9:










TABLE 9








SUPPORT BIT



PV4 FEATURES
POSITION OF BS6









Enhanced Privacy and Encryption
xxxx xxx1



Added Diversity For Improvement in
xxxx xx1x



Channel



Errors GPRS-136
xxxx x1xx



+Code Dialing
xxxx 1xxx



Charge Indication Teleservice (CIT)
xxx1 xxxx










Referring to TABLE 9, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS6”) having eight bits is defined for PV4. The least significant five bit positions of BS6 are representative of five protocol features of PV4 with the most significant three bit positions being reserved. TABLE 9 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct protocol feature of PV4. The BS6 being xxx0 0000 indicates that none of the features of PV4 are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for PV5 is shown in the following TABLE 10:










TABLE 10








SUPPORT BIT



PV5 FEATURES
POSITION OF BS7









Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM
Xxxx xxxx xxx1



EGPRS-136
Xxxx xxxx xx1x



Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)
Xxxx xxxx x1xx



Fast Power Control
Xxxx xxxx 1xxx



Teleservice Over GSM SMS
Xxxx xxx1 xxxx



Transmit Diversity On DTC
Xxxx xx1x xxxx



High Penetration Paging (HPP)
Xxxx x1xx xxxx



System Assisted Mobile Positioning
Xxxx 1xxx xxxx



Through Satellite










Referring to TABLE 10, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS7”) having twelve bits is defined for PV5. The least significant eight bit positions of BS7 are representative of eight protocol features of PV4 with the most significant four bit positions being reserved. TABLE 10 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct protocol feature of PV5. The BS7 being xxxx 0000 0000 indicates that none of the features of PV5 are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for frequency bands is shown in the following TABLE 11:










TABLE 11







FREQUENCY BAND
SUPPORT BIT POSITION OF BS8









800 MHz a&b Bands
xxxx xxx1



1900 MHz Bands
xxxx xx1x



799 MHz c&d Bands
xxxx x1xx



2 GHz IMT-2000 Band
xxxx 1xxx










Referring to TABLE 11, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS8”) having eight bits is defined for the frequency bands. The least significant four bit positions of BS8 are representative of four frequency bands with the most significant four bit positions being reserved. TABLE 11 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct frequency band. The BS8 being xxxx 0000 indicates that none of the frequency bands are being supported by a telecommunication station.
An exemplary bit map for additional telecommunication features is shown in the following TABLE 12:








TABLE 12





ADDITIONAL FEATURES
SUPPORT BIT POSITION OF BS9







Analog
xxxx xxx1


GHOST
xxxx xx1x


TTY
xxxx x1xx


WAP
xxxx 1xxx









Referring to TABLE 12, a bit stream (hereinafter “BS9”) having eight bits is defined for additional telecommunication features. The least significant four bit positions of BS9 are representative of four additional features with the most significant four bit positions being reserved. TABLE 12 illustrates a bit position indicating a support by a telecommunication station of a corresponding separate and distinct telecommunication feature. The BS9 being xxxx 0000 indicates that none of the additional features are being supported by a telecommunication station.
Referring to FIG. 2, a telecommunication network 10 comprising a mobile station 20 and a BMI 30 is shown. Alternative embodiments of network 10 can include two or more mobile stations 20 and/or two or more BMIs 30. Mobile station 20 stores an information element IE. One embodiment of information element IE is shown in the following TABLE 13:











TABLE 13







ELEMENT
BIT STREAM
TOTAL BITS




















Protocol Discriminator
BS1
2



Message Type
BS2
6



PV1
BS3
32



PV2
BS4
8



PV3
BS5
8



PV4
BS6
8



PV5
BS7
12



Frequency Bands
BS8
8



Additional Features
BS9
12










Referring to TABLE 13, protocol discriminator and message type are conventional bit stream elements.
Mobile station 20 transmits information element IE in a data string format to BMI 30 as shown immediately after a Power-Up registration, a New System registration, a Forced registration, an ACC to DCCH registration, or a similar type of registration. BMI 30 receives information element IE and identifies each bit of bit streams BS1-BS9 being set to a logic “1” state. Consequently, BMI 30 is able to determine which features of PV1-PV5 as well as which frequency bands and additional telecommunication features are supported by mobile station 20. The BMI 30 can then configure its operations accordingly to communicate with the mobile station 20 using the supported features.
In other embodiments, BMI 30 can set a flag in a Audit Confirmation transmits information element to BMI 30 in response to the Audit Confirmation message. Also, in other embodiments, information element IE can be partitioned into single elements or subgroups of elements which can be separately transmitted to BMI 30. In yet other embodiments, BMI 30 can store information element IE therein and transmit information element IE to mobile station 20 as described herein.
While the embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are presently considered to be preferred, various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents are intended to be embraced therein.

## Claims

1. A method for communicating support or absence of support of a plurality of protocol features, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of bits, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature; and
analyzing the received plurality of bits to determine which protocol features are supported by a first telecommunication station;
wherein each individual bit of the plurality of bits is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.

2. A telecommunication system comprising:
a second telecommunication station operative to receive a plurality of bits transmitted from a first telecommunication station, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature, and to analyze the received plurality of bits to determine which protocol features are supported by the first telecommunication station; and
wherein each bit of the plurality of bits is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.

3. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions, the set of instructions to direct a computer system to perform acts of:
receiving a plurality of bits, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature; and
analyzing the received plurality of bits to determine which protocol features are supported by a first telecommunication station;
wherein each bit of the plurality of bits is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.

4. A method for communication support or absence of support of a plurality of protocol features, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of bits, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature; and
sending the plurality of bits to a telecommunication station;
wherein each bit of the plurality of bits is set in either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.

5. A telecommunication system comprising:
a first telecommunication station operative to define a plurality of bits, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature and to transmit the plurality of bits to a second telecommunication station
wherein each bit of the plurality of bits is set to either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.

6. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions, the set of instructions to direct a computer system to perform acts of:
defining a plurality of bits, each individual bit indicating support or absence of support of a different protocol feature; and
sending the plurality of bits to a telecommunication station;
wherein each bit of the plurality of bits is set to either a first logic state or a second logic state, the first logic state indicating support of a protocol feature and the second logic state indicating absence of support of a protocol feature.