WO1999031822A1

WO1999031822A1 - Short messaging method and system for airborne passengers

Info

Publication number: WO1999031822A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/023964
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leuca Ioan; Ying Wen-Ping
Original assignee: At & T Wireless Services, Inc.
Priority date: 1997-12-12
Filing date: 1998-11-10
Publication date: 1999-06-24
Also published as: US20090022084A1; US7009998B2; US6449287B1; US20030043811A1

Abstract

An air-to-ground telecommunications system allows callers to store messages on an aircraft data server when sufficient air-to-ground communication bandwidth is unavailable for transmitting a call. The system allows aircraft callers to leave voice, fax, e-mail or other data messages. The messages are stored on the aircraft until sufficient bandwidth becomes available for transmission to the ground. Transmitting messages requires shorter air time and more efficient bandwidth usage because messages do not require a high degree of interaction between parties. The messages can also be compressed before transmission for further efficiently using aircraft-to-ground bandwidth.

Description

SHORT MESSAGING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AIRBORNE PASSENGERS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to copending application Serial Number (Attorney docket LEUCA 1-6), filed

concurrently, and commonly assigned with the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to

a method and a system for communicating between paπies, of which at

least one party is an airborne party.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional communications systems allow radio-

frequency (RF) communications between an airborne party, for

example, on an airplane, and a ground-based party. Due to the limited

radio-frequency (RF) bandwidth available for an aircraft-to-ground

link, only a small number of airborne callers can use such a system at

any one time. When a particular aircraft-to-ground link is filled to capacity, calls from an aircraft are placed into a queue until a channel

becomes available. This is inconvenient for some callers because the

purpose of the call was to convey a short message to another party and

by being placed in a queue causes the call to take much longer than

should be necessary. What is needed is a system that allows an

airborne caller to leave a message for a ground-based caller without

waiting for an aircraft-to-ground channel to become available. What is

also needed is a system that compresses messages, thereby efficiently

using the aircraft-to-ground bandwidth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and a communications system that allows airborne callers to leave voice,

data, or fax messages for intended recipients who are ground-based.

The messages are stored on an airborne platform until sufficient

bandwidth becomes available for transmission to a ground-based

station. Transmitting messages requires correspondingly shorter air

time and results in an efficient bandwidth usage because messages do

not require a high degree of interaction between parties. The present

invention further provides a system that compresses a stored message before transmission so that aircraft-to-ground bandwidth is used

efficiently.

The advantages of the present invention are provided by

a method and a communications system that includes a plurality of

aircraft telephone units, a control unit coupled to the aircraft telephone

units, a memory device that stores messages when communication

bandwidth is unavailable, and a transceiver that sends and receives

calls and messages to and from ground stations. An airborne party is

given the option of storing a message or waiting to place the call

directly when sufficient bandwidth becomes available. A stored message can be compressed before transmission and decompressed

after reception, making shorter broadcast times possible. The caller is

given the option of having a message sent directly to an intended

recipient, or to an answering service, and a delivery receipt is

transmitted to the originator of the message. Messages can be a voice

message, an e-mail message, a fax message, or a data message. The

message can be divided into a plurality of packets that are each

transmitted separately for further improving efficient bandwidth usage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is illustrated by way of example

and not limitation in the accompanying figures in which like reference

numerals indicate similar elements and in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an aircraft short messaging system

according to the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a flow chart showing the basic steps used by

the system of Figure 1 for storing messages on an aircraft and for

transmitting messages to a ground station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an aircraft-

to-ground telecommunications system that allows airborne callers to

leave short messages for intended recipients who are ground-based

according to the present invention. The present invention be used on

airborne platforms such as aiφlanes, helicopters and space vehicles.

Callers place and receive calls using aircraft telephone or terminal units

1. Calls can be voice, fax, e-mail or other data transmission.

Outgoing calls are routed to a Cabin Telecommunications Unit (CTU)

2. CTU 2 prompts the caller in a well-known manner for obtaining

call data, such as the message type, that is, whether the call is a voice

call or a data call, the destination of the call and the method of payment. Once the call data has been collected and validated, CTU 2

then requests an idle air-to-ground channel from a Bearer Service

System (BSS) 9. If there is sufficient air-to-ground bandwidth for the

call, CTU 2 proceeds with the call.

If there is insufficient air-to-ground bandwidth for the

call, CTU 2 routes the call to a voice processing circuit 3 that is part of

an aircraft data server 13 for recording a short message. Voice

processing circuit 3 interacts with a short message processor 4 for

handling the message, such as by compressing and/or encrypting the message. Short message processor 4 prompts the caller to begin the

message transfer. The message is recorded, compressed and/or encrypted and stored in a message file memory 5. Multiple messages

are stored in a message data file.

Short message processor 4 receives availability status

air-to-ground bandwidth via a Bearer Services System (BSS) interface

(I/F) circuit 8. When sufficient air-to-ground bandwidth becomes

available, short message processor 4 instructs a router 6 to deliver

message files stored in message files memory 5 to a ground station 11.

Router 6 also performs call control functions and, if needed,

multiplexing of short message file contents with data from other

aircraft data server applications. Data transfer from aircraft data server 8 to the ground station 11 is accomplished via a Bearer Services

System 9 and an antenna 10, employing well-known air-to-ground

communication system techniques, such as that used by AT&T's North

American Terrestrial System (NATS). Ground station 11 forwards the

short message file to a short message ground-based server 12 using

well-known data communications techniques. Short message server 12

parses the received short message file into the different short messages

forming the message file, decompresses and/or decrypts the respective messages and attempts to deliver each respective message to its

intended destination 14. That is, voice messages are sent the

destination voice terminals and data messages are sent to data

terminals. Short message server 12 tracks delivery status of each

respective message and provides status information to the message

originator as requested by the message originator.

Figure 2 is a flow chart showing an exemplary method

for storing and transmitting message calls from an aircraft according to

the present invention. At step 20, an airborne caller places a call from

aircraft telephone 1. At step 21, CTU 2 determines whether bandwidth

is available for transmitting the call directly. At step 22, if sufficient

bandwidth is available, the call is transmitted to the ground station

directly. If sufficient bandwidth is not available, at step 23 the caller is queried whether the call should be sent as a message. If the caller

desires to send a message, then the caller is switched to processor 4 for

recording and storing a short message at step 24. When processor 4

determines that bandwidth is available, the stored message is

transmitted to a ground station at step 25. Upon receipt at the ground

station, the message is decompressed at step 26. At step 27, the

message is sent to the dialed number, which may be the intended

recipient or an answering service. At step 28, a delivery receipt is sent to the originator of the message.

If the caller opted not to store a message at step 23, then the caller can wait in a queue at step 29 until sufficient bandwidth

becomes available for placing the call directly to the dialed number at step 30.

Claims

THE CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method for transmitting a call, the method comprising

the steps of:

receiving a call at a controller from a local terminal, the

call being directed to a remote terminal;

determining whether sufficient communication bandwidth is available for transmitting the call to the remote terminal;

storing a message in a memory device when sufficient

communication bandwidth is not available for transmitting the call;

transmitting the message to the remote terminal when sufficient bandwidth becomes available for transmitting the message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controller, the local

terminal and the memory device are on an airborne platform.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining

whether sufficient communication bandwidth is available includes the

step of providing an option to an originator of the call of recording the

message before transmission.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of

receiving a delivery receipt at the local terminal when the message is

delivered to the remote terminal.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of

compressing the recorded message before the step of transmitting the

message to the remote terminal.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

dividing the message into a plurality of packets; and

transmitting each packet separately.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the message is one of a

voice message, a data message, a fax message and an e-mail message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the message is delivered

to one of an intended recipient of the message and an answering

service.

9. A communications system, comprising:

a plurality of local terminal units; a transmitter transmitting calls to a remote terminal;

a control unit coupled to the local terminal units, the

control unit receiving a call from one of the plurality of local terminal

units and determining whether communication bandwidth is available

for transmitting the call from the transmitter; and

a memory device, coupled to the control unit, storing a

message when transmitter communication bandwidth is unavailable.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the local terminal units

and the memory device are on an aircraft.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor provides

an option for an originator of the call for storing a message before transmission.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the local terminal unit

receives a delivery receipt when the message is received by the remote terminal.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor

compresses the message before transmitting to the remote terminal.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor divides

the message into a plurality of packets that are each transmitted by the

transmitter separately.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the stored message is

one of a voice message, a data message, a fax message and an e-mail

message.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the transmitter transmits the message to one of an intended recipient and an answering service.