Transparent satellite communications in a cellular centric M2M network

1. A wireless communication system comprising:

one or more application servers configured to at least:

communicate with remote terminals over connections established via cellular networks; and

queue any outgoing messages for that particular remote terminal when no cellular service is available and no connection is established with a particular destination remote terminal pending establishment of a connection; and

a satellite gateway comprising an error counter for error checking messages received from the remote terminals over a satellite connection, the satellite gateway being configured to at least:

communicate with the remote terminals via satellite connections; and

upon receipt of an incoming request from a remote terminal over the satellite connection to connect with a particular application server, said satellite gateway establishes a per-terminal connection with the particular application server and translates subsequent messages received from the remote terminal over the satellite connection from a format used for satellite communications into a format used for cellular networks before forwarding the message to the particular application server over the established per-terminal connection, and

close the connection after a predetermined number of errors have been encountered,

wherein the incoming request from the remote terminal comprises a terminal ID that uniquely and permanently identifies the remote terminal and is associated only with the per-terminal connection between said satellite gateway and the particular application server, such that upon receiving a further incoming request from the remote terminal where the terminal ID is associated with an older per-terminal connection, said satellite gateway closes said older per-terminal connection and the satellite gateway associates said further incoming request from the remote terminal with the per-terminal connection, and

wherein said particular application server sees said satellite gateway as another cellular network.

2. A wireless communication system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said satellite gateway is configured to establish said per-terminal connection with the application server over the Internet.

3. A wireless communication system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said request contains an address and a port ID for said connection to access the application server.

4. A wireless communication system as claimed in claim 3 , wherein said per-terminal connection uses a version of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

5. A wireless communication system as claimed in claim 3 , wherein said per-terminal connection uses a version of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

6. A wireless communication system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said satellite gateway is configured to close said per-terminal connection after a predetermined period of time during which no message has been received from the remote terminal.

7. A satellite gateway communicating with remote terminals via satellite connections in a wireless communication system comprising one or more application servers that communicate with the remote terminals over connections established via cellular or satellite networks and are configured to at least queue any outgoing messages for a remote terminal when no cellular service is available and no connection is established with a particular destination remote terminal pending establishment of a connection,

wherein said satellite gateway includes an error counter for error checking messages received from the remote terminals over a satellite connection, and wherein said satellite gateway is configured to at least:

close the connection after a predetermined number of errors have been encountered, and

upon receipt of an incoming request from a remote terminal over a satellite connection to connect with a particular application server, said satellite gateway establishes a per-terminal connection with the particular application server and translates subsequent messages received from the remote terminal over the satellite connection from a format used for satellite communications into a format used for cellular networks before forwarding the message to the particular application server over the established per-terminal connection,

wherein the incoming request from the remote terminal comprises a terminal ID that uniquely and permanently identifies the remote terminal and is associated only with the per-terminal connection between said satellite gateway and the particular application server, such that upon receiving a further incoming request from the remote terminal where the terminal ID is associated with an older per-terminal connection, said satellite gateway closes said older per-terminal connection and the satellite gateway associates said further incoming request from the remote terminal with the per-terminal connection, and

wherein said particular application server sees said satellite gateway as another cellular network.

8. A satellite gateway as claimed in claim 7 , which is configured to establish said per-terminal connection with the application server over the Internet.

9. A satellite gateway as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said incoming request contains an address and port ID for said satellite connection to access the particular application server.

10. A satellite gateway as claimed in claim 9 , wherein said per-terminal connection use a version of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

11. A satellite gateway as claimed in claim 9 , wherein said per-terminal connection uses a version of the User Datagram Protocol.

12. A satellite gateway as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said satellite gateway is configured to close said per terminal connection after a predetermined period of time during which no message has been received from the remote terminal.

13. A method of managing a wireless communication system comprising one or more application servers configured to communicate with remote terminals over connections established via cellular or satellite networks, said application servers being capable of switching between said cellular networks, and a satellite gateway configured to communicate with the remote terminals via satellite connections, said method comprising:

receiving, at the satellite gateway, an incoming request from a remote terminal over a satellite connection;

establishing, at the satellite gateway, a per-terminal connection with a particular application server; and

translating, at the satellite gateway, subsequent messages received from the remote terminal over the satellite connection from the remote terminal over the satellite connection from a format used for satellite communications into a format used for cellular networks before forwarding the message to that particular application server over the per-terminal connection established at the satellite gateway,

wherein the incoming request from the remote terminal comprises a terminal ID that uniquely and permanently identifies the remote terminal and is associated only with the per-terminal connection between said satellite gateway and the particular application server, such that upon receiving a further incoming request from the remote terminal where the terminal ID is associated with an older per-terminal connection, said satellite gateway closes said older per-terminal connection and the satellite gateway associates said further incoming request from the remote terminal with the per-terminal connection,

wherein said particular application server sees said satellite gateway as another cellular network,

wherein the application server queues any outgoing messages for that remote terminal when no cellular service is available and no connection is established with a particular destination remote terminal pending establishment of a connection, and

wherein the satellite gateway includes an error counter for error checking messages received from the remote terminals over a satellite connection, and wherein said satellite gateway closes the connection after a predetermined number of errors have been encountered.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein said incoming request contains an address and a port ID for said per-terminal connection to access the application server.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said per-terminal connection use a version of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

16. A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said per-terminal connection uses a version of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

17. A method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein said satellite gateway closes said per-terminal connection after a predetermined period of time during which no message has been received from the remote terminal.

18. A method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the terminal ID comprises at least one of a serial number of the remote terminal, a cellular International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of the remote terminal, or a mobile equipment identifier (MEID) number of the remote terminal.