Efficient transport of internet of things (IoT) traffic in terrestrial wireless and satellite networks
A data communications system, includes a data communications device (DCD), and at least one wireless access network, which includes a base station. The DCD generates a narrowband message which includes user-plane data of the DCD. The DCD transmits the narrowband message to the base station via a random access control-plane channel of the wireless access network, prior to any request for or establishment of a wireless or radio resource connection, or establishment of any dedicated radio bearers or wireless channels, between the DCD and the base station.
1. A data communications system, comprising:
a data communications device (DCD); and
at least one wireless access network, comprising a base station; and
wherein the DCD is configured to generate a narrowband message which includes user-plane data of the DCD, and
wherein the DCD is configured to transmit the narrowband message to the base station via a random access control-plane channel of the wireless access network, prior to any request for or establishment of a radio resource connection, or establishment of any dedicated radio bearers or wireless channels, between the DCD and the base station.
2. The data communications system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a network management entity; and
wherein the base station is configured to generate a DCD message including the user-plane data of the DCD, and to transmit the DCD message to the network management entity.
3. The data communications system according to claim 2 , further comprising:
one or more applications servers; and
wherein the network management entity is configured to generate a DCD server message including the user-plane data of the DCD, and to transmit the DCD server message to at least one of the one or more applications servers.
4. The data communications system according to claim 2 , wherein:
the DCD is configured to include location information in the narrowband message which indicates a current location of the DCD, and to include a DCD location flag in the narrowband message which indicates that the narrowband message includes the location information.
5. The data communications system according to claim 4 , wherein:
the base station is configured to determine that the narrowband message includes the location information based on the DCD location flag, and to include a location identifier in the DCD message transmitted to the network management entity, wherein the location identifier reflects the current location of the DCD.
6. The data communications system according to claim 2 , wherein:
the DCD is configured to include a DCD identifier in the narrowband message which is a DCD identity assigned to the DCD during an initial DCD registration procedure; and
the base station is configured to include the DCD identifier in the DCD message transmitted to the network management entity, wherein the inclusion of the DCD identifier in the DCD message to the network management entity serves to indicate that the user-plane data included in the DCD message originated from the DCD.
7. The data communications system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the DCD is configured to include a message-type flag in the narrowband message which indicates that the narrowband message includes the user-plane data of the DCD; and
the base station is configured to distinguish the narrowband message from at least one other message, each received over the random access control-plane channel of the wireless access network from a respective other DCD, which does not include user-plane data of the respective other DCD.
8. A data communications device (DCD) for a data communications system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless data communications to and from a base station of the data communications system; and
wherein the one or more processors is/are configured to generate a narrowband message including user-plane data of the DCD,
wherein the one or more processors is/are configured to control the transceiver to transmit the narrowband message to the base station via a random access control-plane channel of a wireless access network of the data communications system, prior to any request for or establishment of a radio resource connection, or establishment of any dedicated radio bearers or wireless channels, between the DCD and the base station.
9. The DCD according to claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to include a message-type flag in the narrowband message which indicates that the narrowband message includes the user-plane data of the DCD; and
one or more processors is/are configured to include the message-type flag in the narrowband message to enable the base station to distinguish the narrowband message from one or more other messages, which may be received by the base station over the random access control-plane channel of the wireless access network from at least one respective other DCD, and which does not include user-plane data of the at least one respective other DCD.
10. The DCD according to claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to include location information in the narrowband message which indicates a current location of the DCD, and to include a device location flag in the narrowband message which indicates that the narrowband message includes the location information.
11. The DCD according to claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to include a device identifier in the narrowband message which is a device identity assigned to the DCD during an initial registration procedure; and
one or more processors is/are configured to include the device identifier in the narrowband message for use as an identifier to associate the user-plane data included in the DCD message with the DCD.
12. The DCD according to claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to encapsulate the narrowband message in a data-link protocol block message; and
the one or more processors is/are configured to include a backlog flag in the narrowband message which indicates whether a transmission buffer of the DCD contains further of the user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station.
13. The DCD according to claim 12 , wherein, when the transmission buffer of the DCD contains the further user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station:
the one or more processors is/are configured to await receipt, via the transceiver, of an acknowledgment message from the base station; and
upon receipt of the acknowledgment message, the one or more processors is/are configured to generate one or more further data-link protocol block messages, each including a respective segment of the further user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station, and a sequence number indicating a relative position of the respective segment with respect to an original configuration of the user-plane data of the DCD, and to control the transceiver to transmit each of the one or more further data-link protocol block messages to the base station.
14. The DCD according to claim 13 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to receive, via the transceiver, an uplink resource allocation message from the base station; and
the one or more processors is/are configured to control the transceiver to transmit each of the one or more further data-link protocol block messages to the base station via wireless uplink resources allocated to the DCD in accordance with the uplink resource allocation message.
15. The DCD according to claim 12 , wherein:
the one or more processors is/are configured to control the DCD to enter a power-saving mode for a predetermined time period after the transmission of the narrowband message to the base station.
16. A method for data communications in a data communications system, comprising:
generating, by a data communications device (DCD), a narrowband message including user-plane data of the DCD; and
transmitting, by the DCD, the narrowband message to a base station via a random access control-plane channel of a wireless access network of the data communications system, prior to any request for or establishment of a radio resource connection, or establishment of any dedicated radio bearers or wireless channels, between the DCD and the base station.
17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein:
the narrowband message includes a message-type flag which indicates that the narrowband message includes the user-plane data of the DCD; and
the message-type flag is included in the narrowband message to enable the base station to distinguish the narrowband message from one or more other messages, which may be received by the base station over the random access control-plane channel of the wireless access network from at least one respective other DCD, and which does not include user-plane data of the at least one respective other DCD.
18. The method according to claim 16 , wherein:
the narrowband message includes location information which indicates a current location of the DCD, and includes a device location flag which indicates that the narrowband message includes the location information.
19. The method according to claim 16 , wherein:
the narrowband message includes a device identifier which is a device identity assigned to the DCD during an initial registration procedure; and
the device identifier is included in the narrowband message for use as an identifier to associate the user-plane data included in the DCD message with the DCD.
20. The method according to claim 16 , wherein:
the narrowband message is encapsulated in a data-link protocol block message; and
the narrowband message includes a backlog flag which indicates whether a transmission buffer of the DCD contains further of the user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station.
21. The method according to claim 20 , wherein, when the transmission buffer of the DCD contains the further user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station, the method further comprises:
receiving, by the DCD, an acknowledgment message from the base station; and
upon receipt of the acknowledgment message, generating one or more further data-link protocol block messages, each including a respective segment of the further user-plane data of the DCD awaiting transmission to the base station, and a sequence number indicating a relative position of the respective segment with respect to an original configuration of the user-plane data of the DCD, and transmitting each of the one or more further data-link protocol block messages to the base station.
22. The method according to claim 21 , further comprising:
receiving, by the DCD, an uplink resource allocation message from the base station; and
transmitting each of the one or more further data-link protocol block messages to the base station via wireless uplink resources allocated to the DCD in accordance with the uplink resource allocation message.
23. The DCD according to claim 20 , wherein:
the DCD enters a power-saving mode for a predetermined time period after the transmission of the narrowband message to the base station.