Group Communication Signaling Overhead Reduction via Gateway Aggregation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In M2M communication systems, the high signaling overhead caused by delivering requests to all group members in large groups negatively impacts communication efficiency, particularly in applications like electricity consumption data collection from thousands of users.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a service function entity that determines group members connected through the same gateway and sends a single access request to the gateway, adopting either Ad-hoc or sub-group access manners based on device and network features to reduce signaling overhead, thereby improving communication efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the M2M platform delivers access requests to all group members according to group definition, then complete access to all group members is achieved, but signaling overhead becomes excessively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments group members into two categories: those connected through the same gateway (first group members) and those not connected through the same gateway (second group members). This segmentation allows the platform to apply different access strategies to different segments, reducing overall signaling overhead while maintaining access completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the access processing of first group members by sending a single access request to the gateway, which then processes access for all members in parallel. This combining approach reduces signaling overhead from N individual requests to just 1 gateway request, while the gateway ensures complete access to all its connected members.
2Ease of operation
If the platform sends access requests to all group members individually, then each member receives direct access instructions, but communication efficiency decreases due to high overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as an intermediary between the M2M platform and the group members connected through it. Instead of the platform directly contacting each member individually, the platform sends a single access request to the gateway, which then distributes the access instructions to all connected members. This intermediary approach maintains ease of operation while significantly improving communication efficiency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the platform processes access requests for all group members through individual signaling, then detailed control over each member is achieved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The platform performs preliminary classification of group members into first and second groups based on gateway connection status. This preliminary action enables the platform to adopt optimized processing strategies in advance, sending aggregated access requests to gateways for first group members while maintaining detailed control capabilities through the gateway's distribution mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic access processing where the platform adapts its behavior based on gateway connection status. For first group members (connected through same gateway), the platform uses aggregated signaling; for second group members (different gateway), individual signaling is used. This dynamic approach optimizes processing time while preserving adaptability and control precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
A group communication method is provided, including: receiving, from a network application, a group access request that requests access to a group, where the group access request includes a group identifier of the group; obtaining group member information of all group members in the group according to the group identifier; according to the group member information, determining members of a first group that are connected to a service function entity through a same gateway in the group; and sending, to the gateway, a first group member access request that requests access to the members of the first group. In addition, a service function entity for group communication and a gateway for group communication are provided. The present invention is capable of reducing signaling overhead during group communication and thereby improving group communication efficiency.