TCP Over SMS Wrapping for Reliable Data Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Short Message Service (SMS) transport is unreliable for critical applications due to its 'best effort' delivery mechanism, which does not guarantee message delivery and confirmation, making it unsuitable for reliable data communication.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to wrap TCP messages in SMS messages, using a specific header and encoding to ensure reliable, bidirectional communication by utilizing the SMS protocol to transmit TCP data, ensuring delivery and acknowledgment through SMS networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If SMS transport is used for data communication, then ubiquitous message sending capability is achieved, but delivery reliability deteriorates due to best effort scheme
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds TCP protocol messages within SMS message structures, creating a nested communication system where TCP segments are encapsulated in SMS payloads. This allows TCP's reliable delivery mechanisms (acknowledgments, retransmissions, sequence numbers) to operate over the ubiquitous but unreliable SMS transport by nesting the reliable protocol inside the unreliable carrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary encoding layer that translates TCP messages into SMS-compatible formats and vice versa. This intermediary layer handles the conversion between TCP's reliable delivery model and SMS's best effort delivery model, mediating between the two protocols to achieve reliable communication over SMS.
2Reliability
If TCP messages are wrapped in SMS messages, then delivery reliability is improved through acknowledgment mechanisms, but message complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments TCP messages into smaller units that fit within SMS character limits while preserving TCP's sequence numbering and acknowledgment mechanisms. Each SMS-wrapped TCP segment maintains the necessary protocol information (sequence numbers, acknowledgments) to ensure reliable delivery, dividing complex TCP streams into manageable SMS-sized chunks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the encoding parameters of TCP messages to accommodate SMS constraints, including character encoding transformations and message formatting adjustments. By modifying message parameters (encoding schemes, delimiters, header formats), the system maintains TCP reliability while adapting to SMS's stricter format requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system, method, and computer program product for forming and transmitting a TCP/SMS message are presented. Steps for forming a TCP message, encoding the TCP message, and wrapping the TCP message in an SMS message are disclosed.