Congestion in SMS-Based Query-Response Mechanism - A Possible Solution

SMS-based queries and responses are exchanged between mobile stations and central database servers in many contemporary client-server applications through point-to-point short message service (SMS-PP). Control plane signalling between different nodes of public land mobile network (PLMN) is much larger than message sizes in SMS-PP. Congestion in mobile network is caused by upsurge in signalling bandwidth requirement resulting from large number of simultaneous short length queries and responses. A bandwidth-efficient solution for delivery of short-sized individual data to multiple mobile subscribers is proposed. Cell broadcast SMS (SMS-CB) is independent of control-plane signalling and thus, query responses generated by mobile stations are grouped over a geographical area and delivered using SMS-CB. Sample experiments on simulation indicate proficiency of our design and establish it as a congestion-free alternative to SMS-PP based query-response mechanism.