Apparatus and method for communications

• US 10,104,519 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2010
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Inventors: Van Phan, Vinh, Hakola, Sami, Koskela, Timo
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad, Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ko, Sithu
• Application Number:
  US13/878,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20130201957A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,930 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Apparatus and method for communication are provided. The method includes storing a machine type communication channel access profile of user equipment configured to utilize machine type communication with a network when the equipment has not an active connection with the network. The access profile is based on active UE contexts including serving-cell contexts of the device on the last access occasion. The access profile is synchronized between the user equipment and the network.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to;

retrieve by a network node from a cellular network, a channel access profile of a user equipment wherein the channel access profile is based on an active user equipment contexts including serving-cell contexts of the user equipment obtained by the cellular network during an active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network;

synchronize, by the network node, the channel access profile between the user equipment and the cellular network; and

perform at a subsequent time, by the network node while there is no active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network, a connection establishment procedure for a machine type communication to establish a connection between the user equipment and the cellular network based on the synchronized channel access profile, wherein the connection establishment procedure comprises performing bearer setup and resource allocation on the basis of the channel access profile of the user equipment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel access profile comprises at least one of equipment identities, serving-cell identities and system information, time and status of a previous cellular network connection, timing advance information, transmit power used during a previous cellular network connection, and channel allocation information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel access profile comprises information on a traffic channel utilised by the user equipment.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the information on the channel comprises an index identifying a given channel pre-allocated to machine type communication traffic.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is part of a network element of the cellular network.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising

a random number generator synchronized with a random number generator kept by the user equipment, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:

store information on a latest generated number and preconfigured PIN code, and generate a ciphering key utilizing the random number generator, and the PIN code; and

forward the generated ciphering key to the cellular network for encrypting and decrypting-data transmitted between the cellular network and the user equipment.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

receive a request from another network element regarding the stored information, and send the requested information.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

trigger a base station to page the user equipment with an encrypted message.

9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

request a connection to the user equipment on a basis of a pre-determined schedule.

10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive encrypted data from the user equipment;

decrypt the data and forward the data to the cellular network.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connection establishment procedure comprises using a bearer setup and resource allocation of a channel access profile for the user equipment stored at the network node to avoid using a random access channel procedure for the connection establishment.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel access profile comprises an index identifying a channel pre-allocated to the subsequent machine type communication.

11. User equipment in a cellular network, comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to;

synchronize via a network node of the cellular network a channel access profile of the user equipment with the cellular network, wherein the synchronized channel access profile is stored at the network node, and wherein the channel access profile is based on an active user equipment contexts including serving-cell contexts of the user equipment obtained during an active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network; and

perform at a subsequent time via the network node, while there is no active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network, a connection establishment procedure for a machine type communication to establish a connection between the user equipment and the cellular network based on the synchronized channel access profile, wherein the connection establishment procedure comprises performing bearer setup and resource allocation on the basis of the channel access profile of the user equipment.

12. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the channel access profile comprises at least one of equipment identities, serving-cell identities and system information, time and status of a previous cellular network connection, timing advance information, transmit power used during a previous cellular network connection, and channel allocation information.

13. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the user equipment further comprises

a random number generator synchronized with a random number generator kept by the cellular network, wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the user equipment to:

store information on a latest generated number and preconfigured PIN code;

generate a ciphering key utilizing the random number generator, and the PIN code; and

utilize the generated ciphering key for encrypting and decrypting data transmitted between the cellular network and the user equipment.

14. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the user equipment is configured to receive from a base station updated channel access information and a permission to send data using the stored channel access information.

15. A method comprising:

retrieving, by a network node from a cellular network a channel access profile of a user equipment, wherein the channel access profile is based on an active user equipment contexts including serving-cell contexts of the user equipment obtained by the cellular network during an active connection between the user equipment and the network;

synchronizing, by the network node, the channel access profile between the user equipment and the cellular network; and

performing at a subsequent time, by the network node while there is no active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network, a connection establishment procedure for a machine type communication to establish a connection between the user equipment and the cellular network based on the synchronized channel access profile, wherein the connection establishment procedure comprises performing bearer setup and resource allocation on the basis of the channel access profile of the user equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the channel access profile comprises at least one of equipment identities, serving-cell identities and system information, time and status of a previous cellular network connection, timing advance information, transmit power used during a previous cellular network connection, and channel allocation information.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the channel comprises information on a traffic channel utilized by the user equipment.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

specifying a pre-determined set of channels for machine type communication traffic.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

keeping a random number generator synchronized with a random number generator kept by user equipment configured to utilize machine type communication with the cellular network, storing information on the latest generated number and pre-configured PIN code, and generating a ciphering key utilizing the generator, and the PIN code, and forwarding the generated ciphering key to the cellular network for encrypting and decrypting data transmitted between the cellular network and the user equipment.

20. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an electronic apparatus, control the apparatus to:

retrieve, by a network node from a cellular network a channel access profile of a user equipment, where the channel access profile is based on active user equipment contexts including serving-cell contexts of the device obtained during an active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network;

synchronize, by the network node, the channel access profile between the user equipment and the cellular network; and

perform at a subsequent time by the network node while there is no active connection between the user equipment and the cellular network, a connection establishment procedure for a machine type communication to establish a connection between the user equipment and the cellular network based on the synchronized channel access profile, wherein the connection establishment procedure comprises performing bearer setup and resource allocation on the basis of the channel access profile of the user equipment.