SIP options based location determination

• US 10,412,537 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Jahangir, Zeeshan, Sial, Muhammad Ejaz, Mufti, Shujaur
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US15/693,228
• Publication Number:
  US 20190069126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/10 adapted for application session management, e.g. SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] connection management H04W76/00; arrangements for session management H04L67/14

Abstract

Systems and methods provided herein are directed to a mechanism for determining current or currently known location of a user equipment (UE). Upon receiving a request regarding location information of the UE, a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) may send a SIP OPTIONS to an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF). In response to receiving the SIP OPTIONS, the I-CSCF may perform a location information request (LIR) and a location information answer (LIA) with the HSS to locate a serving call session control function (S-CSCF) where the UE is registered. The S-CSCF may route the SIP OPTIONS to an application server (AS) to request the registered location information of the UE, and in response, the AS may send a 200 OK, as an acknowledgment, to the S-CSCF, that includes location information of the UE provided during registration of the UE.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring location information of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving a location inquiry associated with the UE, wherein receiving the location inquiry associated with the UE comprises receiving the location inquiry at a gateway mobile location center (GMLC);

in response to receiving the location inquiry, sending a request to a first session controller, the request including UE information, wherein sending the request to the first session controller comprises one of;

sending the request to the first session controller in addition to sending a Routing-Info-Request (RIR) to a home subscriber server (HSS), or

sending the request to the first session controller instead of sending the RIR to the HSS,

wherein the request is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) OPTIONS having the UE information included in a request uniform resource identifier (RURI) header or in a TO header of the SIP OPTIONS, and the first session controller is an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF);

locating a second session controller, the second session controller having registered location information of the UE, wherein locating the second session controller comprises;

performing, by the I-CSCF, a location information request (LIR) and a location information answer (LIA) with the HSS to locate a serving call session control function (S-CSCF) where the UE is registered, and

locating the S-CSCF;

forwarding the request from the first session controller to the second session controller;

updating the second session controller with current location information of the UE; and

transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller.

2. A method of claim 1, wherein updating the second session controller with the current location information of the UE comprises:

sending the SIP OPTIONS from the S-CSCF to an application server (AS) requesting for the registered location information of the UE; and

sending an acknowledgement from the AS to the S-CSCF, the acknowledgment including location information of the UE provided during registration of the UE,

wherein the acknowledgment is a 200 OK.

3. A method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller comprises:

forwarding, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the registered location information of the UE.

4. A method of claim 1, wherein updating the second session controller with the current location information of the UE comprises:

forwarding the SIP OPTIONS from the S-CSCF to a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF);

forwarding the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF to the UE;

transmitting, from the UE to the P-CSCF, an acknowledgement including current location information of the UE obtained from the UE; and

forwarding the acknowledgement from the P-CSCF to the S-CSCF,

wherein the acknowledgment is a 200 OK.

5. A method of claim 4, wherein the current location information of the UE comprises a current location of the UE obtained by the UE in response to receiving the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF.

6. A method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller comprises:

forwarding, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the current location of the UE.

7. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-readable instructions executable by a computer, that when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving a location inquiry associated with a UE, wherein receiving the location inquiry associated with the UE comprises receiving the location inquiry at a gateway mobile location center (GMLC);

in response to receiving the location inquiry, sending a request to a first session controller, the request including UE information, wherein sending the request to the first session controller comprises one of;

sending the request to the first session controller in addition to sending a Routing-Info-Request (RIR) to a home subscriber server (HSS), or

sending the request to the first session controller instead of sending the RIR to the HSS,

wherein the request is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) OPTIONS having the UE information included in a request uniform resource identifier (RURI) header or in a TO header of the SIP OPTIONS, and the first session controller is an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF);

locating a second session controller, the second session controller having last registered location information of the UE, wherein locating the second session controller comprises;

performing, by the I-CSCF, a location information request (LIR) and a location information answer (LIA) with the HSS to locate a serving call session control function (S-CSCF) where the UE is registered, and

locating the S-CSCF;

forwarding the request from the first session controller to the second session controller;

updating the second session controller with current location information of the UE; and

transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller.

8. A non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 7, wherein updating the second session controller with the current location information of the UE comprises:

sending the SIP OPTIONS from the S-CSCF to an application server (AS) requesting for the registered location information of the UE; and

sending an acknowledgement from the AS to the S-CSCF, the acknowledgment including location information of the UE provided during registration of the UE,

wherein the acknowledgment is a 200 OK.

9. A non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 8, wherein transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller comprises:

forwarding, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the registered location information of the UE.

10. A non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 7, wherein updating the second session controller with the current location information of the UE comprises:

forwarding the SIP OPTIONS from the S-CSCF to a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF);

forwarding the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF to the UE;

transmitting, from the UE to the P-CSCF, an acknowledgement including a current location of the UE obtained by the UE in response to receiving the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF; and

forwarding the acknowledgement from the P-CSCF to the S-CSCF,

wherein the acknowledgment is a 200 OK.

11. A non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 9, wherein transmitting the current location information of the UE from the second session controller comprises:

forwarding, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the current location of the UE.

12. A system for acquiring location information of a user equipment (UE), the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory comprising a plurality of modules communicatively coupled to each other, the plurality of modules comprising;

a gateway module configured to;

receive a location inquiry associated with the UE at a gateway mobile location center (GMLC), and

in response to receiving the location inquiry, send a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) OPTIONS to an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF), the SIP OPTIONS including UE information in a request uniform resource identifier (RURI) header or in a TO header in addition to, or instead of, sending a Routing-Info-Request (RIR) to a home subscriber server (HSS);

a locator module configured to locate a serving call session control function (S-CSCF) where the UE is registered by performing, by the I-CSCF, a location information request (LIR) and a location information answer (LIA) with the HSS;

a forwarding module configured to forward the SIP OPTIONS from the I-CSCF to the S-CSCF; and

an updating module configured to update the S-CSCF with current location information of the UE, and to transmit the current location information of the UE from the S-CSCF to the GMLC.

13. A system of claim 12, wherein the updating module is further configured to:

send the SIP OPTIONS, from the S-CSCF to an application server (AS), requesting for registered location information of the UE;

send a 200 OK, from the AS to the S-CSCF, the 200 OK including location information of the UE provided during registration of the UE;

forward, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the registered location information of the UE.

14. A system of claim 12, wherein the updating module is further configured to:

forward the SIP OPTIONS from the S-CSCF to a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF);

forward the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF to the UE;

transmit, from the UE to the P-CSCF, a 200 OK including a current location of the UE obtained by the UE in response to receiving the SIP OPTIONS from the P-CSCF;

forward the 200 OK from the P-CSCF to the S-CSCF;

forward, from the S-CSCF to the GMLC, the 200 OK having the current location of the UE.