Provision of location information in a communication system

• US 20040203914A1
• Filed: 01/15/2003
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Pichna, Roman, Ahmavaara, Kalle, Staack, Jens, Kall, Jan
• Granted Patent: US 8,374,631 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/10 between location register and external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/04 Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

The invention relates to a mechanism for providing location information regarding mobile terminals, especially regarding WLAN terminals. In order that the known mechanism for locating users of a mobile cellular network could be utilized for locating WLAN terminals, a location service request concerning a WLAN terminal is received and routed by the same network elements that receive and route location service requests concerning users of a mobile cellular network. However, in the case of a WLAN terminal the location service request is diverted to a predetermined network element, where the access point currently serving the WLAN terminal is identified. The location information corresponding to the said access point is then determined, and the location information is returned as the location of the terminal. The location of the serving WLAN access point thus represents the location of the WLAN terminal.

Claims

1. A method for providing location information in a wireless communication system comprising mobile terminals and at least one access point, each access point being capable of serving the mobile terminals within a service area of the access point, the method comprising the steps of:

in a first network element, receiving a location service request concerning a location of a mobile terminal;

routing the location service request to a predetermined second network element;

in the second network element, identifying the access point currently serving the mobile terminal; and

in response to the identifying step, determining location information corresponding to the access point currently serving the mobile terminal, the location information representing the location of the mobile terminal.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a WLAN terminal.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the second network element is an AAA proxy connected to a WLAN network where the access point currently serving the mobile terminal resides.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the first network element is a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) operably connected to a mobile cellular network for providing location information concerning users within the mobile cellular network.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the determining step is performed in the AAA proxy.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the location information indicates the geographical coordinates of the access point currently serving the mobile terminal.

7. A method according to claim 3, wherein the identifying step is performed in the AAA proxy and the determining step in another network element.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said other network element is a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) operably connected to a mobile cellular network for providing location information concerning users within the mobile cellular network.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of inserting an address of the second network into the location service request.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the routing step includes retrieving the address from a third network element.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein the third network element is an AAA server holding the address.

12. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of storing the address in a fourth network element containing subscriber profiles, whereby the routing step includes retrieving the address from the fourth network element.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the fourth network element is a Home Location Register/Home Subscriber Server (HSS/HLR).

14. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining an estimate for a location of the mobile terminal using radio measurements within the service area of the access point currently serving the mobile terminal; and

correcting the location information representing the location of the mobile terminal by means of the estimate.

15. A system for providing location information in a wireless communication network comprising mobile terminals and at least one access point, each access point being capable of serving the mobile terminals within a service area of the access point, the system comprising:

at least one network element for routing a location service request concerning a location of a mobile terminal to a predetermined network element;

in conjunction with the predetermined network element, identification means for identifying an access point currently serving the mobile terminal; and

location determining means, responsive to the identification means, for determining location information corresponding to the access point currently serving the mobile terminal.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the location determining means are located in conjunction with the predetermined network element.

17. A system according to claim 15, wherein the mobile terminal is a WLAN terminal.

18. A system according to claim 15, wherein said at least one network element includes a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) operably connected to a mobile cellular network for providing location information of users within the mobile cellular network.

19. A system according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined network element is an AAA proxy connected to a WLAN network where the access point currently serving the mobile terminal resides.

20. A network element for providing location information in a wireless communication system comprising mobile terminals and at least one access point, each access point being capable of serving the mobile terminals within a service area of the access point, the network element comprising:

a receiver for receiving a location service request concerning a location of a mobile terminal, the location service request including an identifier of the mobile terminal;

a control unit, responsive to the receiver, for extracting the identifier from the location service request; and

a data repository including data for identifying, based on the identifier, an access point currently serving the mobile terminal.

21. A network element according to claim 20, wherein the data repository further includes data for determining location information corresponding to the access point.

22. A network element according to claim 21, wherein the location information includes geographical coordinates of the access point.

23. A network element for providing location information in a wireless communication system comprising mobile terminals and at least one access point, each access point being capable of serving the mobile terminals within a service area of the access point, the network element comprising:

reception means for receiving a location service request concerning a location of a mobile terminal, the location service request including an identifier of the mobile terminal; and

first means for determining, based on the identifier, the access point currently serving the mobile terminal.

24. A network element according to claim 23, further comprising second means for determining location information corresponding to the access point currently serving the mobile terminal, the second means being responsive to the first means.