Method and device for authenticating a subscriber for utilizing services in wireless lan (wlan)

• US 20050181764A1
• Filed: 06/07/2002
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VL Collective IP, LLC (VideoLabs, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Hahn, Wolfgang, Reitter, Johann
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0892 by using authentication-authorization-accounting [AAA] servers or protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

An efficient authentication is made possible by a method for authenticating a subscriber MT (6) for utilizing services in a wireless LAN (WLAN) (10) while using an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) (3). The inventive method is characterized in that a subscriber MT (6), who is to be authenticated and who is located at a location having WLAN coverage, receives an IP address from the WLAN (10) in an attributed manner, after which the subscriber authenticates himself with regard to the IP multimedia subsystem (3) while giving this IP address. In addition, an element ((WAGW (2)) of the WLAN (10) is informed of the result of the authentication of the subscriber MT (6) with regard to the IMS (3).

Claims

1. A method for authenticating a subscriber for utilizing services in a wireless LAN while using an IP multimedia subsystem of a mobile radio network, comprising:

receiving an IP address from the wireless LAN, after which the subscriber receiving the IP address is authenticated to the IP multimedia subsystem while giving the IP address, by means of SIP registration; and

informing an element of the wireless LAN of the result of the authentication of the subscriber with regard to the IP multimedia system.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the subscriber of the wireless LAN in the IP multimedia subsystem is authenticated while using a home subscriber system.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the subscriber in the wireless LAN in the IP multimedia subsystem is authenticated while using an authentication server.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein

the subscriber transmits, via the wireless LAN, an SIP register message to a device of the IP multimedia system, which transmits a request for authentication of the IP multimedia subsystem subscriber to the home subscriber system after which the home subscriber system authenticates the subscriber and communicates the result of the authentication to the wireless LAN access gateway.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein

an association is implemented between the subscriber terminal and the wireless LAN transmitting and receiving via the radio interface between subscriber and wireless LAN.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein

the subscriber terminal receives the IP address from an address area of the wireless LAN with which—

together with other IP transport-based data transmits and receives SIP messages that transport authentication messages from and to the IP multimedia subsystem.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein

access to services is controlled via the wireless LAN access gateway, which monitors successful authentication in the IP multimedia subsystem.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless LAN is connected to the IP multimedia subsystem via a Gi interface.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless LAN is connected to the IP multimedia subsystem via an Mm interface.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein

a result of the authentication is fed to a wireless LAN access gateway by a proxy-call state control function/policy control function at a location having wireless LAN coverage.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein

the wireless LAN has a proxy-call state control function node which forwards the SIP messages to a corresponding entity in the IP multimedia subsystem and controls the WLAN access gateway with regard to the authentication result of the IP multimedia subsystem.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein

instructions are provided to the WLAN access gateway based on a result of the authentication in the IP multimedia subsystem as to how data traffic of a subscriber is to be handled by the wireless LAN access gateway.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein

the proxy-call state control function controls the data traffic through the wireless LAN access gateway and grants, restricts, increases or declines a quantity and/or quality of the data flow of a subscriber through the wireless LAN access gateway.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein

the policy control function is part of the proxy-call state control function nodes.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein

the result of the authentication is fed to the wireless LAN access gateway by the call state control function/policy control function in the IP multimedia subsystem.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein

the call state control function node of the IP multimedia subsystem controls the wireless LAN access gateway with regard to the authentication result of the IP multimedia subsystem.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein

a Go interface is installed between the call state control function node of the IP multimedia subsystem and the wireless LAN access gateway for protected data transfer.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein

an authentication result is evaluated by expanded functionalities in the wireless LAN access gateway.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein

the authentication result received from the IP multimedia subsystem is converted by the wireless LAN access gateway where in the WLAN access gateway allows subscriber data to pass there through.

20. The method according to claim 13, wherein

the evaluation of the authentication result is implemented using “

an application layer gateway”

.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the subscriber of the wireless LAN is also a subscriber of the mobile communication network.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless LAN network is integrated into mobile communication networks with aid of ETSI HiperLan and IEEE 802.11.

23. A device for authenticating a subscriber for utilizing services in a wireless LAN with aid of an IP multimedia subsystem of a mobile radio network, comprising:

an IP multimedia system for authenticating a subscriber to be authenticated by means of SIP registration, and located at a location having wireless LAN coverage, by giving an IP address allocated by the wireless LAN; and

an IP multimedia subsystem for informing an element of the wireless LAN of a result of the authentication of the subscriber with regard to the IP multimedia subsystem.

24. The device according to claim 23, wherein

a second device constituting the proxy call state control function node is a node in the wireless LAN.

25. The device according to claim 24, wherein

the second device constituting the proxy call state control function node of the IP multimedia subsystem is provided for controlling authentication in the wireless LAN.

26. The device according to claim 25, wherein

the wireless LAN access gateway has a third device that is configured such that the device converts the authentication result which is received from the IP multimedia subsystem by allowing subscriber data to pass there through.