Method of implementing UE capability exchange and route control for parallel IMS and CS services

• US 20060218291A1
• Filed: 03/15/2006
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zhu, Dongming, Wu, Yajuan
• Granted Patent: US 9,037,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1095 Inter-network session transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method of implementing UE capability exchange and a method of route control for parallel IMS and CS services in communication system, so as to distinguish among multiple UEs sharing a same IMPU during capability exchange and route control. Said method comprises: each of UEs involved in capability exchange sending its capability information to the opposite party respectively; the opposite party storing these information as well as the correlation between the information and the service ID; The UE including equipment ID of the opposite UE in an initiated service request; service control function entity in the network utilizing the equipment ID to query the established correlation among equipment ID, service ID, and address of the UE, so as to determine the address of the destination UE and route the service request to the destination UE. Said equipment ID identifies effectively a UE in the network.

Claims

1. A method of using equipment identity (ID) in IMS network, in which the equipment ID uniquely identifies a UE in the network and can be used to distinguish multiple UEs sharing a same IP multimedia public user identity (IMPU), wherein

a first User Equipment(UE) sends its equipment ID and/or capability information to a second UE;

and wherein

service ID, capability information and equipment ID of one of the first UE and the second UE, as well as the correlation among the service ID, the capability information and the equipment ID of said one of the first UE and the second UE are stored by the other one of the first UE and the second UE.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein

the equipment ID and/or capability information of the first UE is included in a service request or a response to service request when sending from the first UE;

and wherein the second UE that receives the service request or the response to service request looks up in the locally stored service ID, capability information and equipment ID of the first UE as well as the correlation among them in accordance with the received equipment ID and service ID, and judges whether the capability information of the first UE is stored locally, and performs service handling in accordance with the result of the judgment.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein

the second UE initiates capability exchange with the first UE, if the second UE determines the capability information of the first UE is not stored locally;

or determines whether to initiate CSI related operation in subsequent interaction with the first UE in accordance with the capability information of the first UE, if the second UE determines the capability information is stored locally.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein

the first UE or the second UE includes the equipment ID of destination UE in a subsequent service request, so that Service Control Function entity in the network can utilize the equipment ID to query the correlation among equipment ID, service ID, and addresses of UEs established during capability exchange or UE registration to determine the address of expected destination UE, and thereby routing the service request to correct destination UE.

5. The method as in claim 4, wherein

the first UE or the second UE designates a CSI capable UE of the opposite party as destination UE from intension of using CSI service when initiating a service request, and includes the corresponding equipment ID in the service request;

or

in accordance with the established CS call, the first UE or the second UE that initiates a service request designating the UE of the opposite party, to which the CS call connection is established, as destination UE when initiating a subsequent IMS session setup request for CSI service, and including the corresponding equipment ID in that service request.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein

if there is no change in the capability of the first UE or the second UE, the service request initiated or received will be performed in accordance with the existing SIP protocol;

if the capability of one of the first UE and the second UE has changed, said one of the first UE and the second UE will perform capability exchange when initiating or receiving a service request, and its equipment ID and capability information will be included in a service request to send to the other one of the first UE and the second UE, or said one of the first UE and the second UE will include its equipment ID and capability information in a subsequent response message after it receives a service request from the other one of the first UE and the second UE, and the other one of the first UE and the second UE will update capability information stored locally in accordance with the equipment ID.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein

one of the first UE and the second UE starts a timer after it receives and stores capability information of the other one of the first UE and the second UE and said correlation;

if the timer expires, said one of the first UE and the second UE will delete said capability information and said correlation.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein the first UE or the second UE can include its equipment ID in the initiated service request or response to service request;

the first UE or the second UE finds the locally stored correlation and the corresponding timer in accordance with said equipment ID and service ID and then resets the timer, when it receives a service request or a response to service request that carries the equipment ID.

9. The method as in claim 7, wherein

after receiving a service request or a response to service request, if one of the first UE and the second UE detects that the other one of the first UE and the second UE is using the capability information in accordance with said equipment ID and service ID stored locally during session negotiation, said one of the first UE and the second UE will reset the timer.

10. The method as in claim 1, wherein

the equipment ID includes International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Media Access Control (MAC) address, or Mobile Equipment Identity(MEID);

or

the equipment ID corresponds to the combination of IMEI, MAC or MEID and their corresponding network type;

or

the equipment ID corresponds to the combination of service ID and corresponding serial number or feature tag of UE; and

wherein said serial number or feature tag can effectively distinguish multiple UEs sharing a same IMPU within the extent of the IMPU.

11. The method as in claim 2, wherein the equipment ID can also include a version number to indicate whether capability information of the local UE stored in UE of the opposite party has changed, so that the UE of the opposite party can perform said judgment in accordance with said equipment ID and said version number.

12. The method as in claim 1, wherein the service request includes session setup request (INVITE), capability inquiry request (OPTION), and message request (MESSAGE) in IMS domain, as well as call control related messages and user information related messages in CS domain.

13. The method as in claim 1, wherein said capability information comprises UE capability information and/or user IDs used by the UE to establish calls/sessions in other domains.

14. A method of implementing UE capability exchange for parallel IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Circuit Switched (CS) services in communication system, comprising the following steps:

A. a first UE sending a message including service ID, equipment ID, and capability information of the first UE in accordance with triggering condition;

B. IMS network or CS network receiving and forwarding the message to a second UE;

C. the second UE receiving the message and storing the service ID, equipment ID, and capability information of the first UE contained in the message.

15. The method as in claim 14, wherein the second UE establishing a correlation among the service ID, equipment ID and capability information of the first UE in step C.

16. The method as in claim 14, wherein the triggering condition described in step A is:

the second UE sending a request to the first UE in accordance with a triggering condition to request the first UE to send its capability information to the second UE;

or

the first UE detecting that the capability information of the opposite party stored locally has changed;

or

the first UE detecting that its capability information has changed;

or

the first UE detecting that capability update timer expires;

or

the first UE detecting that the capability information of the opposite party has not been stored locally.

17. The method as in claim 16, wherein the triggering condition for the second UE is

the second UE detecting that the capability information of the opposite party stored locally has changed;

or

the second UE detecting that its capability information has changed;

or

the second UE detecting that capability update timer expires;

or

the second UE detecting that the capability information of the opposite party has not been stored locally.

18. The method as in claim 14, wherein the message described in step A is

a request or response message that is sent independently;

or

a service request sent from the first UE to the second UE, i.e., the content in the message described in step A is included in the service request and sent together with the service request;

or

a response to service request sent from the first UE to the second UE, i.e., the content of the message described in step A is included in the corresponding response message and sent together with the response message after the service request is received.

19. The method as in claim 16, wherein

equipment ID of the originating UE is included in a service request or response to service request sent from it;

the first UE or the second UE determines whether the capability information of the opposite party has been stored locally in accordance with the equipment ID contained in the received service request or response to service request.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein the service request includes session setup request (INVITE), capability inquiry request (OPTION), and message request (MESSAGE) in IMS domain, as well as call control related messages and user information related messages in CS domain.

21. The method as in claim 19, wherein the equipment ID can further contain the version number information of UE capability, so that the first UE or the second UE can determine whether the capability information of the opposite party stored locally has changed in accordance with the equipment ID and version number information contained in the received service request or response to service request.

22. The method as in claim 14, wherein the equipment ID can be used to uniquely identify a UE in network and distinguish multiple UEs sharing a same IMPU.

23. The method as in claim 14, wherein

the equipment ID corresponds to International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Media Access Control (MAC) address, or Mobile Equipment Identity(MEID);

or

the equipment ID corresponds to the combination of IMEI, MAC or MEID and their corresponding network type;

or

the equipment ID corresponds to combination of service ID and corresponding serial number or feature tag of UE;

wherein, said serial number or feature tag can effectively distinguish multiple UEs sharing a same IMPU within the extent of the IMPU.

24. The method as in claim 14, wherein the capability information comprises capability of the first UE and/or user IDs used by the first UE to establish calls/sessions in other domains.

25. The method as in claim 14, wherein the method further comprises the following steps after step C:

the second UE designating a first UE which is CSI capable as the destination UE, in accordance with the intension for using CSI service when initiating a service request, and including the equipment ID of the first UE in the service request;

or in accordance with an established CS call, the second UE designating the first UE as destination UE in a subsequent IMS session setup request which initiates CSI service, and including the equipment ID of the first UE in that service request;

service control function entity in network utilizing the equipment ID to look up the correlation among equipment ID, service ID, and UE address established during capability exchange or UE registration and thereby routing the service request to the corresponding destination UE.

26. The method as in claim 25, wherein the service request includes session setup request (INVITE), capability inquiry request (OPTION), and message request (MESSAGE) in IMS domain, as well as call control related messages and user information related messages in CS domain.

27. The method as in claim 15, wherein step C further comprises:

the second UE starting a timer for the capability information and the corresponding correlation after receiving and storing the capability information of the opposite UE and the correlation;

deleting the capability information and the correlation, if the timer expires later.

28. The method as in claim 27, wherein the method further comprises the following steps after step C:

the first UE including its equipment ID and/or service ID in a subsequent service request or a subsequent response to service request;

the second UE receiving the service request or the response to service request, and looking up in locally stored correlation and corresponding timer in accordance with the equipment ID and/or the service ID of the first UE carried in the service request or response to service request, and resetting said timer.

29. The method as in claim 27, wherein the method further comprises the following steps after step C:

after the second UE receiving a subsequent service request or a response, if the opposite party has used the capability information and service ID the first UE stored locally during session negotiation, the second UE looking up in locally stored correlation and corresponding timer in accordance with the capability information and the service ID, and resetting the timer.

30. The method as in claim 14, wherein the method further comprises the following steps after step C:

the first UE including its equipment ID in a subsequent service request or a subsequent response to service request;

the second UE receiving the service request or the response to service request, and determining that capability information of the first UE is stored locally in accordance with the equipment ID carried in the service request or response to service request as well as locally stored information in step C.

31. The method as in claim 30, wherein the second UE receiving the service request or the response to service request and determining that the capability information of the first UE is stored locally, and judging whether the CSI operation can be initiated in subsequent interactions with the opposite UE in accordance with the capability information.

32. The method as in any of claim 28, wherein said service request includes session setup request (INVITE), capability inquiry request (OPTION), and message request (MESSAGE) in IMS domain, as well as call control related messages and user information related messages in CS domain.

33. A method of implementing route control for parallel IMS and CS services in communication system, comprising the following steps:

A. a first UE sending a service request containing an equipment ID of a second UE;

B. service control function entity in network utilizing the equipment ID of the second UE contained in the service request to look up an established correlation among equipment ID, service ID, and UE address of UEs, and obtaining the contact address of the second UE;

C. the service control function entity forwarding the service request to the second UE in accordance with the contact address of the second UE.

34. The method as in claim 33, wherein

the first UE or the second UE provides its equipment ID during registration or capability exchange procedure;

the service control function entity obtains the equipment ID and establishes correlation among the equipment ID, service ID, and address of the UE;

the equipment ID identifies a UE effectively in the network.

35. The method as in claim 33, wherein

the first UE or the second UE provides its feature tag during registration procedure;

the service control function entity assigns an equipment ID to the UE in accordance with the feature tag and establishes correlation among equipment ID, service ID, and address of the UE;

the feature tag and the equipment ID identify effectively a UE in multiple UEs sharing a same IMPU.

36. The method as in claim 33, wherein the equipment ID of destination UE contained in the service request is designated by the UE that initiates the service request in accordance with the requirement of the internal service logic.

37. The method as in claim 36, wherein

a UE designates a CSI capable UE of opposite party as destination UE in accordance with the intension for using CSI service when initiating a service request, and includes corresponding equipment ID in the service request;

or

in accordance with an established CS call, the UE that initiates the service request designates a UE of opposite party, to which the CS call connection is established, as the destination UE when initiating a subsequent IMS session setup request for CSI service, and includes the corresponding equipment ID in that service request.

38. The method as in any of claim 33, wherein said service request includes, but is not limited to, session setup request (INVITE), capability inquiry request (OPTION), and message request (MESSAGE) in IMS domain, as well as call control related messages and user information related messages in CS domain.