Forbidden tracking area optimization for private/home networks

• US 20080194235A1
• Filed: 02/08/2008
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Dalsgaard, Lars, Koskela, Jarkko T., Ore, Ivan, Sipila, Kari
• Granted Patent: US 8,116,736 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0086 Search parameters, e.g. search strategy, accumulation length, range of search, thresholds code acquisition in DSSS H04B1/7075
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Access verification is adaptively done using an identifier of a first or a second length, by comparing a field of a node address that has the determined first or second length against a locally stored access list. At least the compared field of the node address is either added to a locally stored list of cell selection candidate nodes where the access list is allowed identifiers, or excluded from it where the access list is restricted identifiers. The node identifier is in three sections. The first section is service type, which the UE can use to determine whether or not it is restricted/allowed. The first length is the length of the second section, which is a service area ID of a group of network nodes. The second length is the length of the second section plus the third section, which identifies one node of the group of network nodes.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining that access verification is to be done using an identifier of a first length or an identifier of a second length;

receiving a node address;

performing access verification by comparing a field of the received node address that has the determined first or second length against a locally stored access list; and

adding at least the compared field of the node address to a locally stored list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of allowed identifiers, or excluding the compared field of the node address from the locally stored list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising signaling to support a handover to a node having an address whose field matches an entry on the locally stored list of candidate cells.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length is determined implicitly from the length of the received node address.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length is from explicit signaling received from a network separate from the node address and received over a broadcast channel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the explicit signaling comprises a range indication that informs how many bits to compare.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the node address comprises a second section that is the first length, and a third section that combined with the second section is the second length.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second section comprises a service area identifier that identifies a geographic grouping of nodes and the third section comprises a node identifier that uniquely identifies one node of the grouping of nodes.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the node address further comprises a first section that indicates a type of service, and the method further comprising using the first section to additionally distinguish whether the node address is allowed or restricted prior to performing the access verification.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers, locally storing service area identifiers that are restricted on a forbidden list until either the service area is no longer forbidden or a memory allocated for storing the forbidden list becomes full and the stored service area identifier is the oldest to be stored on the forbidden list.

10. The method of claim 1, executed by a mobile terminal moving between a node operating with one radio access technology and another node operating with a different radio access technology.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a node address;

a processor configured to determine that access verification is to be done using an identifier of a first length or an identifier of a second length, and configured to perform access verification by comparing a field of the received node address that has the determined first or second length against a locally stored access list, and

a local memory to which the processor adds at least the compared field of the node address to a list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of allowed identifiers, or from which the processor excludes the compared field of the node address from the list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, the processor and receiver further configured to signal to support a handover of the apparatus to a node having an address whose field matches an entry on the locally stored list of candidate cells.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor determines that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length from the length of the node address that is received at the receiver.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor determines that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length from explicit signaling received from a network at the receiver separate from the received node address and received on a broadcast channel.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the explicit signaling comprises a range indication that informs how many bits to compare.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the node address comprises a second section that is the first length, and a third section that combined with the second section is the second length.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second section comprises a service area identifier that identifies a geographic grouping of nodes and the third section comprises a node identifier that uniquely identifies one node of the grouping of nodes.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the node address further comprises a first section that indicates a type of service, and the method further comprising using the first section to additionally distinguish whether the node address is allowed or restricted prior to performing the access verification.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers, the service area identifiers that are restricted are stored on a forbidden list of the memory until either the service area is no longer forbidden or a n allocation of the memory for storing the forbidden list becomes full while the stored service area identifier is the oldest to be stored on the forbidden list.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal moving between a node operating with one radio access technology and another node operating with a different radio access technology.

21. A computer readable memory embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processor to perform actions directed toward performing access verification, the actions comprising:

determining that access verification is to be done using an identifier of a first length or an identifier of a second length;

receiving a node address;

performing access verification for comparing a field of the received node address that has the determined first or second length against a locally stored access list; and

adding at least the compared field of the node address to a locally stored list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of allowed identifiers, or excluding the compared field of the node address from the locally stored list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers.

22. An apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a node address;

processing means for determining that access verification is to be done using an identifier of a first length or an identifier of a second length, and for performing access verification by comparing a field of the received node address that has the determined first or second length against a locally stored access list, and

memory means for adding at least the compared field of the node address to a list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of allowed identifiers, or for excluding the compared field of the node address from the list of cell selection candidate nodes for the case where the access list comprises a list of restricted identifiers.

23. A method comprising:

determining whether a first length identifier or a second length identifier is to be used for access verification by user equipments, and sending an indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length; and

sending a node address for access verification.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein sending the indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length is implicit in the length of the sent node address.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length comprises explicit signaling separate from the node address and sent on a broadcast channel.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the explicit signaling comprises a range indication that informs how many bits to compare for the access verification.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the node address comprises a second section that is the first length, and a third section that combined with the second section is the second length.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the second section comprises a service area identifier that identifies a geographic grouping of nodes and the third section comprises a node identifier that uniquely identifies one node of the grouping of nodes.

29. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to determine whether a first length identifier or a second length identifier is to be used for access verification by user equipments; and

a transmitter configured to send an indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length, and configured to send a node address for the access verification.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length is implicit in the length of the node address that the transmitter sends.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the indication that access verification is to be done using an identifier of the first length or an identifier of the second length comprises explicit signaling separate from the node address and sent on a broadcast channel.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the explicit signaling comprises a range indication that informs how many bits to compare for the access verification.

33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the node address comprises a second section that is the first length, and a third section that combined with the second section is the second length.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the second section comprises a service area identifier that identifies a geographic grouping of nodes and the third section comprises a node identifier that uniquely identifies one node of the grouping of nodes.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the node address further comprises a first section that indicates a type of service offered by the apparatus, where the apparatus comprises an access node.