WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING HOME NODE-B IDENTIFICATION AND ACCESS RESTRICTION

• US 20080267153A1
• Filed: 04/18/2008
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sammour, Mohammed, Miller, James M., Wang, Jin, Somasundaram, Shankar, Mukherjee, Rajat P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,072,953 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0033 with transfer of context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

A method and a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), including a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), for identifying a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell are disclosed. The WTRU receives a broadcast from a cell including a cell identifier (ID). If the cell ID is associated with a CSG cell, the WTRU determines whether the CSG ID is programmed in the USIM. The cell broadcast may include a single bit information element (IE) indicating that the cell is a CSG cell. If the cell ID is a CSG ID, the cell ID may further include a plurality of fields which indicate at least one of a country, a region, an operator, and a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) number. The cell broadcast may further include a bit indicating whether the CSG cell is public or private. The cell broadcast may further include a bit indicating that emergency calls are allowed from all users.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a closed subscriber group (CSG) that a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) has access to, the method comprising:

receiving signaling indicating a plurality of CSG identifiers (IDs);

storing the CSG IDs;

receiving a broadcast from a cell, the broadcast including an ID; and

if the ID included in the broadcast is a CSG ID, determining whether the CSG ID matches one of the plurality of CSG IDs.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the received signaling is non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the cell is a CSG cell and the CSG ID is globally unique.

4. The method of claim 3 where the CSG ID is a globally unique cell ID.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the CSG ID includes a plurality of fields which indicate at least one of a country, a region, an operator, and a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) number.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSG is identified by a single ID that can be changed by a network.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSG is identified by a permanent unique ID.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadcast further includes a bit indicating whether the CSG cell is a private CSG cell.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadcast further includes a bit indicating whether the CSG cell is a public CSG cell.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadcast includes an information element (IE) indicating that the cell is a CSG cell.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the IE is 1-bit indicator.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the WTRU maintaining a list of associations between permanent CSG IDs and corresponding temporary CSG IDs (TCSGIDs) to which the WTRU has access to.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadcast further includes a bit indicating that emergency calls are allowed from all users.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSG ID is a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) ID of an HeNB that is broadcasting a CSG cell.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSG ID is a combination of a tracking area (TA) ID, a cell ID and a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) ID.

16. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:

a receiver configured to receive signaling indicating a plurality of closed subscriber group (CSG) identifiers (IDs), the receiver being further configured to receive a broadcast from a cell including an ID;

a memory device configured to store the CSG IDs; and

a processor electrically coupled to the receiver and the memory device, the processor configured to determine whether the ID included in the broadcast is a CSG ID and, if so, determine whether the CSG ID matches one of the plurality of CSG IDs stored in the memory device.

17. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the received signaling is non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

18. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the memory device is a universal integrated circuit card (UICC).

19. The WTRU of claim 18 wherein the CSG ID is stored on a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) application residing in the UICC.

20. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the cell is a CSG cell and the CSG ID is globally unique.

21. The WTRU of claim 20 where the CSG ID is a globally unique cell ID.

22. The WTRU of claim 20 wherein the CSG ID includes a plurality of fields which indicate at least one of a country, a region, an operator, and a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) number.

23. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the CSG is identified by a single ID that can be changed by a network.

24. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the CSG is identified by a permanent unique ID.

25. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the broadcast from the cell further includes a bit indicating whether the CSG cell is a private CSG cell.

26. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the broadcast from the cell further includes a bit indicating whether the CSG cell is a public CSG cell.

27. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the broadcast includes an information element (IE) indicating that the cell is a CSG cell.

28. The WTRU of claim 27 wherein the IE is 1-bit indicator.

29. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the WTRU maintains a list of associations between permanent CSG IDs and corresponding temporary CSG IDs (TCSGIDs) to which the WTRU has access to.

30. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the broadcast further includes a bit indicating that emergency calls are allowed from all users.

31. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the CSG ID is a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) ID of an HeNB that is broadcasting a CSG cell.

32. The WTRU of claim 16 wherein the CSG ID is a combination of a tracking area (TA) ID, a cell ID and a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) ID.

33. A method of selectively restricting wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) from accessing a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

the CSG cell transmitting a broadcast including a 1-bit indicator indicating that the cell is either a public cell or a private cell;

if the 1-bit indicator indicates that the CSG cell is public, then WTRUs that do not belong to a CSG may also be allowed to access the CSG cell; and

if the 1-bit indicator indicates that the CSG cell is private, only WTRUs that belong to a CSG associated with the CSG cell can access the CSG cell.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) is programmed with an international mobile subscriber ID associated with each WTRU that is allowed to access the CSG cell, and the HeNB determines whether to service a WTRU when the WTRU attempts to access an initial random access channel (RACH) level.

35. A method for a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to determine whether access is permitted to a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

receiving a broadcast from the CSG cell, the broadcast including a 1-bit indicator indicating that the cell is either a public cell or a private cell;

determining that it is permissible to access the CSG cell if the 1-bit indicator indicates that the CSG cell is public; and

determining that it is permissible to access the CSG cell if the 1-bit indicator indicates that the CSG cell is private and that the WTRU belongs to the CSG associated with the CSG cell.

36. A method of selectively restricting wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) from accessing a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

the CSG cell transmitting a broadcast indicating basic services that are open to all WTRUs and subscriber services that are only accessible by WTRUs associated with subscribed users.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the basic services include at least one of voice, text messaging and emergency calls.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein the broadcast includes a 1-bit indicator indicating that any WTRU can camp on the CSG cell to access emergency services.

39. The method of claim 36 wherein a home evolved Node-B (HeNB) is used to program an international mobile subscriber ID associated with each WTRU that is allowed to access the subscriber services, and the HeNB determines whether to service a WTRU when the WTRU attempts to access an initial random access channel (RACH) level.

40. A method of selectively restricting wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) from accessing a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

the CSG cell providing a first level of reselection criteria for WTRUs that are not associated with subscribed users; and

the CSG cell providing a second level of reselection criteria for WTRUs that are associated with subscribed users.

41. A method of selectively restricting wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) from accessing a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

the CSG cell transmitting a broadcast indicating the current capacity of the CSG cell; and

if the broadcast indicates that the CSG cell is currently running at full capacity, restricting services provided by the CSG cell to only WTRUs that are not associated with subscribed users.

42. A method used by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to access emergency services provided by a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, the method comprising:

maintaining a list of acceptable cells that can provide the WTRU with access to the emergency services;

detecting a cell;

determining that the detected cell is a CSG cell that provides services to a CSG that the WTRU is not a member of;

adding the detected CSG cell to the list; and

proceeding to camp on the CSG cell to access the emergency services.