METHODS, APPARATUSES, SYSTEM, AND RELATED COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR USER EQUIPMENT ACCESS

• US 20090055543A1
• Filed: 08/13/2008
• Published: 02/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Rasanen, Juha A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,688,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2564 for a higher-layer protocol, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2575 using address mapping retrieval, e.g. simple traversal of user datagram protocol through session traversal utilities for NAT [STUN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2578 without involvement of the NAT server
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

It is disclosed a method comprising holding access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and signaling, based on the second network plane, the held access information to a controlling entity; a method comprising receiving the signaled access information, the receiving being performed based on the second network plane, and relaying, based on the second network plane, the received access information to a second network entity; and a method comprising receiving the relayed access information, the receiving being performed based on the second network plane, and configuring the first network plane based on the access information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

holding access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation; and

signaling, based on the second network plane, the held access information to a controlling entity.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the signaling is performed based on utilizing an internet protocol multimedia subsystem registration phase.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the signaling is performed based on utilizing a separate session initiation protocol message exchange between the terminal and the controlling entity.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the separate session initiation protocol message is constituted by one of an options request and a register request of the session initiation protocol message.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access information comprises at least one of network addresses of the terminal and the first network entity, network ports of the terminal and the first network entity, network address translation, a protocol used, an application offered by the first network entity, and a service offered by the first network entity.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving information on network address translation.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the information on the network address translation comprises the existence of the network address translation and the address allocated by the network address translation.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the network addresses are constituted by at least one of internet protocol addresses and ports.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the network addresses are constituted by at least one of marked internet protocol addresses and ports indicating usage of an encapsulation protocol.

65. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving signaled access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiving being performed based on the second network plane; and

relaying, based on the second network plane, the received access information to a second network entity.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the access information comprises at least one of network addresses of the terminal and the first network entity, network ports of the terminal and the first network entity, network address translation, a protocol used, an application offered by the first network entity, and a service offered by the first network entity.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising sending information on network address translation.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the information on the network address translation comprises the existence of the network address translation and the address allocated by the network address translation.

14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising deriving the information on the network address translation from network addresses in session initiation protocol messages.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the network addresses are constituted by internet protocol addresses.

66. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

16. A method, comprising:

receiving relayed access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiving being performed based on the second network plane; and

configuring the first network plane based on the access information.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the configuring further comprises establishing network traffic policy information based on the received access information and policy enforcement-based routing network traffic between the terminal and the first network entity based on the established network traffic policy information.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the established network traffic policy information comprises at least one policy and charging control rule.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the access information comprises one of information on a protocol used and information on an application defined by the at least one policy and charging control rule, and the established network traffic policy information is used for limiting the network traffic based on one of the protocol used and the application defined.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the at least one policy and charging control rule is used for limiting at least one of bandwidth, bit rate and traffic class of the network traffic.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the network traffic is one of an internet protocol data packet stream and a signaling message stream.

22. The method according to claim 17, wherein the network traffic is constituted by internet protocol data packets encapsulated by an encapsulation protocol, the establishing further establishes marked network traffic policy information indicating usage of the encapsulation protocol, and applying policy enforcement to encapsulated internet protocol data packets based on the marked network traffic policy information.

23. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory configured to hold access information relating to the apparatus and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the apparatus, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation; and

a signaler configured to signal, based on the second network plane, the access information held by the memory to a controlling entity.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the signaler is configured to signal based on utilizing an internet protocol multimedia subsystem registration phase.

26. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the signaler is configured to signal based on utilizing a separate session initiation protocol message exchange between the apparatus and the controlling entity.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the separate session initiation protocol message is constituted by one of an options request and a register request of the session initiation protocol message.

28. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the access information comprises at least one of network addresses of the apparatus and the first network entity, network ports of the apparatus and the first network entity, network address translation, a protocol used, an application offered by the first network entity, and a service offered by the first network entity.

29. The apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising a receiver configured to receive information on network address translation.

30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the information on the network address translation comprises the existence of the network address translation and the address allocated by the network address translation.

31. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the network addresses are constituted by at least one of internet protocol addresses and ports.

32. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the network addresses are constituted by at least one of marked internet protocol addresses and ports indicating usage of an encapsulation protocol.

33. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus is a terminal.

34. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the access information is used for requesting the enabling/establishment of network traffic between the first network entity and the apparatus from the second network entity.

35. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the access information is used for requesting the second network entity to establish network traffic policy information based on the access information and for enabling/activating policy enforcement on network traffic between the first network entity and the apparatus.

36. The apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the access information comprises traffic mapping filters with at least one of parameters address, port and protocol.

37. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the access information is used for requesting the enabling/establishment of network traffic between the first network entity and the apparatus from the second network entity, the second network entity being configured to limit at least one of bandwidth, bit rate and traffic class of the network traffic.

53. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the first network entity is an external server.

54. The apparatus according to claim 53, wherein the external server is a simple traversal of user datagram protocol through network address translations relay.

55. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the second network entity is at least one of a policy and charging rules function and a policy and charging enforcement function.

56. The apparatus according claim 24, wherein the controlling entity is a proxy call session control function.

57. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

58. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus is implemented as a chipset or module.

38. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive signaled access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiver being configured to signal based on the second network plane; and

a relayer configured to relay, based on the second network plane, the access information received by the receiver to a second network entity.

39. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the access information comprises at least one of network addresses of the terminal and the first network entity, network ports of the terminal and the first network entity, network address translation, a protocol used, an application offered by the first network entity, and a service offered by the first network entity.

40. The apparatus according to claim 38, further comprising a sender configured to send information on network address translation.

41. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the information on the network address translation comprises the existence of the network address translation and the address allocated by the network address translation.

42. The apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising a deriver configured to derive the information on the network address translation from network addresses in session initiation protocol messages.

43. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the network addresses are constituted by internet protocol addresses.

44. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the apparatus is a controlling entity.

52. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the terminal is a user equipment.

68. The apparatus according claim 38, wherein the first network entity is an external server.

70. The apparatus according to claim 68 wherein the external server is a simple traversal of user datagram protocol through network address translations relay.

72. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the second network entity is at least one of a policy and charging rules function and a policy and charging enforcement function.

74. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

76. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the apparatus is implemented as a chipset or module.

45. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive relayed access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiver being configured to receive based on the second network plane; and

a configurator configured to configure the first network plane based on the access information.

46. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the configurator further comprises an establisher configured to establish network traffic policy information based on the access information received by the receiver and an enabler/activator configured to enable/activate policy enforcement network traffic between the terminal and the first network entity based on the network traffic policy information established by the establisher.

47. The apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the network traffic policy information established by the establisher comprises at least one policy and charging control rule.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the access information comprises one of information on a protocol used and information on an application defined by the at least one policy and charging control rule, and the enabler/activator configured to enable/activate policy enforcement is further configured to use the network traffic policy information established by the establisher for limiting the network traffic based on one of the protocol used and the application defined.

49. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the enabler/activator configured to enable/activate policy enforcement is configured to use the at least one policy and charging control rule for limiting one of bandwidth, bit rate and traffic class of the network traffic.

50. The apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the network traffic is one of an internet protocol data packet stream and a signaling message stream.

51. The apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the network traffic is constituted by internet protocol data packets encapsulated by an encapsulation protocol, the establisher is further configured to establish marked network traffic policy information indicating usage of the encapsulation protocol, and the enabler/activator configured to enable/activate policy enforcement is further configured to apply policy enforcement to encapsulated internet protocol data packets based on the marked network traffic policy information.

67. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the terminal is a user equipment.

69. The apparatus according claim 45, wherein the first network entity is an external server.

71. The apparatus according to claim 69 wherein the external server is a simple traversal of user datagram protocol through network address translations relay.

73. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the second network entity is at least one of a policy and charging rules function and a policy and charging enforcement function.

75. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the first network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem user plane and the second network plane is an internet protocol multimedia subsystem control plane.

77. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the apparatus is implemented as a chipset or module.

59. An apparatus, comprising:

means for holding access information relating to the apparatus and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the apparatus, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation; and

means for signaling, based on the second network plane, the access information held by the means for holding to a controlling entity.

60. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving signaled access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the means for receiving being configured to signal based on the second network plane; and

means for relaying, based on the second network plane, the access information received by the means for receiving to a second network entity.

61. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving relayed access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the means for receiving being configured to receive based on the second network plane; and

means for configuring the first network plane based on the access information.

62. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium comprising code means for performing, when run on a computer, a method comprising:

holding access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation; and

signaling, based on the second network plane, the held access information to a controlling entity.

63. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium comprising code means for performing, when run on a computer, a method comprising:

receiving signaled access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiving being performed based on the second network plane; and

relaying, based on the second network plane, the received access information to a second network entity.

64. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium comprising code means for performing, when run on a computer, a method comprising:

receiving relayed access information relating to a terminal and a first network entity external to a currently visited network of the terminal, the access information being associated with a first network plane below a second network plane relating to network session initiation, and the receiving being performed based on the second network plane; and

configuring the first network plane based on the access information.