CENTRALIZED MOBILE ACCESS POINT ACQUISITION

• US 20090092080A1
• Filed: 10/01/2008
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Deshpande, Manoj M., Nanda, Sanjiv, Balasubramanian, Srinivasan, Chen, Jen Mei
• Granted Patent: US 8,787,306 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0093 Neighbour cell search
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00835 Determination of neighbour cell lists
• 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 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/00 Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Providing for centralized access management to diverse types of mobile network access points is described herein. By way of example, network components can generate a system determination list (SDL) for a user terminal (UT) that is customized to access capabilities of the UT and/or current position of the UT. The SDL can be employed by the UT to determine which network access points to camp on, handoff to, or the like. The network components can include a network database that maintains UT subscriber and related home Femto cell information, or such information can be maintained at a network operator'"'"'s home location register. In some aspects, the information can be obtained over the air from the UT or from a base station serving the UT.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating remote access to a mobile network, comprising:

obtaining information specific to a user terminal (UT);

employing the UT-specific information to determine access capabilities of the UT; and

generating a custom system determination list (SDL) for selecting between disparate types of access points based upon the access capabilities of the UT.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising including identifying data for a home Femto cell of the UT within the custom SDL.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising specifying relative priority of respective access points based at least in part on access point type.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining or obtaining a home geographic area (GEO) within which a home Femto cell of the UT is located; and

providing multiple priority hierarchies in the custom SDL that establish different access point priorities when the UT is within and outside the home GEO.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing within the custom SDL as preferred:

a cell ID or frequency channel of a home Femto cell when the UT is within a GEO comprising the home Femto cell;

or

a cell ID or frequency channel of a macro cell when the UT is not within the GEO comprising the home Femto cell.

6. The method of claim 1, obtaining the UT-specific information further comprises receiving an ID of the UT and employing the ID to extract the information from at least one of:

a network operator'"'"'s database;

or

a centralized core network database.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising accessing the centralized core network database as a function of users authorized to use a home Femto cell or as a function of home Femto cells associated with the UT.

8. The method of claim 1, generating the custom SDL further comprises:

employing an access point coupled to the UT to obtain a current SDL for the UT;

employing UT-specific data to identify a home Femto cell associated with the UT;

obtaining updated network information for a current GEO of the UT; and

employing the updated network information and data pertaining to the home Femto cell to dynamically modify the current SDL and generate the custom SDL.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing a macro or Femto access point to push the custom SDL to the UT via over the air (OTA) signaling.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising including a parameter with the custom SDL that redirects the UT to a non-Femto carrier if the UT is a non-Femto device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising including a set of neighbor Femto cell IDs with the custom SDL to facilitate searching for nearby Femto cells on multiple carriers if the UT is in a multi-carrier environment and is a Femto-capable UT.

12. An apparatus that facilitates remote access to a mobile network, comprising:

a communication processor that obtains information specific to a UT via a data link with a base station (BS) serving the UT or an OTA link with the UT;

a data parser that employs the UT-specific information to determine access capabilities of the UT; and

an SDL module that generates a custom SDL for selecting between disparate types of access points based upon the access capabilities of the UT.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SDL module configures the custom SDL to include data pertaining to a home Femto cell associated with the UT.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a data interface that couples to an operator'"'"'s core network to obtain the home Femto cell data, or to the Internet to obtain such data from a Femto cell coupled to the UT.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, the SDL module specifies a relative priority for the disparate types of access points based at least in part on access point type.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a database that maintains subscriber data for the UT, data identifying one or more home Femto cells for the UT, and optionally frequency channels employed by the home Femto cells.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the subscriber data is used to establish a home GEO for the UT.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SDL module:

defines a home GEO for the UT in which a home Femto cell of the UT is located; and

configures the custom SDL to establish a high relative priority for Femto cells if the UT is within the home GEO.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SDL module includes data identifying one or more home Femto cells within the custom SDL, the identifying data is obtained from:

a network database comprising Femto ID data for a Femto cell network;

a mobile operator'"'"'s home location register comprising Femto cell ID data associated with a Femto subscription;

or

an OTA message originated at the UT.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SDL module configures the custom SDL to establish a high relative priority for macro cells if the UT is not within a home GEO or the UT is a non-Femto device.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SDL module comprises an over the air service provisioning function (OTAF) module configured to generate the custom SDL.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a bootstrap configuration module that generates a bootstrap SDL for initial provisioning of the UT with a home Femto cell, the bootstrap SDL comprises a bootstrap cell ID or bootstrap frequency channel.

23. An apparatus configured to facilitate remote access to a mobile network, comprising:

means for obtaining information specific to a UT;

means for employing the UT-specific information to determine access capabilities of the UT; and

means for generating a custom SDL for selecting between disparate types of access points based upon the access capabilities of the UT.

24. A processor configured to facilitate remote access to a mobile network, comprising:

a first module configured to obtain information specific to a UT;

a second module configured to employ the UT-specific information to determine access capabilities of the UT; and

a third module configured to generate a custom SDL for selecting between disparate types of access points based upon the access capabilities of the UT.

25. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising

a first set of codes for causing a computer to obtain information specific to a UT;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to employ the UT-specific information to determine access capabilities of the UT; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to generate a custom SDL for selecting between disparate types of access points based upon the access capabilities of the UT.

26. A method for selecting an access point to a mobile network, comprising:

submitting a network registration request that comprises a UT ID to a cell of the mobile network;

obtaining a custom SDL configured to the UT ID, the custom SDL establishes a preferred type of access point based on a characteristic of the UT; and

employing the custom SDL to search neighboring cells or channels if the cell is not a preferred cell or is an un-preferred cell.

27. The method of claim 26, employing the custom SDL to search neighboring cells further comprises matching a node ID of the cell to a node ID in the custom SDL to determine whether the cell is preferred or un-preferred.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising identifying a GEO of the cell and comparing the GEO to the custom SDL to determine whether the cell is preferred or un-preferred.

29. The method of claim 28, identifying the GEO further comprises analyzing a signal transmitted by the cell or determining a position of the UT.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising determining whether the GEO of the cell is a home GEO associated with the UT based on the comparison.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising coupling to the un-preferred cell if the preferred cell is not identified within a threshold time.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising periodically searching for the preferred cell while coupled to the un-preferred cell.

33. The method of claim 26, obtaining the custom SDL further comprises submitting data identifying a home GEO or a home Femto cell to the mobile network.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the characteristic of the UT is an access type characteristic.

35. The method of claim 26, further comprising obtaining an updated SDL based on network topology changes from the cell of the mobile network.

36. The method of claim 26, further comprising employing a mobile subscriber identifier (MSI), international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI), electronic serial number (ESN) or a device number (DN), or a combination thereof as the UT ID.

37. A UT configured for selecting an access point to a mobile network, comprising:

a communication processor that submits a network registration request that comprises a UT ID to a cell of the mobile network;

a receiver that obtains a custom SDL configured to the UT ID, the custom SDL establishes a preferred type of access point based on a characteristic of the UT; and

a base station re-selection module that employs the custom SDL to search neighboring cells if the cell is not a preferred cell or is an un-preferred cell.

38. The UT of claim 37, wherein the base station re-selection module matches a node ID of the cell to a node ID in the custom DSL to determine whether the cell is preferred or un-preferred.

39. The UT of claim 37, wherein the base station re-selection module identifies a GEO of the cell and compares the GEO to the custom SDL to determine whether the cell is preferred or un-preferred.

40. The UT of claim 39, further comprising a signal analysis module that identifies the GEO by analyzing a signal transmitted by the cell.

41. The UT of claim 39, wherein the base station re-selection module determines whether the GEO of the cell is a home GEO associated with the UT based on the comparison.

42. The UT of claim 37, wherein the base station re-selection module couples to the un-preferred cell if the preferred cell is not identified within a threshold time.

43. The UT of claim 42, wherein the base station re-selection module periodically searches for the preferred cell while coupled to the un-preferred cell.

44. The UT of claim 37, wherein the communication processor submits data identifying a home GEO or a home Femto cell to the mobile network to illicit the custom SDL.

45. The UT of claim 37, wherein the characteristic of the UT is a Femto-capability or Femto subscription information.

46. The UT of claim 37, wherein the receiver obtains an updated SDL based on network topology changes from the cell of the mobile network.

47. The UT of claim 37, wherein the UT ID comprises an MSI, IMSI, ESN or a DN of the UT, or a combination thereof.

48. An apparatus configured for selecting an access point to a mobile network, comprising:

means for submitting a network registration request that comprises a UT ID to a cell of the mobile network;

means for obtaining a custom SDL configured to the UT ID, the custom SDL establishes a preferred type of access point based on a characteristic of the UT; and

means for employing the custom SDL to search neighboring cells if the cell is not a preferred cell or is an un-preferred cell.

49. A processor configured to select among access points of a mobile network, comprising:

a first module that submits a network registration request that comprises a UT ID to a cell of the mobile network;

a second module that obtains a custom SDL configured to the UT ID, the custom SDL establishes a preferred type of access point based on a characteristic of the UT; and

a third module that employs the custom SDL to search neighboring cells if the cell is not a preferred cell or is an un-preferred cell.

50. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to submit a network registration request that comprises a UT ID to a cell of the mobile network;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to obtain a custom SDL configured to the UT ID, the custom SDL establishes a preferred type of access point based on a characteristic of the UT; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to employ the custom SDL to search neighboring cells if the cell is not a preferred cell or is an un-preferred cell.