FEMTOCELL SERVICE REGISTRATION, ACTIVATION, AND PROVISIONING

• US 20100041364A1
• Filed: 06/12/2009
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Services Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Glass, David Raymond, Pitassi, Thomas Joseph, Adams, William, Gurajala, Ravindra Babu, Davis, John Potts, Zdroik, Glen, Rulifson, Liane F., Huber, Kurt Donald, Favor, Stephen Leon, Flynn, Judson John, Seymour, Jefferey Thomas, Collier, Victoria, Neelakantan, Rahul, Porter, Gerald V., Mansfield, William Gordon, Diefenbach, Daniela Pechova, Downie, Alfreda, Sahoo, Dipak Kumar, Chambers, Robert Bryon, Lott, Robert Wayne, Sack, Ewa Monika Reppling, Rainer, Brian Keith
• Granted Patent: US 8,504,032 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8038 Roaming or handoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

System(s) and method(s) are provided for a femto cell service framework for registration, activation, and provisioning of femtocell service. An account management service enables femtocell account creation, and registration thereof. Registration includes validation of wireless coverage for a location of operation of a femto AP, and validation of availability enhanced 911 (E911) service. As part of registration provisioning, record(s) are updated to indicate registration status. Connection of femto AP to a network interface triggers activation process; the femto AP delivers an activation request. A femto network validates registration of the connected femto AP and conducts a location tolerance check of a received actual location of the femto AP and a registered location. Upon tolerance validation, a cell identifier and radio frequency channel(s) are assigned to femto AP. When femto AP radiates wireless signal, network activation status indicators are provisioned. Handling of errors that arise during registration or activation is provided.

Claims

1. A system that enables femtocell service account registration, the system comprising:

at least one or more processors; and

computer-readable media that includes code instructions that when executed by the at least one or more processor implement the following components;

a component that receives a secure indication to generate a femtocell service account;

a component that collects subscriber credentials that include at least one of a notification service address or an address of prospective operation of a femto AP;

a validation component that determines availability of enhanced 911 (E911) service and wireless spectrum coverage for the received address of prospective operation of the femto AP; and

a registration component that records the femtocell service account when E911 service availability and wireless spectrum coverage are validated.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the secure indication is secured based at least in part on at least one of hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) with advanced encryption standard (AES), secure shell (SSH) login, Internet protocol security (IPsec), or virtual private network (VPN) environment.

3. The system of claim 1, to determine availability of E911, the validation component includes a service node that supplies the collected address to an E911 service platform and receives an indication of service availability.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the service node confirms availability of a geographical location code for the collected address.

5. The system of claim 1, to determine wireless spectrum coverage for the received address, the validation component includes an attribute node that delivers the received address to a spectrum coverage store and receives one of a coverage confirmation or a set of addresses that nearly match the received address for which coverage is available.

6. The system of claim 1, to record the femtocell service account, the registration component pushes a femtocell tracking flag to a billing system, where the femtocell tracking flag is assigned to at least one of a mobility account or a mobility profile linked to a customer telephone number (CTN) associated with a subscriber responsible for the femtocell service account.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the registration component further retains at least one of a unique EID or a validated geographical location code.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an exception manager component that handles validation errors through delivery of error messages or directives to the collected notification service address.

9. A method for registering a femtocell service account, comprising:

employing at least one or more processors that execute code instructions retained in one or more computer-readable media to implement the following acts;

generating a femtocell service account linked to a mobility account profile;

configuring a set of one or more equipment profiles associated with the generated femtocell service account; and

triggering a registration process for the generated femtocell service account and one or more femto access points (APs) linked to the set of one or more equipment profiles.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the femtocell service account linked to the mobility account profile includes:

receiving a secure redirect indication that includes a set of subscriber credentials;

collecting a notification service address;

establishing the femtocell service account with at least one of the received set of subscriber credentials or collected notification service address;

supplying a directive to record the established femtocell service account; and

receiving an acknowledgement indication the femtocell service account is recorded.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the secure redirect indication is delivered by an application layer that includes an account creation component.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the redirecting act is secured based at least in part on at least one of hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) with advanced encryption standard (AES), secure shell (SSH) login, Internet protocol security (IPsec), or virtual private network (VPN) environment.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein configuring the set of one or more equipment profiles associated with the generated femtocell service account includes:

collecting a femto AP unique equipment identifier (EID) associated with the established femtocell service account;

when integrity of the unique EID is validated, assigning the femto AP unique EID to the established femtocell service account; and

gathering a set of attributes for a femto AP identified through the unique EID, wherein the set of attributes includes at least one of an address or a nickname.

14. The method of claim 13, when integrity of the unique EID is not validated, implementing exception handling, wherein exception handling includes delivering a message to notification service address, the message compatible with a protocol associated with the notification service.

15. The method of claim 10, recording the femtocell service account further comprising:

receiving an address for prospective operation of a femto AP associated with the femtocell service account; and

validating enhanced 911 (E911) service availability for the received address and validating mobility spectrum coverage for the received address.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

when validation of E911 service availability is successful, setting an indicator to disclose E911 service is available; and

when validation of E911 service availability is not successful, implementing error handling.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

when validation of mobility spectrum coverage is successful, setting an indicator to disclose E911 service is available; and

confirming a geographical location code for the received address, wherein the geographical location code includes a geocode.

18. The method of claim 17, when validation of E911 service availability is successful, implementing error handling, wherein error handling comprises supplying a set of addresses that nearly-match the received address.

19. The method of claim 15, when the E911 service availability and mobility spectrum coverage is confirmed, further comprising:

assigning a femtocell tracking flag to at least one of a mobility account or a mobility profile linked to a customer telephone number (CTN) associated with a subscriber responsible for the femtocell service account; and

recording at least one of the unique EID or a validated geographical location code.

20. A system, comprising:

a set of one or more processor that execute instructions retained in one or more computer-readable media to effect the following;

means for generating a femtocell service account linked to a mobility account profile;

means for configuring a set of one or more equipment profiles associated with the generated femtocell service account; and

means for triggering a registration process for the generated femtocell service account and one or more femto access points (APs) linked to the set of one or more equipment profiles.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

means for receiving an address for prospective operation of a femto AP associated with the femtocell service account; and

means for validating enhanced 911 (E911) service availability for the received address and validating mobility spectrum coverage for the received address.

22. The system of claim 21, when the E911 service availability and mobility spectrum coverage is confirmed, further comprising:

means for assigning a femtocell tracking flag to at least one of a mobility account or a mobility profile linked to a customer telephone number (CTN) associated with a subscriber responsible for the femtocell service account; and

means for recording at least one of the unique EID or a validated geographical location code.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising means to push updated network indicators to mobile devices included in an access list.