NETWORK-INITIATED CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING PROXIMITY SERVICE

• US 20140335906A1
• Filed: 12/20/2012
• Published: 11/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Hyunsook, Kim, Jaehyun, Kim, Laeyoung, Kim, Taehyeon
• Granted Patent: US 9,380,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/509
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/122 by diverting traffic away from congested entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More particularly, disclosed are a network-initiated control method and an apparatus for providing a proximity service (ProSe). A method for supporting ProSe between a plurality of terminals at a network node of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a step of acquiring base ProSe information from one or more of the plurality of terminals or from one or more of other network nodes; a step of allowing the network node to detect whether ProSe is enabled between the plurality of terminals based on the acquired base ProSe information; and a step of transmitting information indicating whether ProSe is allowed or not to one or more of the plurality of terminals.

Claims

1. A method for supporting proximity service (ProSe) between a plurality of UEs by a network node of a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

acquiring ProSe basis information from at least one UE among the plurality of UEs or at least one other network node;

detecting ProSe availability between the UEs by the network node based on the acquired ProSe basis information; and

transmitting ProSe permissibility indication information to the at least one UE among the plurality of UEs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting further comprises discovering a ProSe-enabled UE among the plurality of UEs.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ProSe basis information comprises at least one of location information, ProSe capability information, ProSe capability enabled state information, subscriber information, preference information, device identification information, user identification information, group identification information, a list of opposite UEs, or ProSe relationship information with the opposite UEs of each of the plurality of UEs.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the ProSe basis information comprises operator policy information, network ProSe capability information, and network congestion information related to each of the plurality of UEs.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ProSe permissibility indication information is configured as at least one of:

indication information indicating whether ProSe is enabled between the plurality of UEs;

indication information indicating whether to perform direct communication between the plurality of UEs;

or

indication information indicating whether to set up a direct data path between the plurality of UEs.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the ProSe permissibility indication information comprises at least one of information indicating whether ProSe is enabled, information about a use level of ProSe, information about an opposite UE for ProSe, information about a media type, a content type, an application type, or a service type for ProSe, information about directivity for ProSe, information about the amount of data for ProSe, or information about an access type for ProSe.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the ProSe permissibility indication information comprises at least one of information related to Quality of Service (QoS), information related to policy control rules, or information related to charging control rules.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the ProSe permissibility indication information further comprises at least one of ProSe identification information, direct communication identification information, or direct data communication path identification information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one of the ProSe identification information, the direct communication identification information, or the direct data communication path identification are defined with at least one granularity among a media or content type, an Access Point Name (APN), a QoS Class Identifier (QCI), a bearer or connection type, an application type, a service type, a destination domain, an opposite UE for communication, predefined user group information, predefined subscriber group information, predefined UE group information, or a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein direct data path setup between the UEs is initiated upon a direct data path setup request received from the at least one UE among the plurality of UEs.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein direct data path setup between the plurality of UEs is initiated by the network node without receiving a direct data path setup request from the plurality of UEs.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving ProSe performance result information from at least one UE among the plurality of UEs.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ProSe performance result information comprises at least one of ProSe identification information, direct communication identification information, direct data communication path identification information, information indicating success or failure of setup of a direct data path, information about the amount of data for communication through the direct data path, information about time for which the direct data path is maintained, information about the type of media or contents communicated through the direct data path, information about directivity of the direct data path, information about an access type used for the direct data path, or information about the number and types of bearers used for the direct data path.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network node comprises one of a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Supporting Node (SGSN), an evolved Node B (eNodeB) or a ProSe server.

15. A network node for supporting proximity service (ProSe) between a plurality of UEs in a wireless communication system, the network node comprising:

a transceiver module for transmitting and receiving signals to and from an external device; and

a processor for controlling the transceiver module,

wherein the processor is configured;

to acquire ProSe basis information at least one UE among the plurality of UEs or at least one other network node using the transceiver module;

to detect ProSe availability between the UEs by the network node based on the acquired ProSe basis information; and

to transmit ProSe permissibility indication information to the at least one UE among the plurality of UEs.