Pre-Configuration of Devices Supporting National Security and Public Safety Communications

• US 20150326998A1
• Filed: 01/20/2015
• Published: 11/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Wnstedt, Stefan, Gunnarsson, Fredrik, Lindoff, Bengt
• Application Number:
  US14/423,460
• Publication Number:
  US 20150326998A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3816 Mechanical arrangements for accommodating identification devices, e.g. cards or chips; with connectors for programming identification devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• 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 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

Configuration information for out-of-coverage D2D operation is transferred to each of one or more mobile terminals prior to their use in D2D communications and, more specifically, prior to their use in an out-of-coverage D2D mode. Example embodiments of the presently disclosed techniques include methods implemented in a mobile terminal adapted for operating a wide-area wireless network, such as an LTE network, and further adapted to operate in a D2D mode. One such method comprises obtaining configuration information for out-of-coverage device-to-device, D2D, operation, determining that no wide-area wireless network is available for communicating, and, in response to this determining, initiating monitoring of resources or transmission using resources, or both, according to the obtained configuration information.

Claims

1. A method, in a mobile terminal, comprising:

obtaining configuration information for out-of-coverage device-to-device (D2D) operation;

determining that no wide-area wireless network is available for communicating; and

,

in response to said determining, initiating monitoring of resources or transmission using resources, or both, according to the obtained configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises determining a position for the mobile terminal and determining the configuration information from the position.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the position for the mobile terminal comprises determining the position using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the position for the mobile terminal comprises determining the position from information entered into the mobile terminal via a human interaction interface.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the position for the mobile terminal comprises determining the position from information obtained via a camera associated with the mobile terminal.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the configuration information comprises associating the determined position with one of a plurality of preconfigured D2D configurations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining is performed without the use of a wide-area wireless network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via a connector interface on the mobile terminal.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the configuration information via a connector interface on the mobile terminal comprises receiving the configuration information from a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via a wireless local-area network.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises obtaining the configuration information from a subscriber identifier module (SIM) attached to or associated with the mobile terminal.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information over a short-range wireless connection.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the configuration information over a short-range wireless connection comprises receiving the configuration information over a Bluetooth link.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information using near-field communications (NFC) technology.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving the configuration information using NFC technology comprises receiving the configuration information from a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) device.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information by observing a visual representation of the configuration information, using a camera.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via human interface interaction.

18. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via a memory card.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises obtaining one or more D2D configuration parameters defining out-of-coverage D2D operation.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining configuration information comprises obtaining a configuration identifier and wherein the method further comprises retrieving one or more D2D configuration parameters from one of two or more stored configurations, using the obtained configuration identifier.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more D2D configuration parameters comprise one or more of the following:

details of resources allocated for D2D transmission;

identification of resources for one or more of synchronization signal transmission, broadcast information transmission, discovery signal transmission, scheduling assignment transmission, and payload data transmission;

discontinuous receive (DRX) settings and/or discontinuous transmit (DTX) settings;

incident manager identifiers; and

D2D group information.

22. A mobile terminal, comprising radio circuitry configured for communication with a wide-area wireless network and one or more other mobile terminals, and a processing circuit configured to control the radio circuitry, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

obtain configuration information for out-of-coverage device-to-device (D2D) operation;

determine that no wide-area wireless network is available for communicating; and

,

in response to said determining, initiate monitoring of resources or transmission using resources, or both, according to the obtained configuration information.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 22, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by determining a position for the mobile terminal and determining the configuration information from the position.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

25. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by determining the position from information entered into the mobile terminal via a human interaction interface.

26. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by determining the position from information obtained via a camera associated with the mobile terminal.

27. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by associating the determined position with one of a plurality of preconfigured D2D configurations.

28. The mobile terminal of claim 27, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information without the use of a wide-area wireless network.

29. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information via a connector interface on the mobile terminal.

30. The mobile terminal of claim 29, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive the configuration information from a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device.

31. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information via a wireless local-area network.

32. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information comprises by obtaining the configuration information from a subscriber identifier module (SIM) attached to or associated with the mobile terminal.

33. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information over a short-range wireless connection.

34. The mobile terminal of claim 33, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive the configuration information over a Bluetooth link.

35. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information using near-field communications (NFC) technology.

36. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive the configuration information from a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) device.

37. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by observing a visual representation of the configuration information, using a camera.

38. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information via human interface interaction.

39. The mobile terminal of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by receiving the configuration information via a memory card.

40. The mobile terminal of claim 22, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by obtaining one or more D2D configuration parameters defining out-of-coverage D2D operation.

41. The mobile terminal of claim 22, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain the configuration information by obtaining a configuration identifier and retrieving one or more D2D configuration parameters from one of two or more stored configurations, using the obtained configuration identifier.

42. The mobile terminal of claim 40, wherein the one or more D2D configuration parameters comprise one or more of the following:

details of resources allocated for D2D transmission;

identification of resources for one or more of synchronization signal transmission, broadcast information transmission, discovery signal transmission, scheduling assignment transmission, and payload data transmission;

discontinuous receive (DRX) settings and/or discontinuous transmit (DTX) settings;

incident manager identifiers; and

D2D group information.

43-63. -63. (canceled)

64. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising, stored thereupon, a computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor in a mobile terminal adapted to communicate with a wide-area wireless network and one or more other mobile terminals, cause the mobile terminal to:

obtain configuration information for out-of-coverage device-to-device, D2D, operation;

determine that no wide-area wireless network is available for communicating; and

,

in response to said determining, initiate monitoring of resources or transmission using resources, or both, according to the obtained configuration information.

65. (canceled)