Common access between a mobile communications network and an external network with selectable packet-switched and circuit-switched and circuit-switched services

• US 6,608,832 B2
• Filed: 07/23/1998
• Issued: 08/19/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Forslöw, Jan E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Olms, Douglas
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, BRIAN D
• Application Number:
  US09/121,678
• Publication Number:
  US 20030039237A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,853 Days
• Field of Search: 370/353, 370/351, 370/352, 370/389, 370/395.1, 370/400, 370/401, 370/402, 370/354-357, 370/360, 370/229, 370/230-231, 370/235, 370/310, 370/328-329, 370/335-336, 370/345, 370/347, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 370/395.3, 370/395.4, 370/395.42, 370/395.52, 370/437, 370/465, 370/466, 370/486, 370/487, 455/403, 455/410, 455/411, 455/575
• US Class Current: 370/353
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

Applications running on a mobile station or an external network entity such as an Internet service provider may specify on an individual application flow basis a requested quality of service. From that requested quality of service, an optimal type of bearer to transfer the application flow through the mobile communications network is determined. For example, a circuit-switched bearer may be allocated if the request is for a real-time service, and a packet-switched bearer may be allocated if the request is for a non-real time type of service. Various other decision making criteria may be employed. A mobile station and a mobile network gateway node each include a mapper for mapping an individual application flow to one of a circuit-switched network and a packet-switched network bearer depending on the quality of service requested for the individual application flow. The network layer quality of service parameters corresponding to an individual application flow are mapped to circuit-switched bearer parameters if the application flow is mapped to the circuit-switched network and to packet-switched bearer parameters if the application flow is mapped to the packet-switched network. The gateway node includes a common access server which permits a mobile station initially establishing a communications session with an external network entity to perform only a single, common access procedure for subsequent communications using one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched networks. After that common access procedure is completed, subsequent application flows between the mobile station and the external network entity are established using abbreviated procedures without having to access the external network entity.

Claims

1. In a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication with the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

including an indicator in each packet of information in each of the plural application flows indicating whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer should be used to carry that packet;

for each of the plural application flows, determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer from the mobile station toward the external network entity should be established including selecting one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers to carry each packet based on the indicator in each packet; and

allocating the determined bearer to each of the plural application flows.

2. The method in claim 1, wherein each application flow is associated with a corresponding quality of service request, the method further comprising:

for each of the plural application flows, determining based on the corresponding requested quality of service whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer is better suited to bear the application flow.

3. The method in claim 2, further comprising:

for the application flow, reserving resources available in the mobile communications network to support the requested quality of service and a selected one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers.

4. The method in claim 1, wherein the indicator is the same for all packets in an application flow when resources are reserved for the application flow.

5. The method in claim 1, wherein the indicator is a class indicator based on one of plural service classes with all packets of the same service class being carried on the type of bearer determined by the class indicator.

6. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

establishing an accounting record that stores accounting information for both circuit-switched and packet-switched bearer services provided to a mobile station.

7. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

for each of the plural application flows, determining whether the application flow requests a real time type of service or a non-real time service,

allocating a circuit-switched bearer if the request is for a real time type of service and a packet-switched bearer if the request is for a non-real time type of service.

8. The method in claim 7, wherein real time services include one or both of audio and video services and non-real time services include one or more of file transfer, e-mail, retrieval of information from the world wide web, and telemetry applications.

9. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

allocating a circuit-switched bearer if the application flow requests low delay or small jitter and a packet-switched bearer if the application flow requests fast channel access or bursty data transfer capability.

10. The method in claim 1, wherein the mobile station is a class B mobile station that can transmit or receive only one type of bearer at a time, the method further comprising:

determining if a circuit-switched bearer to the mobile station exists for an application flow, and

if so, sending packet-switched information over the existing circuit-switched bearer.

11. The method in claim 1, wherein the external network entity is the Internet, and the external network entity is an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the method further comprising:

providing a link layer service to a network layer in the mobile communication network where circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers are separately allocated to carry different application flows associated with the mobile station.

12. The method in claim 11, wherein the application determines whether a circuit-switched or a packet-switched bearer should be selected for each application flow and requests the selected bearer from the IP link layer service.

13. The method in claim 12, wherein the IP link layer service is provided in the mobile station and at a mobile network gateway node that interfaces with the ISP.

14. The method in claim 1, wherein the mobile station monitors channels for both circuit-switched and packet-switched services.

15. The method in claim 14, wherein the mobile station operates on only one or both of the circuit-switched and packet-switched services at one time.

16. In a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication with the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer from the mobile station toward the external network entity should be established; and

allocating the determined bearer to each of the plural application flows including allocating a packet-switched bearer to carry an application flow containing session control operation information.

17. In a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication with the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer from the mobile station toward the external network entity should be established including for each of the plural application flows, determining an amount of information to be sent and a setup delay sensitivity;

allocating a circuit-switched bearer if a large amount of information is to be sent or if the application flow is non-sensitive to setup delay; and

otherwise, allocating a packet-switched bearer.

18. In a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication with the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

detecting plural quality of service parameters requested by an individual application flow;

assigning different levels of significance to different ones of the quality of service parameters; and

determining the bearer for the individual application flow giving priority to quality of service parameters having a greater level of significance; and

allocating the determined bearer for each of the plural application flows.

19. In a mobile communications system including a circuit-switched mobile network and packet-switched mobile network, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication session with the mobile communications network during which plural flows of an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity, each application flow having a corresponding quality of service request;

mapping individual ones of the application flows to one of the circuit-switched network and the packet-switched network depending on the quality of service corresponding to each of the individual application flows; and

mapping quality of service parameters requested for a corresponding individual application flow into circuit-switched parameters if the application flow is mapped to the circuit-switched network and into packet-switched parameters if the application flow is mapped to the packet-switched network.

20. The method in claim 19, the mapping step further comprising:

allocating a circuit-switched network link to one of the application flows if the circuit-switched network is selected, and

allocating a packet-switched network link to the one application flow if the packet-switched network is selected.

21. The method in claim 19, wherein the mobile communications system is the GSM system, the circuit-switched network is the GSM circuit-switched network, and the packet-switched network is the GSM GPRS network.

22. In a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, a method comprising:

a mobile station establishing a communication with the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer from the mobile station toward the external network entity should be established;

allocating the determined bearer to each of the plural application flows; and

performing a common access procedure between the mobile station and the external network entity for both the circuit-switched and packet-switched networks,

wherein after the common access procedure, a subsequent application flow is established between the mobile station and the external network entity for the communication session without performing another access procedure involving the external network entity.

23. The method in claim 22 wherein the common access procedure includes a common authentication procedure for authenticating the identity of the mobile station with the external network entity, whereafter the mobile station is authorized for the subsequent application flow through both of the circuit-switched and packet-switched networks.

24. The method in claim 23, wherein the common authentication procedure includes confirming an identification and a password of the mobile station to determine whether the mobile station is authorized to communicate with and use services of the external network entity.

25. The method in claim 23, wherein for the subsequent application flow, only an abbreviated authentication procedure is performed in the mobile network.

26. The method in claim 23,

wherein after the common authentication procedure, a subsequent application flow is established with the external network entity without performing another authentication procedure involving the external network entity.

27. The method in claim 26, further comprising:

storing one or more parameters resulting from the common authentication procedure in a node in the mobile communication system, and

for the subsequent application flow, comparing the stored one or more parameters with an authentication request associated with the subsequent application flow,

wherein if the comparison results in a match, the subsequent application flow is authenticated.

28. The method in claim 27, wherein the one or more parameters include an IP address from the external network entity, a domain name server identifier, a worldwide web server identifier, and a conference gatekeeper.

29. The method in claim 22, wherein the common access procedure includes a common configuration procedure for configuring the mobile station with the external network entity, whereafter the mobile station is configured with a common network address for the subsequent application flow through both of the circuit-switched and packet-switched networks.

30. The method in claim 29, wherein the common configuration procedure includes:

providing the mobile station with parameters needed to communicate with the external network entity including a network layer address assigned to the mobile station by the external network entity, and

storing the parameters in the mobile communications network,

wherein for the subsequent application flow, the method further comprises;

retrieving the stored parameters to configure the subsequent application flow without involving the external network entity.

31. The method in claim 22, wherein the mobile communications system includes a gateway node for interfacing with the external network entity, the method further comprising:

registering the mobile station with the gateway node, and

the mobile station requesting an end-to-end configuration between the mobile station and the external network entity,

wherein the end-to-end configuration request establishes a network layer bearer between the mobile host and the gateway node permitting relay of data packets between the external network entity and the mobile host even though a network layer address is not assigned to the mobile host.

32. The method in claim 31, wherein the gateway node functions as a dynamic host configuration relay agent serving the mobile station as a client and relays information between the mobile station and the external network entity.

33. The method in claim 32, further comprising:

adding a remote agent identification corresponding to a mobile station identifier to messages intended for the external network entity.

34. The method in claim 33, wherein during configuration, the dynamic host configuration agent captures and stores a unique network layer address for the mobile station for the established session and all application flows activated during the established session.

35. The method in claim 34, further comprising:

establishing a data communications tunnel corresponding to the network layer bearer between the gateway node and the mobile station, and

establishing a relationship in the gateway node between a mobile station'"'"'s identifier, the established tunnel, and the network layer address for the mobile station for the established session.

36. For use in a mobile communications system including a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, apparatus comprising:

means for establishing a communication between a mobile station and the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, means for determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer through the mobile communications network toward the external network entity should be established;

means for including an indicator in each packet of information in the application flow indicating whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer should be used to carry that packet; and

means for allocating the determined bearer to each of the plural application flows including selecting one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers to carry each packet based on the indicator in each packet.

37. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein each application flow is associated with a corresponding quality of service request, the means for determining further determining for each of the plural application flows, based on the corresponding requested quality of service, whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer is better suited to bear the application flow.

38. The apparatus in claim 37, further comprising:

means for reserving resources available in the mobile communications network to support the requested quality of service and a selected one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers for each application flow.

39. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the indicator is the same for all packets in an application flow when resources are reserved for the application flow.

40. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the indicator is a class indicator based on one of plural service classes with all packets of the same service class being carried on the type of bearer determined by the class indicator.

41. The apparatus in claim 36, further comprising:

means for establishing an accounting record that stores accounting information for both circuit-switched and packet-switched bearer services provided to a mobile station.

42. The apparatus in claim 36, further comprising:

for each of the plural application flows, means for determining whether the application flow requests a real time type of service or a non-real time service,

wherein means for allocating allocates a circuit-switched bearer if the request is for a real time type of service and a packet-switched bearer if the request is for a non-real time type of service.

43. The apparatus in claim 42, further comprising:

wherein means for allocating allocates a packet-switched bearer to carry an application flow containing session control operation information.

44. The apparatus in claim 42, wherein real time services include one or both of audio and video services and non-real time services include one or more of file transfer, e-mail, retrieval of information from the world wide web, and telemetry applications.

45. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the means for allocating allocates a circuit-switched bearer if the application flow requests low delay or small jitter and a packet-switched bearer if the application flow requests fast channel access or bursty data transfer capability.

46. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the mobile station is a class B mobile station that can transmit or receive only one type of bearer at a time, further comprising:

means for determining if a circuit-switched bearer to the mobile station exists for an application flow, and if so, for sending packet-switched information over the existing circuit-switched bearer.

47. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the external network is the Internet, and the external network entity is an Internet Service Provider (ISP), further comprising:

means for providing a link layer service to a network layer in the mobile communication network where circuit-switched and packet-switched bearers are separately allocated to carry different application flows associated with the mobile station.

48. The apparatus in claim 47, wherein the application determines whether a circuit-switched or a packet-switched bearer should be selected for each application flow and requests the selected bearer from the IP link layer service.

49. The apparatus in claim 47, wherein the IP link layer service is provided in the mobile station and at a mobile network gateway node that interfaces with the ISP.

50. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the mobile station monitors channels for both circuit-switched and packet-switched services.

51. The apparatus in claim 50, wherein the mobile station operates on only one or both of the circuit-switched and packet-switched services at one time.

52. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the apparatus is implemented in the mobile station.

53. The apparatus in claim 36, wherein the apparatus is implemented in a node in the mobile communications network.

54. For use in a mobile communications system including a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, apparatus comprising:

means for establishing a communication between a mobile station and the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, means for determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer through the mobile communications network toward the external network entity should be established, an amount of information to be sent, and a setup delay sensitivity; and

means for allocating the determined bearer to each of the plural application flows,

wherein the means for allocating allocates a circuit-switched bearer if a large amount of information is to be sent or if the application flow is non-sensitive to setup delay, and otherwise, allocating a packet-switched bearer.

55. For use in a mobile communications system including a mobile communications network providing circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS) services, apparatus comprising:

means for establishing a communication between a mobile station and the mobile communications network during which plural flows associated with an application are communicated between the mobile station and an external network entity;

for each of the plural application flows, means for determining whether a circuit-switched bearer or a packet-switched bearer through the mobile communications network toward the external network entity should be established;

means for detecting plural quality of service parameters requested by an individual application flow; and

means for assigning different levels of significance to different ones of the quality of service parameters,

wherein the means for determining determines the bearer giving priority to quality of service parameters having a greater level of significance.

56. For use in a mobile communications system including a circuit-switched mobile network and packet-switched mobile network, apparatus comprising:

electronic circuitry configured to establish a communication session with the mobile communications network during which plural flows of an application are communicated between a mobile station and an external network entity, each application flow having a corresponding quality of service request, and

a mapper for mapping individual ones of the application flows to one of the circuit-switched network and the packet-switched network depending on the quality of service corresponding to each of the individual application flows.

57. The apparatus in claim 56, wherein the mapper is configured to allocate a circuit-switched network link to the application flow if the circuit-switched network is selected, and to allocate a packet-switched network link to the application flow if the packet-switched network is selected.

58. The apparatus in claim 56, wherein the mobile communications system is the GSM system, the circuit-switched network is the GSM circuit-switched network, and the packet-switched network is the GSM GPRS network.

59. The apparatus in claim 56, wherein the apparatus is implemented in the mobile station.

60. The apparatus in claim 56, wherein the apparatus is implemented in a node in the mobile communications system.