Method and system of supporting policy based operations for narrowband tactical radios

• US 7,962,089 B1
• Filed: 07/02/2007
• Issued: 06/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Campbell, David R., Zaugg, Steven J., Paul, Lizy, Moore, Roy C., Thommana, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Sharma; Sujatha
• Application Number:
  US11/824,714
• Time in Patent Office: 1,443 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/3.01, 455/416, 455/410, 455/412.1, 455/422.1, 455/518, 455/519, 455/90.1, 455/90.2, 455/431, 370/338, 370/389, 370/328, 370/260, 370/432, 370/395.2, 370/231, 709/225, 709/228, 709/249, 709/223, 709/226, 709/200, 709/203, 709/206, 709/232, 709/231, 709/227, 709/245
• US Class Current: 455/3.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/302 gathering intelligence information for situation awareness or reconnaissance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• 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 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

A radio network having more than one radio node is disclosed having a cell broadcast system configured to broadcast network policies. The network includes a first group of radio nodes configured to receive the broadcast network policies. The first group of radio nodes is configured to both receive and send the network policies. A second group of radios receives the network policies from the first group of radios.

Claims

1. A radio network, comprising:

a cell broadcast system configured to broadcast network policies, the cell broadcast system including a cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast entity being a terminal authorized to send the network policies to be broadcast, the cell broadcast system further including a cell broadcast center, the cell broadcast center being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast center being configured for connecting the cell broadcast entity to a radio network controller, the cell broadcast system being configured for selecting between broadcasting the network policies in selected cells or broadcasting the network policies in all cells connected to the radio network controller, the cell broadcast system being configured for supporting a first type of cell broadcast scheduling in which contents of broadcast messages are independently encrypted, the cell broadcast system also being configured for supporting a second type of broadcast scheduling in which security aware broadcast channels are supported, wherein said security aware broadcast channels are configured for being unlocked via keys of at least one terminal of the radio network;

a first group of radio nodes, said first group of radio nodes being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast system, the first group of radio nodes being configured to receive the broadcast network policies in a first format, the first group of radio nodes further configured to transmit the broadcast network policies in a second format; and

a second group of radio nodes, said second group of radio nodes being communicatively coupled to the first group of radio nodes, the second group of radio nodes being configured for receiving the transmitted network policies in the second format from the first group of radio nodes.

2. The radio network of claim 1, wherein the cell broadcast system further comprises a MUOS system.

3. The radio network of claim 1, wherein the first group of radio nodes includes dual-mode ARC-210 radios configured for supporting a receive only MUOS EMCON operation mode.

4. The radio network of claim 1, wherein the second group of radio nodes includes legacy radios.

5. The radio network of claim 1, wherein the network policies are encrypted.

6. A method of distributing network policies for a radio network, comprising:

generating the network policies by a policy broadcast system, the policy broadcast system including a cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast entity being a terminal authorized to send the network policies to be broadcast, the policy broadcast system further including a cell broadcast center, the cell broadcast center being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast entity, the policy broadcast system further including a radio network controller, the cell broadcast center being configured for connecting the cell broadcast entity to the radio network controller, the policy broadcast system being configured for selecting between broadcasting the network policies in selected cells or broadcasting the network policies in all cells connected to the radio network controller, the policy broadcast system being configured for supporting a first type of cell broadcast scheduling in which contents of broadcast messages are independently encrypted, the policy broadcast system also being configured for supporting a second type of broadcast scheduling in which security aware broadcast channels are supported, wherein said security aware broadcast channels are configured for being unlocked via keys of at least one terminal of the radio network;

sending, by the policy broadcast system, the network policies to a first type of network radio node included in the radio network;

receiving, on a receive only channel by the first type of network radio node, the network policies, the network policies being in a first format;

sending, by the first type of radio network node, the network policies in a second format to a second type of network radio node included in the radio network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the policy broadcast system further comprises a MUOS system.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the first type of radio network node is an ARC-210 radio.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the second type of radio network node is a legacy radio.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the network policies are encrypted.

11. A policy based mission configuration system, comprising:

a mission planner node;

a policy creator node, the policy creator node being communicatively coupled to the mission planner node, the policy creator node configured for creating policies based upon an interfacing with the mission planner node;

a policy distribution system, the policy distribution system being communicatively coupled to the policy creator node, the policy distribution system configured for receiving the policies from the policy creator node, the policy distribution system including a cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast entity being a terminal authorized to send the network policies to be broadcast, the policy distribution system further including a cell broadcast center, the cell broadcast center being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast entity, the policy distribution system further including a radio network controller, the cell broadcast center being configured for connecting the cell broadcast entity to the radio network controller, the policy distribution system further comprising a MUOS system, the policy distribution system being configured for selecting between broadcasting the network policies in selected cells or broadcasting the network policies in all cells connected to the radio network controller, the policy distribution system being configured for supporting a first type of cell broadcast scheduling in which contents of broadcast messages are independently encrypted, the policy distribution system also being configured for supporting a second type of broadcast scheduling in which security aware broadcast channels are supported, wherein said security aware broadcast channels are configured for being unlocked via keys of at least one terminal of the radio network;

at least one policy distribution point, the at least one policy distribution point being communicatively coupled to the policy distribution system, the at least one policy distribution point being configured for receiving the policies from the policy distribution system in a first format, the at least one policy distribution point being configured for transmitting the policies in a second format, wherein the at least one policy distribution point includes a dual-mode ARC-210 radio, the dual-mode ARC-210 radio configured with one or more cell broadcast channel decoding keys for decoding one or more broadcast channels; and

a group of radio nodes that are different from the at least one policy distribution point, the group of radio nodes being communicatively coupled to the at least one policy distribution point, the group of radio nodes being configured for receiving the policies in the second format from the at least one policy distribution point, wherein the group of radio nodes includes legacy radios.

12. A radio network, comprising:

a cell broadcast system configured to broadcast encrypted network policies, the cell broadcast system including a cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast entity being a terminal authorized to send the network policies to be broadcast, the cell broadcast system further including a cell broadcast center, the cell broadcast center being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast entity, the cell broadcast center being configured for connecting the cell broadcast entity to a radio network controller, the cell broadcast system being configured for selecting between broadcasting the network policies in selected cells or broadcasting the network policies in all cells connected to the radio network controller, the cell broadcast system being configured for supporting a first type of cell broadcast scheduling in which contents of broadcast messages are independently encrypted, the cell broadcast system being further configured for supporting a second type of broadcast scheduling in which security aware broadcast channels are supported, wherein said security aware broadcast channels are configured for being unlocked via keys of at least one terminal of the radio network;

a first group of radio nodes, the first group of radio nodes being communicatively coupled to the cell broadcast system, the first group of radio nodes being configured to receive the encrypted network policies in a first format and being further configured to transmit the encrypted network policies in a second format; and

a second group of radio nodes, the second group of radio nodes being communicatively coupled to the first group of radio nodes, the second group of radio nodes being configured for receiving the encrypted network policies in the second format.