System and method for SUPL roaming using a held client

• US 8,301,160 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2010
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Andrew LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Thomson, Martin, Winterbottom, Anthony James, Tran, Nguyen Khiem
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trandai, Scott
• Application Number:
  US12/813,278
• Publication Number:
  US 20100311439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 370/338, 709/218, 709/220
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer

Abstract

A system and method for assisting the H-SLP is selecting a V-SLP using the HELD client of a SET. The SET receives identity information from an access network regarding associated LIS. The SET relays this information as well as measurements taken of the wireless network to the H-SLP. If the H-SLP does not contain enough information to determine a location estimate, the H-SLP uses the identity information from the access network to find an associated SLP that may serve as a V-SLP. A request using roaming location protocol may then be transmitted from the H-SLP to the V-SLP for location assistance.

Claims

1. A method of assisting in the selection of a visiting secure user plane location platform (V-SLP) for a mobile device, wherein the mobile device is tasked to gather characteristics of a wireless communications network and report the characteristics to a home secure user plane location platform (H-SLP) of which the mobile device is associated, comprising:

accessing a network having an associated plurality of location information servers (LIS) and at least one associated secure user phone location platform (SLP);

searching for at least one of the plurality of location information servers;

receiving identifying information of at least one of the plurality of location information servers; and

,

transmitting the identifying information and the characteristics of the wireless communications network to the H-SLP to thereby assist the H-SLP in the selection of a V-SLP,

wherein the identifying information comprises the uniform resource identifier (URI) of at least one of the plurality of location information servers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying information comprises the URI of a SLP associated with the at least one of the plurality of location information servers.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of assessing and searching comprises requesting access and requesting LIS information, respectively over the network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is one of the group consisting of WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth, 802.11, TDMA, CDMA, AMPS, GPRS, UMTS, LTE.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a SUPL start message from the H-SLP.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the identity of the V-SLP from the H-SLP.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said identity information is location information provided by the LIS.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the location information is a location URI.

9. A method of selecting a second secure user plane location platform (SLP) for a mobile device, wherein the mobile device is an integrated secure user plane location (SUPL) and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) enabled location delivery (HELD) device comprising:

initiating a SUPL session;

accessing a network having an associated plurality of location information systems (LIS) and at least one associated SLP;

requesting identity infoimation for at least one of the plurality of LIS;

receiving the identity information at the mobile device;

transmitting the identity information and network measurements from the mobile device to a first secure user plan location platform; and

,

receiving the identity information at the first SLP and selecting the second SLP based on the identity information,

wherein the identity information comprises at least a uniform resource identifier (URI).

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising initiating roaming procedures with the second SLP.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of initiating roaming procedures with the second SLP comprises identifying the mobile device to the second SLP.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the identity infoimation includes the identity of the at least one associated SLP.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first SLP is a home SLP.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the first SLP is an emergency SLP.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of selecting the second SLP further comprises determining if the at least one of the plurality of LIS is a SLP based on the identity information.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the first SLP determines if the selected second SLP is trustworthy based on the Quality of Service (QoS), URI and trustworthiness of the access network.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the network accessed by the mobile device is selected from the group consisting of:

WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth, 802.11, TDMA, CDMA, AMPS, GPRS, UMTS, LTE.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein said identity information is location information provided by the LIS.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the location information is a location URI.

20. A method of locating a SUPL enabled terminal (SET) mobile device having a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) enable Location delivery (HELD) client, comprising:

initiating a location session;

requesting network measurements of a wireless communications network from the mobile device;

receiving at a home secure user plane location platform (H-SLP) location information regarding location information servers (LISs) associated with a network accessible by the mobile device as a HELD client along with the network measurements; and

,

selecting a SLP as a visiting secure user plane location platform (V-SLP) based on the location information; and

,

initiating a roaming protocol with the V-SLP, and locating the mobile device in the V-SLP,

wherein the location information is a location uniform resource identifier (URI).

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the network accessible by the mobile device is selected from the group consisting of:

WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth, 802.11, TDMA, CDMA, AMPS, GPRS, UMTS, LTE.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein said information is location information provided by the LIS.

23. A system for selecting a visiting secure user plane location platform (V-SLP) for a roaming mobile device comprising:

a SUPL enable Terminal (SET) having an integral hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) enabled location delivery (HELD) client;

a local Access network assessable by the HELD client of the SET;

one or more location information systems (LIS) associated with the local access network, wherein at least one of the LIS is a SLP wherein identity information regarding the LISs associated with the local access network is provided to the mobile device over the local access network;

a home secure user plane location platform (H-SLP) associated with the mobile device, wherein the identity information is transmitted from the mobile device to the H-SLP over a wireless communication network; and

,

the H-SLP determines a V-SLP from the at least one SLP based on the identity information,

wherein said identity information is a location uniform resource identifier (URI).

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said identity information is an URI of the LIS.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein said identity information is an URI of the at least one SLP.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein said identity information is location information provided by the LIS.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the location information is a location URI.