Femtocell service registration, activation, and provisioning

• US 8,504,032 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2009
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lott, Robert Wayne, Gurajala, Ravindra Babu, Huber, Kurt Donald, Flynn, Judson John, Mansfield, William Gordon, Seymour, Jefferey Thomas, Neelakantan, Rahul, Pitassi, Thomas Joseph, Davis, John Potts, Downie, Alfreda, Favor, Stephen Leon, Rainer, Brian Keith, Sahoo, Dipak Kumar, Collier, Victoria, Zdroik, Glen, Porter, Gerald V., Diefenbach, Daniela Pechova, Chambers, Robert Bryon, Glass, David Raymond, Sack, Ewa Monika Reppling, Rulifson, Liane F., Adams, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lu, William
• Application Number:
  US12/484,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20100041364A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 455/433, 455/435.1, 455/404.2, 455/456.1, 455/410, 455/450, 455/230, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/414.4, 455/418, 455/420, 455/435.2, 370/310, 370/338
• US Class Current: 455/435.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8038 Roaming or handoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

System(s) and method(s) are provided for a femto cell service framework for registration, activation, and provisioning of femtocell service. An account management service enables femtocell account creation, and registration thereof. Registration includes validation of wireless coverage for a location of operation of a femto AP, and validation of availability enhanced 911 (E911) service. As part of registration provisioning, record(s) are updated to indicate registration status. Connection of femto AP to a network interface triggers activation process; the femto AP delivers an activation request. A femto network validates registration of the connected femto AP and conducts a location tolerance check of a received actual location of the femto AP and a registered location. Upon tolerance validation, a cell identifier and radio frequency channel(s) are assigned to femto AP. When femto AP radiates wireless signal, network activation status indicators are provisioned. Handling of errors that arise during registration or activation is provided.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the instructions to perform operations, comprising;

receiving configuration data associated with registration of a femtocell service account that facilitates management of a femtocell service provided by a femto access point device, wherein the configuration data comprises first location data indicative of a location at which the femto access point device is to be deployed,

prior to activation of the femto access point device, determining an availability of spectrum coverage associated with a service provider network related to the femtocell service at the location, and

in response to the spectrum coverage being determined to be unavailable at the location, receiving second location data that comprises a set of locations at which the spectrum coverage is available, wherein the set of locations does not comprise the location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

facilitating a presentation of the second location data via a network-based interface.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

facilitating a transmission of the first location data to an emergency service platform device and, in response, receiving information indicative of emergency service availability at the location from the emergency service platform device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

facilitating registration of the femto access point device in response to the spectrum coverage being determined to be available at the location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the second location data via a control channel, and

facilitating a transmission of the second location data to a user equipment via a text message.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

facilitating a transmission of information indicative of a femtocell tracking flag to a billing system, wherein the femtocell tracking flag is assigned to a mobility account linked to a telephone number associated with the femtocell service account.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

directing information indicative of a set of instructions to a user equipment via a text message, in response to the spectrum coverage being determined to be unavailable at the location.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:

directing, via the text message to the user equipment, request data indicative of a request for a new location at which the femto access point device is to be deployed.

9. A method, comprising:

determining, by a system comprising a processor, a femtocell service account data, linked to a mobility account profile data, that facilitates management of a femto access point device;

receiving, by the system, configuration data that configures equipment profile information associated with the femtocell service account data, wherein the receiving comprises receiving first location data associated with a first location at which the femto access point device is to be deployed;

determining, by the system, prior to activating the femto access point device, an availability of spectrum coverage associated with a service provider of the femto access point device at the first location based on information received from a data store; and

in response to the spectrum coverage being determined to be unavailable at the first location, receiving, by the system, second location data that comprises a second location at which the spectrum coverage is available, wherein the second location is different from the first location.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining the femtocell service account data comprises:

receiving credential data indicative of a set of subscriber credentials;

receiving address data indicative of a notification service address;

facilitating a transmission of instruction data comprising an instruction to store the femtocell service account data; and

receiving acknowledgement data indicative of an acknowledgement of the femtocell service account data being stored.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

in response to the spectrum coverage being determined to be available at the first location, registering, by the system, the femtocell service account data based on validating an emergency service availability of an emergency service at the first location.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving the credential data comprises employing a secure shell login.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving the configuration data comprises:

receiving identifier data indicative of an equipment identifier of the femto access point device;

assigning the equipment identifier to the femtocell service account, in response to the equipment identifier being determined valid; and

receiving attribute data indicative of a set of attributes comprising an address of the femto access point device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

facilitating, by the system, a transmission of a text message to the notification service address, in response to the equipment identifier being determined invalid.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

subsequent to the spectrum coverage being determined to be available at the first location, validating, by the system, an emergency service availability for the first location.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

setting, by the system, an indicator to disclose the emergency service availability, in response to determining that the emergency service is available at the first location; and

facilitating, by the system, implementation of error handling, in response to determining that the emergency service is unavailable at the first location.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the validating comprises validating the emergency service availability based on geographical location code data comprising a geocode associated with the first location.

18. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

facilitating, by the system, a presentation of the second location data via a network-based interface.

19. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

directing, by the system, the second location data to a user equipment associated with the femto access point device via a text message.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

determining information indicative of femtocell service account that is employed to administer operation of a femto access point device;

populating equipment profile data associated with the femtocell service account, wherein the populating comprises receiving first location data associated with a location for prospective operation of the femto access point device, an availability of spectrum coverage, associated with a service provider of the femtocell service, at the location based on information received from a spectrum coverage data store; and

in response to the spectrum coverage being verified to be unavailable at the location, receiving second location data indicative of a set of locations at which the spectrum coverage is available, wherein the set of locations are different from the location.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the spectrum coverage being verified to be available at the location, triggering a registration process that facilitates activation of the femto access point device.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the receiving the second location data comprises receiving the second location data from a network data store via signaling over a control channel.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the operations further comprise:

Facilitating a transmission of the second location data to a user equipment associated with the femtocell service account via a network-based interface.