Method and structures for mobility policy in a WiMAX communications system
First Claim
1. A method for mobility control of a terminal, wherein a mobility policy parameter is provided which defines the mobility control of the terminal, the mobility policy parameter being part of a mobility policy or subscription record stored for a subscriber of the terminal in a subscriber data base;
- wherein the mobility policy parameter includes an indication of mobility restriction,wherein the mobility policy parameter is configurable to represent each of three different cases including;
a fixed case, in which the terminal is tied to one fixed base station for network entry and no handover is allowed,a nomadic case without handover, in which network entry of the terminal is allowed to any base station and no handover is allowed, anda restricted mobility case, in which network entry and mobility of the terminal are limited to a group of base stations representing a certain area or zone;
wherein the nomadic case is orthogonal to the restricted mobility case such that the handover is allowed or disallowed, independently of whether or not the network entry and mobility are limited to the group of base stations representing the certain area or zone; and
wherein a network element performs a policy check based on the mobility policy parameter when the terminal requests at least one of the procedures of network entry, idle/active transition, location update, or handover;
wherein the mobility policy parameter includes, for defining a mobility restriction of the subscriber, at least one of;
a base station identifier,a paging group identifier,a zone identifier which comprises a list of at least one said paging group identifier or one said base station identifier,a list of base station identifiers for small zones,a list of paging group identifiers for large zones,a list of zone identifiers;
ora list of base station identifiers/paging group identifiers/zone identifiers,wherein each identifier or list is accompanied by an indication indicating inclusion or exclusion of the respective base station, paging group or zone into or from an allowed network entry, handover, location update or mode change.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to method and structures for mobility policy e.g. in a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX, based communication. According to embodiments, a method and devices for mobility control of a terminal are provided wherein a mobility policy parameter defines the mobility control of the terminal. The mobility policy parameter preferably is part of a mobility policy or subscription record stored for a subscriber of the terminal in a subscriber data base. The mobility policy parameter may include at least one of an indication of mobility restriction, possibly indicating included or excluded cells or areas etc; an indication of fixed access, indicating a fixed base station to which the subscriber has to request access; nomadicity, indicating that no handover is allowed for that particular subscriber; and restricted mobility limited to a group of base stations or areas. Embodiments allow to deploy mobile WiMAX for fixed access applications, enabling reuse of existing technology and further development towards full mobility.
14 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for mobility control of a terminal, wherein a mobility policy parameter is provided which defines the mobility control of the terminal, the mobility policy parameter being part of a mobility policy or subscription record stored for a subscriber of the terminal in a subscriber data base;
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wherein the mobility policy parameter includes an indication of mobility restriction, wherein the mobility policy parameter is configurable to represent each of three different cases including; a fixed case, in which the terminal is tied to one fixed base station for network entry and no handover is allowed, a nomadic case without handover, in which network entry of the terminal is allowed to any base station and no handover is allowed, and a restricted mobility case, in which network entry and mobility of the terminal are limited to a group of base stations representing a certain area or zone; wherein the nomadic case is orthogonal to the restricted mobility case such that the handover is allowed or disallowed, independently of whether or not the network entry and mobility are limited to the group of base stations representing the certain area or zone; and wherein a network element performs a policy check based on the mobility policy parameter when the terminal requests at least one of the procedures of network entry, idle/active transition, location update, or handover; wherein the mobility policy parameter includes, for defining a mobility restriction of the subscriber, at least one of; a base station identifier, a paging group identifier, a zone identifier which comprises a list of at least one said paging group identifier or one said base station identifier, a list of base station identifiers for small zones, a list of paging group identifiers for large zones, a list of zone identifiers;
ora list of base station identifiers/paging group identifiers/zone identifiers, wherein each identifier or list is accompanied by an indication indicating inclusion or exclusion of the respective base station, paging group or zone into or from an allowed network entry, handover, location update or mode change. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12)
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10. A network element comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network element to at least perform:
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storing or retrieving a mobility policy parameter for a terminal, checking a mobility policy based on the mobility policy parameter when the terminal requests access or a change, and deciding on granting or denying the requested access or change depending on the mobility parameter; wherein the mobility policy parameter includes an indication of mobility restriction, wherein the mobility policy parameter is configurable to represent each of three different cases including; a fixed case, in which the terminal is tied to one fixed base station for network entry and no handover is allowed, a nomadic case without handover, in which network entry of the terminal is allowed to any base station and no handover is allowed, and a restricted mobility case, in which network entry and mobility of the terminal are limited to a group of base stations representing a certain area or zone; wherein the nomadic case is orthogonal to the restricted mobility case such that the handover is allowed or disallowed, independently of whether or not the network entry and mobility are limited to the group of base stations representing the certain area or zone; and wherein the network element is adapted to perform a policy check based on the mobility policy parameter when the terminal requests at least one of the procedures of network entry, idle/active transition, location update, or handover; wherein the mobility policy parameter includes, for defining a mobility restriction of the terminal, at least one of; a base station identifier, a paging group identifier, a zone identifier which comprises a list of at least one said paging group identifier or one said base station identifier, a list of base station identifiers for small zones, a list of paging group identifiers for large zones, a list of zone identifiers;
ora list of base station identifiers/paging group identifiers/zone identifiers, wherein each identifier or list is accompanied by an indication indicating inclusion or exclusion of the respective base station, paging group or zone into or from an allowed network entry, handover, location update or mode change. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13)
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Specification