Registration of a terminal with a location server for user plane location

• US 9,094,784 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Edge, Stephen W., Wachter, Andreas K.
• Primary Examiner(s): COX, NATISHA D
• Application Number:
  US11/869,698
• Publication Number:
  US 20080133762A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,849 Days
• Field of Search: 709/228
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0869 for achieving mutual authentication cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server

Abstract

Techniques for supporting network-initiated location services for a terminal are described. A location server may not be able to reach the terminal in a normal manner in certain operating scenarios. The terminal may perform registration with the location server if the terminal determines that it may not be reachable by the location server in the normal manner. For the registration, the terminal may identify itself to the location server, instigate mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provide an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal to the location server. The terminal may perform registration with the location server whenever the IP address changes and/or periodically whenever a timer expires. The terminal may set the timer to a value received from the location server. The location server may use the IP address to send messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

decide whether to perform a registration with a location server, wherein the decision is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a terminal when IP connectivity associated with the apparatus is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the apparatus, and

engage in communication with the location server to perform the registration if registration is selected, wherein the communication identifies the terminal to the location server, instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provides the IP address of the terminal to the location server, and wherein the location server sends, using the IP address, messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services;

receive a repeat timer value from the location server; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive, from the location server, a message to start a network-initiated location session, and the message is received based on the IP address provided to the location server during the registration.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to decide to perform the registration in response to detecting that the location server does not belong to a home network of the terminal.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to decide to perform the registration in response to detecting a change in the IP address of the terminal.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to decide to perform the registration in response to detecting that a timer expires.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a timer value from the location server, set a timer based on the timer value, and perform registration with the location server when the timer expires.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to establish a secure IP connection with the location server, send the IP address of the terminal via the secure IP connection to the location server, and maintain the secure IP connection for the registration or a location session with the location server.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the terminal is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET) and the location server is a Home SUPL Location Platform (H-SLP).

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform mutual authentication with the location server using at least one of Transport Layer Security (TLS), Pre-Shared Key and Transport Layer Security (PSK-TLS), or Generic Bootstrap Architecture (GBA).

32. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the terminal is not aware of a public IP address of the terminal.

33. The apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the terminal is configured to send a public IP address of the terminal to the location server by including a private IP address within a source address field of a message to be sent to a router,

wherein the router is configured to replace the private IP address within the source field with the public IP address.

10. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

deciding, at an apparatus, whether to perform a registration with a location server, wherein the decision is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the apparatus is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the apparatus; and

communicating with the location server to perform the registration if registration is selected, wherein the communicating identifies the terminal to the location server, instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provides the IP address of the terminal to the location server, and wherein the location server sends, using the IP address, messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services; and

receiving a repeat timer value from the location server.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, from the location server, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message is received based on the IP address provided to the location server during the registration.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a timer value from the location server;

setting a timer based on the timer value; and

performing registration with the location server when the timer expires.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for deciding whether to perform registration with a location server, wherein the decision is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the apparatus is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the apparatus; and

means for communicating with the location server to perform the registration if registration is selected, wherein the means for communicating identifies the terminal to the location server, instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provides the IP address of the terminal to the location server, and wherein the location server sends, using the IP address, messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services; and

means for receiving a repeat timer value from the location server.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the location server, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message is received based on the IP address provided to the location server during the registration.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for receiving a timer value from the location server;

means for setting a timer based on the timer value; and

means for performing registration with the location server when the timer expires.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including computer-executable instructions configured to cause the computer to perform operations, the instructions comprising:

code configured to cause the computer to decide whether to perform registration with the location server, wherein the decision is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the computer containing the storage medium is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the computer, and

code configured to cause the computer to engage in communication with the location server to perform the registration if registration is selected, wherein the communication identifies the terminal to the location server, instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provides the IP address of the terminal to the location server, and wherein location server sends, using the IP address, messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services; and

code configured to cause the computer to receive a repeat timer value from the location server.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising:

code configured to cause the computer to receive, from the location server, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message is received based on the IP address provided to the location server during the registration.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising code configured to cause the computer to:

receive a timer value from the location server,

set a timer based on the timer value, and

initiate registration with the location server when the timer expires.

19. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

engage in communication with a terminal to register the terminal with a location server, wherein the engagement is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the terminal is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the terminal, and

send a message to the terminal to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message identifies the terminal to the location server, instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provides the IP address of the terminal to the location server, and wherein the message uses the IP address received from the terminal during the registration;

receive a repeat timer value from the location server; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send a timer value to the terminal, wherein the timer value is used by the terminal to perform the registration with the location server.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to register the terminal by:

receiving at least one IP packet from the terminal,

obtaining a first IP address from a source address field of the at least one IP packet,

obtaining a second IP address from a payload of the at least one IP packet,

comparing the first and second IP addresses,

using the second IP address as a target IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses match, and

using the first IP address as the target IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses do not match.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the terminal is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET) and the location server is a Home SUPL Location Platform (H-SLP).

23. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

communicating with a terminal to register the terminal with a location server, wherein the communicating is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the terminal is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the terminal, wherein communicating comprises;

receiving a communication identifying the terminal to the location server, instigating mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and providing the IP address of the terminal to the location server; and

sending, from the location server to the terminal, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message uses the IP address received from the terminal during the registration; and

receiving a repeat timer value from the location server.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

sending, during the registration, a timer value to the terminal to enable the terminal to perform a subsequent registration with the location server.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving at least one IP packet from the terminal;

obtaining a first IP address from a source address field of the at least one IP packet;

obtaining a second IP address from a payload of the at least one IP packet;

comparing the first and second IP addresses;

using the second IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses match; and

using the first IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses do not match.

26. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for communicating with a terminal to register the terminal with a location server, wherein the communicating is based on determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the terminal via an access network other than a home network associated with the terminal, wherein the means for communicating comprises;

means for receiving a communication for identifying the terminal to the location server,

means for instigating mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and

means for providing the IP address of the terminal to the location server; and

means for sending, from the location server to the terminal, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message uses the IP address received from the terminal during the registration; and

means for receiving a repeat timer value from the location server.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for sending, during the registration, a timer value to the terminal to enable the terminal to perform a subsequent registration with the location server.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for receiving at least one IP packet from the terminal;

means for obtaining a first IP address from a source address field of the at least one IP packet;

means for obtaining a second IP address from a payload of the at least one IP packet;

means for comparing the first and second IP addresses;

means for using the second IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses match; and

means for using the first IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses do not match.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including computer-executable instructions configured to cause the computer to perform operations, the instructions comprising:

code configured to cause the computer to communicate with a terminal to register the terminal with a location server, wherein the communicating is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal when an IP connectivity associated with the terminal is acquired via an access network other than a home network associated with the terminal, wherein the code configured to cause the computer engage in communication comprises;

code configured to cause the computer to receive a communication identifying the terminal to the location server,

code configured to cause the computer to instigate mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and

code configured to cause the computer to provide the IP address of the terminal to the location server; and

code configured to cause the computer to send a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message uses the IP address received from the terminal during the registration; and

code configured to cause the computer to receive a repeat timer value from the location server.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising:

code configured to cause the computer to send, during the registration, a timer value to the terminal to enable the terminal to perform a subsequent registration with the location server.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising code configured to cause the computer to:

receive at least one IP packet from the terminal,

obtain a first IP address from a source address field of the at least one IP packet,

obtain a second IP address from a payload of the at least one IP packet,

compare the first and second IP addresses,

use the second IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses match, and

use the first IP address as the IP address of the terminal if the first and second IP addresses do not match.

34. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

deciding whether to perform a registration with a location server, wherein the deciding is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a terminal when one or more events are detected; and

communicating with the location server to perform the registration if registration is selected, wherein the communicating;

identifies the terminal to the location server,

instigates mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and

provides public and private IP addresses of the terminal to the location server, wherein the location server uses at least one of the public and/or private IP addresses to send messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services; and

receives a repeat timer value from the location server.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the terminal is configured to engage in a positioning session with the location server to determine a position of the terminal.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the communicating includes:

while a secure IP connection is established between the terminal and the location server;

sending a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) registration message to the location server;

receiving, at the terminal and from the location server, an acknowledge (ACK) message in response to the SUPL registration message.

37. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

communicating with a terminal to register the terminal with a location server, wherein the communicating is based on a determination that the location server cannot determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal when one or more events are detected at the terminal, wherein communicating comprises;

receiving a communication identifying the terminal to the location server,

instigating mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and

providing public and private IP addresses of the terminal to the location server; and

sending, from the location server to the terminal, a message to start a network-initiated location session, wherein the message uses at least one of the public and/or private IP addresses received from the terminal during the registration; and

receiving a repeat timer value from the location server.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the location server is configured to engage in a positioning session with the terminal to determine a position of the terminal.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the communicating includes:

while a secure IP connection is established between the terminal and the location server;

receiving a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) registration message from the terminal at the location server;

sending, from the location server to the terminal, an acknowledge (ACK) message in response to the SUPL registration message.