Telecommunications network responsive to server-provided location information

• US 9,137,625 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke KPN NV, Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek Tno
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke KPN NV
• Inventors: Norp, Antonius Hendrikus Johannes, Kips, Annemieke Kips Josefa Rene, Schenk, Michael Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): KHIRODHAR, MAHARISHI V
• Application Number:
  US14/055,998
• Publication Number:
  US 20140044049A1
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/17 Selecting a data network PoA [Point of Attachment]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer

Abstract

The invention relates to a telecommunications network for wirelessly establishing a connection with a terminal located at a location in said network by a server. The terminal is identified by a terminal identifier in the telecommunications network. The telecommunications network contains a first network node and a second network node. The first network node is configured for receiving a data unit for the terminal from the server, that is preferably located outside the telecommunications network. The data unit comprises the terminal identifier. The first network node is being configured for receiving a location identifier indicative of the location of the terminal from the server and for deriving an address of the second network node using the location identifier. The derived address of the second network node is then used for transmitting a first connection request for establishing a connection with the derived second network node.

Claims

1. A server configured for connecting with a terminal via a telecommunications network, the server comprising:

a location identifier indicative of a location of the terminal in the telecommunications network, wherein the server is located outside of the telecommunications network, and the location of the terminal is known to the server (i) without the server requesting the terminal'"'"'s location from the telecommunications network, and (ii) prior to the server initiating communications with the terminal via the telecommunications network,

wherein the telecommunications network includes network nodes, and the terminal is identified by a terminal identifier and accessible at the location in the telecommunications network,

wherein the server is further configured to transmit the location identifier to a node in the telecommunications network,

wherein the server is further configured to transmit a data unit comprising the terminal identifier,

and wherein server is further configured to transmit the location identifier and the terminal identifier either (i) together in the data unit or (ii) in separate transmissions.

2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the location identifier as provided by the server contains an identifier of a network node via which a connection to the terminal is established.

3. The server according to claim 1, wherein the terminal identifier is an Internet Protocol address.

4. The server according to claim 1, wherein the location identifier comprises separate further location information separate from the location information for further identifying the location of the terminal in the telecommunications network.

5. The server according to claim 1, wherein the further location information is transmitted to a first network node separately from the data unit.

6. A method of initiating a packet data protocol (PDP) context activation procedure for a terminal accessible at a location in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:

a server located outside of the telecommunications network transmitting a data unit to a node in the telecommunications network, wherein the server comprises a terminal identifier to identify the terminal and further comprises a location identifier indicative of the location of the terminal in the telecommunications network,

wherein the location of the terminal is known to the server (i) without the server requesting the terminal'"'"'s location from the telecommunications network, and (ii) prior to transmitting the data unit to the telecommunications unit,

and wherein the data unit comprises the terminal identifier and the location identifier.