User privacy management apparatus and method in mobile communications system

• US 9,723,087 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2005
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Shim, Dong-Hee
• Primary Examiner(s): MAI, KEVIN S
• Application Number:
  US11/198,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20060036680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,379 Days
• Field of Search: 709203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Provided is a user privacy management apparatus and method on a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) network including a SUPL Location Platform (SLP) and a SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET) and performing privacy authorization according to location of the SET, wherein when the location of the SET is calculated, the SLP (or SUPL Positioning Center (SPC) within the SLP) checks a privacy setup according to the calculated location, thereafter queries to a SET user whether to execute the privacy setup using a SUPL INIT message or a SUPL NOTIFICATION message, and then executes the privacy setup according to queries and responses transmitted through a SUPL START message or a SUPL NOTIFICATION RESPONSE message, whereby a user privacy can be managed more stably by notifying a user of the privacy setup according to the location of the user for reconfirmation.

Claims

1. A user privacy management method in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) from a SUPL agent, a Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) Standard Location Immediate Request (SLIR) message as a first message, for a target terminal,

wherein the MLP SLIR message comprises a request by the SUPL agent for a position of the target terminal, a SUPL agent client identification and a required quality of service (QoS);

verifying, by the SLP, whether the target terminal is currently within a service area of the SLP using routing information and whether the target terminal supports a secure user plane location (SUPL) protocol using a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Enabled Terminal (SET) lookup table, the SUPL protocol being a protocol which uses a user plane data bearer to transfer positioning system assistance information;

after verifying that the target terminal is currently within the service area of the SLP and that the target terminal supports the SUPL protocol, transmitting, by the SLP to the target terminal, a SUPL initialization (INIT) (SUPL INIT) message as a second message,

wherein the SUPL INIT message comprises information related to a session-id, a positioning method and an address of the SLP that is used to establish a data connection by the target terminal;

receiving, by the SLP from the target terminal, a SUPL position (POS) INIT (SUPL POS INIT) message as a third message,

wherein the SUPL POS INIT message comprises information related to the session-id, target terminal capabilities and a location identifier (lid), the target terminal capabilities include positioning methods and positioning protocols associated with the positioning methods;

determining, at the SLP, whether the lid included in the SUPL POS INIT message does or does not meet the required QoS;

based on the SUPL POS INIT message, determining, at the SLP, a positioning method and a positioning protocol associated with the positioning method;

calculating, at the SLP, a location of the target terminal if the information included in the SUPL POS INIT message does not meet the required QoS;

after calculating the location of the target terminal, determining, by the SLP, whether a privacy of the target terminal indicates a SUPL NOTIFY message should be sent to the target terminal before sharing the calculated location with the SUPL agent;

if the SLP determines that the privacy of the target terminal indicates that the SUPL NOTIFY message should be sent to the target terminal before sharing the calculated location with the SUPL agent, transmitting by the SLP to the target terminal, the SUPL NOTIFY message as a fourth message different from the second message, wherein the SUPL NOTIFY message comprises a notification element to request permission from the target terminal to share the calculated location with the SUPL agent;

receiving at the SLP, from the target terminal, a SUPL NOTIFY RESPONSE message as a fifth message in response to the SUPL NOTIFY message, wherein the SUPL NOTIFY RESPONSE message comprises a notification response;

transmitting, by the SLP to the target terminal, a SUPL END message informing termination of location session as a sixth message, the SUPL END message is transmitted after the data connection setup is performed by the target terminal; and

if the notification response includes a permission to share the calculated location with the SUPL agent, transmitting, by the SLP to the SUPL agent, a Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) Standard Location Immediate Answer (SLIA) message as a seventh message, in response to the MLP SLIR message, wherein the MLP SLIA message comprises the calculated location of the target terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the SUPL NOTIFY message is performed using a session initialization message or a session notification message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the SUPL NOTIFY message is performed through a session for calculating the location of the target terminal or through another new session.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the privacy of the target terminal indicates a SUPL NOTIFY message should be sent comprises:

requesting an external Privacy Checking Entity (PCE) to check whether the SUPL Agent is permitted to receive the calculated location; and

receiving a response result from the PCE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the SUPL Agent is a user of the mobile communication system and the notification response of the SUPL NOTIFY RESPONSE message indicates a grant or deny of the request by the SUPL agent for the location of the target terminal.

6. A Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) for user privacy management method in a mobile communication system, the SUPL SLP comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor operatively connected to the transceiver and configured to

receive, from a SUPL agent, a Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) Standard Location Immediate Request (SLIR) message as a first message, for a target terminal,

wherein the MLP SLIR message comprises a request by the SUPL agent for a position of the target terminal, a SUPL agent client identification and a required quality of service (QoS);

verify whether the target terminal is currently within a service area of the SLP using routing information and whether the target terminal supports a secure user plane location (SUPL) protocol using a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Enabled Terminal (SET) lookup table, the SUPL protocol being a protocol which uses a user plane data bearer to transfer positioning system assistance information;

after verifying that the target terminal is currently within the service area of the SLP and that the target terminal supports the SUPL protocol, transmit, to the target terminal, a SUPL initialization (INIT) (SUPL INIT) message as a second message,

wherein the SUPL INIT message comprises information related to a session-id, a positioning method and an address of the SLP that is used to establish a data connection by the target terminal;

receive, from the target terminal, a SUPL position (POS) INIT (SUPL POS INIT) message as a third message,

wherein the SUPL POS INIT message comprises information related to the session-id, target terminal capabilities and a location identifier (lid), the target terminal capabilities include positioning methods and positioning protocols associated with the positioning methods;

determine whether the lid included in the SUPL POS INIT message does or does not meet the required QoS;

based on the SUPL POS INIT message, determine a positioning method and a positioning protocol associated with the positioning method;

calculate, at the SLP, a location of the target terminal if the information included in the SUPL POS INIT message does not meet the required QoS;

after calculating the location of the target terminal, determine whether a privacy of the target terminal indicates a SUPL NOTIFY message should be sent to the target terminal before sharing the calculated location with the SUPL agent;

if the privacy of the target terminal indicates that the SUPL NOTIFY message should be sent to the target terminal before sharing the calculated location with the SUPL agent, transmit, to the target terminal, the SUPL NOTIFY message as a fourth message different from the second message,

wherein the SUPL NOTIFY message comprises a notification element to request permission from the target terminal to share the calculated location with the SUPL agent;

receive, from the target terminal, a SUPL NOTIFY RESPONSE message as a fifth message in response to the SUPL NOTIFY message,

wherein the SUPL NOTIFY RESPONSE message comprises a notification response;

transmit, to the target terminal, a SUPL END message informing termination of location session as a sixth message, the SUPL END message is transmitted after the data connection setup is performed by the target terminal; and

if the notification response includes a permission to share the calculated location with the SUPL agent, transmit, to the SUPL agent, a Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) Standard Location Immediate Answer (SLIA) message as a seventh message, in response to the MLP SLIR message, wherein the MLP SLIA message comprises the calculated location of the target terminal.