Access terminal configuration and access control

• US 9,775,096 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2008
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Rajarshi, Palanigounder, Anand, Ulupinar, Fatih, Horn, Gavin B., Agashe, Parag A., Chen, Jen Mei, Deshpande, Manoj M., Balasubramanian, Srinivasan, Nanda, Sanjiv, Song, Osok
• Primary Examiner(s): RUBIN, BLAKE J
• Application Number:
  US12/246,394
• Publication Number:
  US 20090094351A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,277 Days
• Field of Search: 709220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/062 Pre-authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Provisioning and access control for communication nodes involves assigning identifiers to sets of nodes where the identifiers may be used to control access to restricted access nodes that provide certain services only to certain defined sets of nodes. In some aspects provisioning a node may involve providing a unique identifier for sets of one or more nodes such as restricted access points and access terminals that are authorized to receive service from the restricted access points. Access control may be provided by operation of a restricted access point and/or a network node. In some aspects, provisioning a node involves providing a preferred roaming list for the node. In some aspects, a node may be provisioned with a preferred roaming list through the use of a bootstrap beacon.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving, at an access terminal and from a first access point, an identifier of at least one other access point that the access terminal is eligible to access, wherein the identifier comprises a closed subscriber group identifier that is a common identifier for a set of restricted access points;

maintaining, at the access terminal, a list of access points that the access terminal is enabled to access; and

determining, at the access terminal and based on the identifier and the list, whether to enable access to the at least one other access point.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on configuration information, whether to automatically enable the access or to enable access in response to a prompt.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a list of access points that a user has elected to not access, wherein the determination is further based on the list.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each access point of the at least one access point is restricted to not provide, for at least one other access terminal, at least one of the group consisting of:

signaling, data access, registration, and service.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the closed subscriber group identifier is associated with a set of one or more access terminals that are authorized to receive at least one service from the set of restricted access points.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an identifier for each access point that the access terminal is allowed to access.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving approval from a network operator to update the list.

5. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for receiving, at an access terminal and from a first access point, an identifier of at least one other access point that the access terminal is eligible to access, wherein the identifier comprises a closed subscriber group identifier that is a common identifier for a set of restricted access points;

means for maintaining, at the access terminal, a list of access points that the access terminal is enabled to access; and

means for determining, at the access terminal and based on the identifier and the list, whether to enable access to the at least one other access point.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising means for determining, based on configuration information, whether to automatically enable the access or to enable access in response to a prompt.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising means for maintaining a list of access points that a user has elected to not access, wherein the determination is further based on the list.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each access point of the at least one access point is restricted to not provide, for at least one other access terminal, at least one of the group consisting of:

signaling, data access, registration, and service.

9. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

a communication controller configured to receive, at an access terminal and from a first access point, an identifier of at least one other access point that the access terminal is eligible to access, wherein the identifier comprises a closed subscriber group identifier that is a common identifier for a set of restricted access points; and

an access controller configured to maintain, at the access terminal, a list of access points that the access terminal is enabled to access and to determine, at the access terminal and based on the identifier and the list, whether to enable access to the at least one other access point.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein access controller is further configured to determine, based on configuration information, whether to automatically enable the access or to enable access in response to a prompt.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising codes for causing a computer to:

receive, at an access terminal and from a first access point, an identifier of at least one other access point that the access terminal is eligible to access, wherein the identifier comprises a closed subscriber group identifier that is a common identifier for a set of restricted access points;

maintain, at the access terminal, a list of access points that the access terminal is enabled to access; and

determine, at the access terminal and based on the identifier and the list, whether to enable access to the at least one other access point.