Terminal, system and method for providing location information service by interworking between WLAN and mobile communication network

• US 20060245406A1
• Filed: 04/26/2006
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Shim, Dong-Hee
• Granted Patent: US 7,613,155 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0892 by using authentication-authorization-accounting [AAA] servers or protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/162 at the data link layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/085 involving different upper layer protocol versions, e.g. LCS - SUPL or WSN-SOA-WSDP
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A WLAN terminal, system and method for providing a SUPL service, are discussed. According to an embodiment, the WLAN terminal includes a controller to establish an IP connection with a mobile communication network through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN, and selectively perform a SUPL procedure with a location server of the mobile communication network through the IP connection in response to a request for location information of the WLAN terminal from the location server.

Claims

1. A wireless local area network (WLAN) terminal for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service, comprising:

a controller to establish an IP connection with a mobile communication network through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN, and selectively perform a SUPL procedure with a location server of the mobile communication network through the IP connection in response to a request for location information of the WLAN terminal from the location server.

2. The WLAN terminal of claim 1, wherein to establish the IP connection, the controller accesses a WLAN access network, and performs an authentication procedure with an authentication server of the mobile communication network through the WLAN access network.

3. The WLAN terminal of claim 2, wherein the authentication procedure is an EAP (extensible authentication protocol) procedure.

4. The WLAN terminal of claim 2, wherein the controller transmits, through the WLAN access network, location information of the WLAN terminal to the authentication server during the authentication procedure.

5. The WLAN terminal of claim 2, wherein the controller receives location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs from the WLAN access network during the authentication procedure.

6. The WLAN terminal of claim 1, wherein the IP connection is either a TCP/IP connection or a UDP/IP connection.

7. The WLAN terminal of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication network is a 3GPP network, and the location server is a gateway mobile location center (GMLC).

8. The WLAN terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller receives a SUPL initiation message from the location server through the IP connection according to the SUPL procedure, and exchanges successive position procedure messages with the location server.

9. A wireless local area network (WLAN) terminal for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service, comprising:

a controller to receive a SUPL initiation message from a location server of a mobile communication network and establish an IP connection with the mobile communication network through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN, and to transmit a SUPL position initiation message to the location server through the IP connection.

10. The WLAN terminal of claim 9, wherein as part of the interworking between the mobile communication network and the WLAN, the controller performs an authentication procedure with an authentication server of the mobile communication network through an access network of the WLAN.

11. The WLAN terminal of claim 10, wherein the authentication procedure is an EAP (extensible authentication protocol) procedure.

12. The WLAN terminal of claim 10, wherein the controller transmits location information of the WLAN terminal to the authentication server during the authentication procedure.

13. The WLAN terminal of claim 10, wherein the controller receives location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs from the access network of the WLAN during the authentication procedure.

14. The WLAN terminal of claim 9, wherein the IP connection is either a TCP/IP connection or a UDP/IP connection.

15. The WLAN terminal of claim 9, wherein the mobile communication network is a 3GPP network, and the location server is a gateway mobile location center (GMLC).

16. The WLAN terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller receives the SUPL initiation message using an SMS (Short Message Service) method or a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) push method.

17. A method for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service using a wireless local area network (WLAN) terminal, comprising:

establishing, by the WLAN terminal, an IP connection with a mobile communication network through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN; and

selectively performing a SUPL procedure with a location server of the mobile communication network through the IP connection in response to a request for location information of the WLAN terminal from the location server.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

accessing, by the WLAN terminal, a WLAN access network, and

performing an authentication procedure with an authentication server of the mobile communication network through the WLAN access network.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the authentication procedure is an EAP (extensible authentication protocol) procedure.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of performing the authentication procedure includes:

transmitting by the WLAN terminal, through the WLAN access network, location information of the WLAN terminal to the authentication server during the authentication procedure.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of performing the authentication procedure further includes:

receiving, by the WLAN terminal, location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs from the WLAN access network during the authentication procedure.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein in the establishing step, the IP connection is either a TCP/IP connection or a UDP/IP connection.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein in the establishing step, the mobile communication network is a 3GPP network, and the location server is a gateway mobile location center (GMLC).

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of selectively performing the SUPL procedure includes:

receiving, by the WLAN, a SUPL initiation message from the location server through the IP connection according to the SUPL procedure, and

exchanging successive position procedure messages with the location server.

25. A method for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service using a wireless local area network (WLAN) terminal, comprising:

receiving, by the WLAN terminal, a SUPL initiation message from a location server of a mobile communication network and establishing an IP connection with the mobile communication network through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN; and

transmitting, by the WLAN terminal, a SUPL position initiation message to the location server through the IP connection.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein as part of the interworking between the mobile communication network and the WLAN, the method further comprises performing an authentication procedure with an authentication server of the mobile communication network through an access network of the WLAN.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the authentication procedure is an EAP (extensible authentication protocol) procedure.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of performing the authentication procedure includes:

transmitting by the WLAN terminal, through the WLAN access network, location information of the WLAN terminal to the authentication server during the authentication procedure.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of performing the authentication procedure further includes:

receiving, by the WLAN terminal, location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs from the WLAN access network during the authentication procedure.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the IP connection is either a TCP/IP connection or a UDP/IP connection.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the mobile communication network is a 3GPP network, and the location server is a gateway mobile location center (GMLC).

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the receiving step receives the SUPL initiation message using an SMS (Short Message Service) method or a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) push method.

33. A method for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service using a mobile communication network including a location server, comprising:

establishing, by the location server, an IP connection with a wireless local access network (WLAN) terminal through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN; and

selectively performing, by the location server, a SUPL procedure with the WLAN terminal through the IP connection in response to a request of a client requesting location information of the WLAN terminal.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

performing, by an authentication server of the mobile communication network, an authentication procedure with the WLAN terminal, prior to establishing the IP connection.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

storing, in a database of the mobile communication network, authentication information associated with the WLAN terminal; and

providing the stored authentication information to the authentication server for the authentication procedure.

36. The method of claim 35, after the authentication procedure, the method further comprises:

registering, by the authentication server, capability information of the WLAN terminal and address information of the authentication server in the database.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

registering, by the authentication server, terminal location related information in the database, the terminal location related information including at least one of the following;

location information of the WLAN terminal provided by the WLAN terminal through an access network of the WLAN during the authentication procedure; and

location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information and the capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database in response to the client'"'"'s location information request; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested information from the database.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server includes the address information of the authentication server, and the capability information of the WLAN terminal received by the location server is information pertaining to a capability of the WLAN terminal to support the SUPL procedure or other location determining procedure.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server further includes the terminal location related information registered in the database.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

determining, by the location server, whether the terminal location related information included in the received serving node routing information satisfies a QoP (quality of position) request included in the client'"'"'s location information request; and

selectively providing, from the location server to the client, the terminal location related information as location information of the WLAN terminal based on the determination result.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein in the selectively providing step, the location server transmits directly the terminal location related information as the location information of the WLAN terminal to the client without performing the SUPL procedure, if the received terminal location related information satisfies the QoP request.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server to the authentication server, for target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information, if the terminal location related information does not satisfy the QoP request.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server, the target terminal routing information including the following (a) or (b);

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of performing the SUPL procedure is carried out with the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information through the established IP connection.

46. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information and the capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database in response to the client'"'"'s location information request; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested information from the database.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server includes the address information of the authentication server, and the capability information of the WLAN terminal received by the location server is information pertaining to a capability of the WLAN terminal to support the SUPL procedure or other location determining procedure.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

requesting, from the location server to the authentication server, for target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server, the target terminal routing information including the following (a) or (b);

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of performing the SUPL procedure is carried out with the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information through the established IP connection.

51. A method for providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service using a mobile communication network including a location server, comprising:

selectively transmitting, by the location server, a SUPL initiation message to a wireless local area network (WLAN) terminal and establishing an IP connection with the WLAN terminal through interworking between the mobile communication network and a WLAN, in response to a request of a client requesting location information of the WLAN terminal; and

receiving, by the location server, a SUPL position initiation message from the WLAN terminal through the IP connection.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

performing, by an authentication server of the mobile communication network, an authentication procedure with the WLAN terminal, prior to establishing the IP connection.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising:

providing, by a database of the mobile communication network, prestored authentication information associated with the WLAN terminal to the authentication server for the authentication procedure.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein after the authentication procedure, the method further comprises:

registering, by the authentication server, capability information of the WLAN terminal and address information of the authentication server in the database.

55. The method of claim 54, further comprising:

registering, by the authentication server, terminal location related information in the database, the terminal location related information including at least one of the following;

location information of the WLAN terminal provided by the WLAN terminal through an access network of the WLAN during the authentication procedure; and

location information of an access point of the WLAN to which the WLAN terminal belongs.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information and the capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database in response to the client'"'"'s location information request; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested information from the database.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server includes the address information of the authentication server, and the capability information of the WLAN terminal received by the location server is information pertaining to a capability of the WLAN terminal to support the SUPL procedure or other location determining procedure.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server further includes the terminal location related information.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

determining, by the location server, whether the terminal location related information included in the received serving node routing information satisfies a QoP (quality of position) request included in the client'"'"'s location information request; and

selectively providing, from the location server to the client, the terminal location related information as location information of the WLAN terminal based on the determination result.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the selectively providing step transmits directly the terminal location related information as the location information of the WLAN terminal from the location server to the client without performing the SUPL procedure, if the received terminal location related information satisfies the QoP request.

61. The method of claim 59, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, for target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information, if the terminal location related information does not satisfy the QoP request.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising:

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server, the target terminal routing information including the following (a) or (b);

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein the selectively transmitting step transmits the SUPL initiation message to the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information.

64. The method of claim 54, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information and the capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database in response to the client'"'"'s location information request; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested information from the database.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server includes the address information of the authentication server, and the capability information of the WLAN terminal received by the location server is information pertaining to a capability of the WLAN terminal to support the SUPL procedure or other location determining procedure.

66. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

requesting, from the location server to the authentication server, for target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information.

67. The method of claim 66, further comprising:

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server, the target terminal routing information including the following (a) or (b);

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the selectively transmitting step transmits the SUPL initiation message to the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information.

69. A method of providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service by interworking between a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the mobile communication network includes an access point, a storage unit and a location server and wherein an IP connection is established between a WLAN terminal and the location server through the access point, the method comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information from the storage unit in response to a client'"'"'s location information request;

receiving, by the location server, the requested serving node routing information from the database;

requesting, by the location server to the authentication server, target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information;

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server; and

performing, by the location server, a SUPL procedure with the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information through the established IP connection, so as to obtain location information of the WLAN terminal.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein in the step of receiving the target terminal routing information, the target terminal routing information includes the following (a) or (b):

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

71. The method of claim 69, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, capability information of the WLAN terminal, from the storage unit when requesting the serving node routing information; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database when receiving the requested serving node routing information.

72. A method of providing a secure user plane location (SUPL) service by interworking between a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the mobile communication network includes an access point, a storage unit and a location server and wherein an IP connection is established between a WLAN terminal and the location server through the access point, the method comprising:

requesting, by the location server, serving node routing information from the storage unit in response to the client'"'"'s location information request; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested serving node routing information from the database, wherein the serving node routing information received by the location server includes address information of the authentication server and terminal location related information registered in the storage unit;

determining, by the location server, whether the received terminal location related information satisfies a QoP (quality of position) request included in the client'"'"'s location information request;

selectively providing, from the location server to the client, the terminal location related information as location information of the WLAN terminal based on the determination result;

requesting, by the location server to the authentication server, target terminal routing information using in part the received serving node routing information, if the terminal location related information does not satisfy the QoP request;

receiving, by the location server, the target terminal routing information from the authentication server; and

performing, by the location server, a SUPL procedure with the WLAN terminal using in part the received target terminal routing information through the established IP connection.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein in the step of receiving the target terminal routing information, the target terminal routing information includes the following (a) or (b):

(a) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, and IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server;

or

(b) IP address information of the WLAN terminal, IP connection presence information indicating whether or not the IP connection has been established between the WLAN terminal and the location server, and W-APN information associated with the WLAN terminal.

74. The method of claim 72, wherein in the selectively providing step, the location server transmits directly the terminal location related information as the location information of the WLAN terminal to the client without performing a SUPL procedure, if the received terminal location related information satisfies the QoP request.

75. The method of claim 72, further comprising:

requesting, by the location server, capability information of the WLAN terminal, from the storage unit when requesting the serving node routing information; and

receiving, by the location server, the requested capability information of the WLAN terminal from the database when receiving the requested serving node routing information.