Method for determining location of UE by using AGPS information

• US 8,150,415 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2005
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Wuk, Kim, Joo-Young, Park, Joon-Goo
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, JUSTIN YE
• Application Number:
  US11/228,125
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,391 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 709/228, 709/203, 713/200
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/25 involving aiding data received from a cooperating element, e.g. assisted GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for determining a location of a UE by means of AGPS information. The method includes generating by an SLC a pseudo UE ID according to a request for location information of the UE, the pseudo UE ID being used for maintaining security in communication with an SPC, requesting AGPS information for the UE, the location information of which has been requested, to the SPC by means of the pseudo UE ID, and receiving the AGPS information, transferring the received AGPS information to the UE, and receiving GPS signal measurement values using the AGPS information from the UE, requesting a location calculation of the UE for the GPS signal measurement values to the SPC by means of the pseudo UE ID, and receiving calculated location values, and providing the location information of the UE by means of the received location values of the UE.

Claims

1. A method for determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) by means of Assisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) information, the method comprising the steps of:

generating, by an SUPL Location Center (SLC), a pseudo UE IDentification (ID) that is a substitute for an ID of the UE when a request for location information of the UE is received, the pseudo UE ID being used only for communication between the SLC and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), wherein the pseudo UE ID is not included in transmissions to the UE;

transmitting, by the SLC, an AGPS information request including the pseudo ID of the UE, to the SPC, and receiving the AGPS information;

transferring, by the SLC, the received AGPS information to the UE, and receiving Global Positioning System (GPS) signal measurement values using the AGPS information from the UE;

requesting, by the SLC, a location calculation of the UE for the GPS signal measurement values to the SPC by means of the pseudo UE ID, and receiving calculated location values; and

providing, by the SLC, the location information of the UE by means of the received location values of the UE.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising authenticating a location information requester having requested the location information of the UE.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the SPC generates the AGPS information by means of an ID of a cell including the UE according to the request of the AGPS information from the SLC, and transmits the pseudo UE ID and the generated AGPS information to the SLC.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pseudo UE ID includes a sequence number assigned according to an order of UEs, location information of which has been requested.

5. A method for determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) by means of Assisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) information, the method comprising the steps of:

generating, by an SUPL Location Center (SLC), a pseudo UE IDentification (ID) that is substitute for an ID of the UE when a request for location information of the UE is received, the pseudo UE ID being used only for communication between the SLC and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), wherein the pseudo UE ID is not included in transmissions to the UE;

transmitting, by the SLC, an AGPS information request including the pseudo ID of the UE, to the SPC, and receiving the AGPS information;

transferring, by the SLC, the received AGPS information to the UE, and receiving location values of the UE, the values being calculated by the UE; and

providing, by the SLC, the location information of the UE by means of the received location values of the UE.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the UE measures precise GPS information by means of the AGPS information transferred through the SLC, calculates the location of the UE by means of the measured GPS information, and transmits the calculated location values to the SLC.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pseudo UE ID includes a sequence number assigned according to an order of UEs, location information of which has been requested.

8. A method for determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) by means of Assisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) information, the method comprising the steps of:

generating, by an SUPL Location Center (SLC), a pseudo UE IDentification (ID) that is a substitute for an ID of the UE when a request for location information of the UE is received, the pseudo UE ID being used only for communication between the SLC and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), wherein the pseudo UE ID is not included in transmissions to the UE;

requesting, by the SLC, AGPS information for the UE, the location information of which has been requested, to the SPC by means of an SLC ID for identifying the SLC and the pseudo UE ID, and receiving the AGPS information;

transferring, by the SLC, the received AGPS information to the UE, and receiving Global Positioning System (GPS) signal measurement values using the AGPS information from the UE;

requesting, by the SLC, a location calculation of the UE for the GPS signal measurement values to the SPC by means of the SLC ID and the pseudo UE ID, and receiving calculated location values; and

providing, by the SLC, the location information of the UE by means of the received location values of the UE.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the SPC communicates with a plurality SLCs and identifies a corresponding SLC through the SLC ID.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the SPC generates the AGPS information by means of an ID of a cell including the UE according to the request of the AGPS information, and transmits the generated AGPS information to a SLC corresponding to the SLC ID.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the SPC calculates the location of the UE by means of the GPS signal measurement values and GPS satellite information according to a calculation request for the location of the UE.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pseudo UE ID includes a sequence number assigned according to an order of UEs, location information of which has been requested.

13. A method for determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) by means of Assisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) information, the method comprising the steps of:

generating, by an SUPL Location Center (SLC), a pseudo UE IDentification (ID) that is a substitute for an ID of the UE when a request for location information of the UE is received, the pseudo UE ID being used only for communication between the SLC and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), wherein the pseudo UE ID is not included in transmissions to the UE;

requesting, by the SLC, AGPS information for the UE, the location information of which has been requested, to the SPC by means of an SLC ID for identifying the SLC and the pseudo UE ID, and receiving the AGPS information;

transferring, by the SLC, the received AGPS information to the UE, and receiving location values of the UE calculated using the AGPS information from the UE; and

providing, by the SLC, the location information of the UE by means of the received location values of the UE.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the SPC communicates with a plurality SLCs and identifies a corresponding SLC through the SLC ID.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the UE measures precise GPS information by means of the AGPS information transferred through the SLC, calculates the location of the UE by means of the measured GPS information, and transmits the calculated location values to the SLC.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the pseudo UE ID includes a sequence number assigned according to an order of UEs, location information of which has been requested.

17. A method for providing location information of a User Equipment (UE) in a communication system, which includes the UE, a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Center (SLC) and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), so as to provide the location information of the UE, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by the SLC, a request for location information of a UE from a requester;

notifying, by the SLC, the UE that the location information has been requested;

receiving, by the SLC, information for a determination of the location of the UE from the UE;

requesting, by the SLC, the SPC to generate location assistance information of the UE;

receiving, by the SLC, the location assistance information from the SPC;

transmitting, by the SLC, the location assistance information to the UE;

transmitting, to the SPC, by the SLC, a location value generated by using the location assistance information in the UE;

receiving, by the SLC, current location information of the UE by using the location value from the SPC; and

transmitting, by the SLC, the location information to the requester,

wherein the information for determination of the location comprises an IDentification (ID) of the UE, an ID of a cell in which the UE is located, and information about a positioning capability of the UE, and

wherein the step of requesting, by the SLC, the SPC to generate location assistance information of the UE comprises;

generating, by the SLC, a pseudo UE ID corresponding to the ID of the UE; and

requesting, by the SLC, the SPC to transmit the location assistance information to the SLC, by using the pseudo UE ID instead of the ID of the UE.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of generating a location value by using the location assistance information comprises:

generating, by the UE, the location value by using the location assistance information;

transmitting, by the UE, the location value to the SLC; and

transmitting, by the SLC, the location value to the SPC.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein, in the step of transmitting the location assistance information from the SPC to the SLC, the SPC transmits the location assistance information to the SLC by using the pseudo UE ID instead of the ID of the UE.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the step of transmitting the location assistance information from the SLC to the UE comprises:

identifying, by the SLC, a UE ID corresponding to the pseudo UE ID; and

transmitting, by the SLC, the location assistance information to the UE according to the identified UE ID.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein, in the step of transmitting the location information from the SPC to the SLC, the SPC transmits the location information to the SLC by using a pseudo UE ID corresponding to the ID of the UE.

22. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein, in the step of transmitting the location value from the SLC to the SPC, the SLC transmits the location value by using a pseudo UE ID corresponding to the ID of the UE.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein, in the step of transmitting the location information from the SPC to the SLC, the SPC transmits the location information to the SLC by using the pseudo UE ID corresponding to the ID of the UE.

24. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of receiving a request for location information of a UE from a requester comprises:

receiving the location information request from the requester; and

authenticating the location information requester having requested the location information of the UE.

25. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the pseudo UE ID includes a sequence number assigned according to an order of UEs, location information of which has been requested.

26. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the location assistance information includes Assisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) information.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26, wherein the location value corresponds to a Global Positioning System (GPS) measurement value obtained through a calculation using the AGPS information.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein the location information corresponds to information about a current location of the UE, which is obtained according to the GPS measurement value.

29. A method for providing location information of a User Equipment (UE) in a communication system, which includes the UE, a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Center (SLC), and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), so as to provide the location information of the UE, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by the UE, from the SLC, a notification informing the UE of a request for location information of the UE;

transmitting, by the UE, to the SLC, UE information including a UE IDentification (ID) which is necessary for generating location assistance information;

receiving, by the UE, from the SLC, the location assistance information, which is generated by the SPC through use of a pseudo ID that is used only for communication between the SLC and the SPC, wherein the pseudo ID is a substitute for the UE ID;

measuring, by the UE, a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal used for calculating a current location of the UE by using Assisted-GPS (AGPS) information; and

transmitting, by the UE, the measured GPS information to the SPC through the SLC in order for the SPC to calculate the current location of the UE.

30. A communication system for providing location information of a User Equipment (UE) in a communication system, which includes the UE, a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Center (SLC), and a SUPL Positioning Center (SPC), so as to provide the location information of the UE, the communication system comprising:

the UE for transmitting, to the SLC, a UE information including UE IDentification (ID) that is necessary for generating location assistance information, when the UE receives, from the SLC, a notification informing the UE of a request for location information of the UE;

the SLC for generating a pseudo ID being used only to communicate between the SLC and the SPC, wherein the pseudo ID is a substitute for the UE ID, and requesting the location assistance information from the SPC by using the pseudo ID; and

the SPC for generating location assistance information by using the pseudo ID when the SPC receives the request of the location assistance information from the SLC, and for transmitting the location assistance information to the UE through the SLC,

wherein the UE measures a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal by using the location assistance information, and transmits the measured GPS information to the SPC through the SLC, in order for the SPC to calculate a current location information of the UE.