User equipment location verification method and device, storage medium, electronic device

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, storage medium, and electronic device for verifying the location of a user equipment, and pertains to the field of Internet of Things (IoT) communication technology. The method includes: for narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, a mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network. This disclosure solves the problem in related technologies where the coarse location information of a user equipment cannot meet the corresponding requirements, thus hindering accurate location verification.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of Internet of Things (IoT) communication technology, and more specifically, to a location verification method for user equipment, a location verification device for user equipment, a computer-readable storage medium, and an electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] In existing user equipment location verification methods, when the coarse location information of the user equipment cannot meet the corresponding requirements, the location of the user equipment cannot be accurately verified.

[0003] It should be noted that the information in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a method for verifying the location of a user equipment, a device for verifying the location of a user equipment, a computer-readable storage medium, and an electronic device, thereby overcoming, at least to some extent, the problem of the inability to accurately verify the location of the user equipment due to limitations and defects in related technologies.

[0005] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for verifying the location of a user equipment is provided, comprising:

[0006] In narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network.

[0007] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information includes location reporting control information;

[0008] The control information is used to indicate that the user equipment's rough location information does not meet the accuracy requirements.

[0009] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information is used to request the wireless access network to execute a process in which the user equipment reports precise location information.

[0010] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information includes, but is not limited to, the approximate location information of the user equipment and the identification information of the user equipment;

[0011] The control information is used to instruct the wireless access network to determine the precise location information of the user equipment based on the coarse location information in the control information, and to provide a precise location report to the user equipment based on the precise location information.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the precise location information includes the tracking area identifier where the user equipment is located after the location update and / or the global identifier of the E-UTRAN cell where the location update is located.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location verification method for the user equipment further includes:

[0014] The mobility management function entity verifies the location of the user equipment based on the tracking area identifier and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier in the precise location information after the location update.

[0015] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the precise location information further includes the tracking area code of the public terrestrial mobile network where the user equipment is located, and the tracking area code of the public terrestrial mobile network includes one or more.

[0016] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location verification method for user equipment further includes:

[0017] The mobility management function entity responds to the activation of the EPC network-induced positioning request by determining the user equipment in the narrowband IoT satellite scenario and the approximate location information of the user equipment;

[0018] The mobility management function entity generates a location verification request message based on the coarse location information, the type and quality of service of the requested location information, the identity of the serving cell where the user equipment is located, and the location information protocols that the user equipment can support;

[0019] The mobility management function entity sends the location verification request message to the serving mobility positioning center and receives the location response message from the serving mobility positioning center in response to the location verification request message;

[0020] The mobility management function entity determines whether the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements based on the location response message, and verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message when it determines that the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements.

[0021] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, a mobility management function entity may send control information to a radio access network, including:

[0022] When the approximate location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, the mobility management function entity sends control information to the radio access network.

[0023] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location response message is used to indicate whether the location of the user equipment obtained by the serving mobile positioning center based on the coarse location information and / or serving cell identity in the location verification request message meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol.

[0024] In an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, if the obtained location of the user equipment meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the location of the user equipment, so that the mobility management function entity verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message;

[0025] If the obtained location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, the location response message includes the reason why the location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol. This enables the mobility management function entity to send control information to the radio access network based on the location response message and to verify the location of the user equipment based on the accurate location report corresponding to the control information.

[0026] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a location verification device for a user equipment is provided, comprising:

[0027] The control information transmission module is used in narrowband IoT satellite scenarios to enable the mobility management function entity to send control information to the wireless access network.

[0028] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the location verification method for a user equipment as described in any of the preceding claims.

[0029] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising:

[0030] Processor; and

[0031] Memory for storing the executable instructions of the processor;

[0032] The processor is configured to execute the location verification method for the user equipment described above by executing the executable instructions.

[0033] The location verification method for user equipment provided in this disclosure, for narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, allows the mobility management function entity to send control information to the wireless access network and then verify the location of the user equipment based on the control information. This solves the problem in related technologies where the coarse location information of the user equipment cannot meet the corresponding requirements, thus making it impossible to accurately verify the location of the user equipment.

[0034] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0035] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort.

[0036] Figure 1 The flowchart illustrates a location verification method for a user equipment according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 2 This diagram schematically illustrates a structural example of a location verification system for a user equipment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 3 The diagram schematically illustrates a method flowchart of a location verification process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] Figure 4 The diagram illustrates a scenario example of a multi-sided interactive location verification process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 5 A block diagram schematically illustrates a location verification device for a user equipment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] Figure 6 An electronic device for implementing a location verification method for a user equipment is illustrated according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0042] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided to make this disclosure more comprehensive and complete, and to fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a full understanding of embodiments of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this disclosure can be practiced with one or more of the specific details omitted, or other methods, components, apparatus, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known technical solutions are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this disclosure.

[0043] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0044] 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) has already implemented support for the basic characteristics of NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), enabling ordinary user terminals or IoT devices to access 5G or 4G networks via satellite or high-altitude platforms using 5G NR (New Radio) or 4G NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) / eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) air interface protocols. Furthermore, Release 18 further enhances the network requirements and service characteristics of NTN, specifically supporting rapid network location and location verification for user terminals and IoT devices. Moreover, given the unique nature of integrated terrestrial and satellite network coverage, especially since satellite cell coverage may cross national borders or restrict areas, 3GPP has included network verification of UE (User Equipment) location as one of the Release 18 NTN standardization goals.

[0045] 3GPP TS 36.331 describes that NB-IoT UEs do not support mobility management (handover and measurement reporting) in connected mode, emergency call mode, and RRC_INACTIVE mode. Furthermore, NB-IoT UEs are generally designed for low-power, low-throughput applications, where precise location reporting may not be required. Therefore, NB-IoT UEs do not support reporting coarse location information via RRC (Radio Resource Control).

[0046] Furthermore, at the SA#102 meeting, relevant companies first proposed in SP-231594 / SP-231595 to address the aforementioned issues to support UE location verification in satellite access scenarios. Simultaneously, to resolve these issues, the meeting proposed using NAS (Network Attached Storage) signaling to report the UE's coarse location information to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) during the Attach process or during TAU (Time-Aware Ubiquitous Network) operations. Subsequently, at the SA2#160AHE meeting, other relevant companies discussed the feasibility of using the RRC access layer to report the UE's coarse location information; however, due to privacy and security concerns, a consensus could not be reached on using the control plane to optimize the reporting of the UE's coarse location to the MME based on the access layer, as this technology is not compatible with existing standard procedures and therefore does not support the feature of reporting UE coarse location information via RRC.

[0047] Through the above discussions, at the SA2#161 meeting, some companies proposed S2-2403493 regarding NB-IoT satellite access. Specifically, if in some deployments the UE's coarse location cannot be provided via LPP (Location Position Protocol), an additional option may be needed to provide the UE's location information via NAS. Furthermore, TS23.401 adds the possibility of the MME requesting the UE's coarse location information and the UE providing coarse location information via SMC (Security Mode Complete) procedures. Based on this, the MME can provide the user equipment's coarse location information to the E-SMLC (Serving Mobility Center) to execute the EPC-NI-LR (EPC Network Induced Location Request) process to verify the UE's location. However, performing location verification based on this process requires consideration of situations where the information does not meet the required accuracy, and the relevant technical solutions do not mention how to perform location verification when the accuracy requirement is not met.

[0048] Based on this, this exemplary embodiment first provides a location verification method for user equipment, which can run on servers, server clusters, or cloud servers where the 5G core network is located; of course, those skilled in the art can also run the method disclosed herein on other platforms as needed, and this exemplary embodiment does not impose any special limitations on this. Specifically, refer to... Figure 1 As shown, the location verification method for the user equipment may include the following steps:

[0049] In step S110, for narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network.

[0050] In the aforementioned user equipment location verification method, for narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network and then verify the location of the user equipment based on the control information. This solves the problem in related technologies where the user equipment's coarse location information cannot meet the corresponding requirements, thus making it impossible to accurately verify the location of the user equipment.

[0051] The location verification method for user equipment described in the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be further explained and illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0052] First, the technical implementation principle of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be explained and described. Specifically, in the actual location verification process, the 4G location verification process is as follows: First, the Mobility Management Function (MME) of the core network initiates a location request message to the E-SMLC. Subsequently, the E-SMLC calls the positioning procedure to determine the current location of the UE and returns the location response result to the MME. Further, for the satellite access scenario of NB-IoT, the MME will carry the received coarse location information (if received) in the initiated location request message. After receiving the coarse location information, the E-SMLC will immediately send the location response result. At this time, if the coarse location information cannot meet the accuracy requirements of the user equipment's positioning result, it is necessary to add a procedure for the MME to send a location control message to the RAN side. After receiving the control message, the RAN can obtain a more accurate UE location based on the coarse location information carried in the control message and report the location to the MME, thereby completing the location verification.

[0053] In one example embodiment, further enhancements to the network requirements and service characteristics of NTN in 3GPP may include, but are not limited to, supporting rapid network location and location verification of user terminals. Simultaneously, due to the coverage characteristics of integrated terrestrial and satellite networks, especially since the coverage of satellite cells may cross national borders or restricted areas, 3GPP has made network verification of UE location one of the standardization goals of NTN. In practical applications, 3GPP has supplemented TS23.401 with the provision of coarse location information of the UE via NAS, the MME requesting the coarse location information of the UE, and the UE providing the coarse location information through the SMC (Security Mode Complete) procedure. The MME can then provide the coarse location information to the E-SMLC to perform specific location verification. In this scenario, the user equipment location verification method provided in the example embodiments of this disclosure addresses the location verification process of transmitting coarse location information via NAS in NB-IoT satellite access scenarios. It solves the problem of EPC-NI-LR process failure when the UE's location accuracy does not meet the requirements. At the same time, when the UE's location accuracy does not meet the requirements, control information can be sent to the Radio Access Network (RAN) side. The RAN side provides UE location information with sufficient accuracy and performs verification, thus supplementing the NB-IoT satellite access UE location verification and EPC-NI-LR (EPC Network Induced Location Request) process, further improving the integrated air-space-ground system.

[0054] Secondly, the location verification system for user equipment involved in the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be explained and described. Specifically, refer to... Figure 2As shown, the location verification system of the user equipment may include a user equipment (UE) 210, a radio access network (RAN / eNB) 220, a mobility function management entity (MME) 230, a serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) 240, an LRF (Location Retrieval Function) / GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center) 250, an HLR (Historical Location Register) / HSS (Home Subscriber Server) 260, and an LCS (Location Service) client 270. The UE is communicatively connected to the serving mobile location center, the MME, and the radio access network; the MME is communicatively connected to the RAN and the serving mobile location center; the HLR / HSS is communicatively connected to the MME; the LRF / GMLC is communicatively connected to the HLR / HSS; and the LCS client is communicatively connected to the MME.

[0055] Furthermore, in the EPC network-induced location request, the LCS client initiates a network-induced location request to the MME to verify the location of the user equipment. After receiving the network-induced location request, the MME sends a location update request message to the HSS / HLR to which the user equipment belongs. After receiving the location update request message, the HSS / HLR requests a coarse location message from the LRF / GMLC and sends the coarse location message back to the MME. The MME generates a location verification request message and sends it to the E-SMLC, and implements the corresponding location verification process. Meanwhile, the specific functions that the RAN needs to perform will be detailed later and will not be repeated here.

[0056] In one example embodiment, the user equipment described herein refers to a narrowband IoT device that has accessed a satellite scenario; wherein, the narrowband IoT device may include, but is not limited to, devices in smart home scenarios, devices in smart transportation scenarios, devices in smart manufacturing scenarios, etc., or devices in other scenarios, and this example does not impose any special restrictions on this.

[0057] The following will be about Figure 1 The location verification method for user equipment shown will be further explained and illustrated. Specifically:

[0058] In step S110, for narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network. The control information described herein includes location reporting control information. This control information is used to indicate that the user equipment's coarse location information does not meet a preset accuracy requirement and requests the radio access network to execute a process for the user equipment to report precise location information. The control information described herein includes, but is not limited to, the user equipment's coarse location information and its identification information. This control information is used to instruct the radio access network to determine the user equipment's precise location information based on the coarse location information in the control information, and to provide a precise location report to the user equipment based on the precise location information. The coarse location information described herein includes the tracking area identity (TAI) where the user equipment was located before the location update and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier where it was located before the location update. The precise location information includes the tracking area identity (TAI) where the user equipment is located after the location update and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier where it is located after the location update. The tracking area identity (TAI) where the user equipment is located after the location update is used to characterize the fixed tracking area where the user equipment is located after the update. The E-UTRAN cell global identifier (ECGI) where the user equipment is located after the location update... The Identifier is used to identify the fixed cell in which the user equipment is located after the update; the precise location report contained herein also includes the Tracking Area Code (TAC) of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in which the user equipment is located; at the same time, the Tracking Area Code of the Public Land Mobile Network in the precise location report may include one or more.

[0059] Furthermore, once the MME receives the precise location report information, it can verify the location of the user equipment based on the tracking area identifier and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier in the precise location information after the location update. In other words, in practical applications, in the original location verification EPC-NI-LR process, when the accuracy requirements are not met, the MME will send control information to the RAN side, indicating that the current coarse location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, and requesting the RAN to report the precise location of the user equipment. At the same time, the control information also includes the previously obtained coarse location information of the user equipment, so that the RAN side can make a more precise location report. Further, the RAN repositions the UE's location based on the received control information and the UE's coarse location information, triggering the reporting (feedback) of more precise location information through the RAN. Furthermore, in the generated precise location report, the current (i.e., the updated) TAI (Tracking Area Identifier) ​​information can be provided to the MME as part of the UE's precise location report. If the current TAI of the UE can be determined, the TAI is also reported to the MME. Then, the RAN sends a location report message (i.e., precise location report) to the MME to notify the MME of the updated UE location information based on the precise location report. The MME judges the UE's location based on the received updated UE location information, completing the UE location verification process in the satellite access scenario.

[0060] The following section explains and illustrates the specific implementation process for verifying the location of user equipment in narrowband IoT scenarios. For details, please refer to... Figure 3 As shown, the specific location verification process may include the following steps:

[0061] In step S310, the mobility management function entity responds to the initiation of the EPC network-induced positioning request by determining the user equipment in the narrowband IoT satellite scenario and the approximate location information of the user equipment.

[0062] Step S320: The mobility management function entity generates a location verification request message based on the coarse location information, the type and quality of service of the requested location information, the identity of the serving cell where the user equipment is located, and the location information protocols that the user equipment can support.

[0063] Step S330: The mobility management function entity sends the location verification request message to the serving mobility positioning center and receives the location response message from the serving mobility positioning center in response to the location verification request message.

[0064] In step S340, the mobility management function entity determines whether the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirement based on the location response message, and when it is determined that the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirement, it verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message.

[0065] Under the premise described above, the Mobility Management Function Entity can send control information to the Radio Access Network, which can be achieved in the following way: when it is determined that the coarse location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, the Mobility Management Function Entity sends control information to the Radio Access Network.

[0066] In one exemplary embodiment, the location response message is used to indicate whether the location of the user equipment obtained by the serving mobile positioning center based on the coarse location information and / or serving cell identity in the location verification request message meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol.

[0067] In one exemplary embodiment, if the obtained location of the user equipment meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the location of the user equipment, so that the mobility management function entity verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message; if the obtained location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the reason why the location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, so that the mobility management function entity sends control information to the radio access network based on the location response message and verifies the location of the user equipment according to the accurate location report corresponding to the control information.

[0068] The following will combine Figure 4 Further explanation and clarification of the user equipment verification process.

[0069] Step S401, MME initiates EPC-NI-LR procedure: If an emergency connection or emergency PDN connection is detected, or if MME decides to perform location verification for a registered or recorded NB-IoT, LTE-M, or WB-EUTRAN satellite access UE through LCS service, then MME initiates the EPC-NI-LR procedure.

[0070] In step S402, the MME selects an E-SMLC and sends a location request message to the selected E-SMLC; wherein, the location request includes the requested location information type, the requested QoS, the serving cell identity, coarse location information (in the case of NB-IoT satellite access), and the UE's ability to support LPP;

[0071] In step S403, if the E-SMLC can satisfy the requested location information and location accuracy within the QoS based on the parameters received from the MME (such as cell identifier or coarse location information), the E-SMLC can immediately send a location response; at the same time, in the case of NB-IoT satellite access, if coarse location information is provided in the location request message, the E-SMLC should immediately send a location response message.

[0072] In step S404, the E-SMLC returns a location response message to the MME. This location response message indicates whether the obtained location estimate meets the requested accuracy. If the location estimate is not successfully obtained, the location response message will contain the cause of the failure. Furthermore, when the MME decides to verify the location (country or international region) of a UE registered or registered with NB-IoT, LTE-M, or WB-EUTRAN satellite access via the LCS service, if the accuracy requirement is met, the remaining steps are skipped; if the accuracy requirement is not met, the following steps are executed.

[0073] In step S405, if the location response message does not meet the accuracy requirements, the MME will send control information (e.g., Location Reporting Control information) to the RAN, indicating that the current coarse location information does not meet the accuracy requirements, and requesting the RAN to trigger the process of reporting the precise location of the user equipment. At the same time, the control information also includes the previously obtained coarse location information, the UE that should be identified for the precise location report, and other information, requesting the RAN to locate the precise location of the UE based on the coarse location information of the UE in the control information and generate the corresponding precise location report.

[0074] In step S406, the RAN determines the UE's location based on the received control information and the UE's coarse location information, triggering the reporting (feedback) of more accurate location information through the RAN; furthermore, during the generation of the accurate location report, the current (i.e., updated) TAI (Tracking Area Identifier) ​​information can be provided to the MME as part of the UE's accurate location report, and if the TAI where the UE is currently located can be determined, the TAI is also reported to the MME.

[0075] In step S407, the RAN sends a precise location report to notify the MME of the updated UE location information based on the precise location report; furthermore, the RAN provides all broadcast TAIs as part of the user location information to the MME; if the TAI where the UE is located can be determined (i.e., the updated TAI), the RAN will also report the TAI; and the cell and TAI reported by the RAN refer to the fixed cell and fixed TA where the UE is located; further still, as part of the user location information, the RAN will also report one or more TACs of the selected PLMN, but it cannot be guaranteed that the UE will always be located in one of these TACs; finally, the MME makes a judgment based on the received UE location to complete the UE location verification process in the satellite access scenario.

[0076] In step S408, the MME continues the EPC-NI-LR process as described in TS23.271 9.1.17 and reports the UE location to external clients, etc.

[0077] It should be added here that E-SMLC can generate location response messages based on corresponding algorithms or models. For example, the location of the user equipment, the type and quality of service of the requested location information, and the location information protocols supported by the user equipment can be input into the corresponding neural network model based on the coarse location information and the identity of the serving cell where the user equipment is located, to obtain the corresponding prediction results, and then determine whether the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements based on the prediction results.

[0078] Thus, the user equipment location verification method described in the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure has been fully implemented. Based on the foregoing description, it can be understood that the user equipment location verification method described in the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, for the UE location verification process in NB-IoT satellite access scenarios, solves the problem of EPC-NI-LR process failure due to insufficient UE location accuracy. By sending control information to the radio access network, it utilizes the RAN side to obtain more accurate location information, providing a UE location with sufficient accuracy. This supplements the NB-IoT satellite access UE location verification and EPC-NI-LR process, further improving the integrated air-space-ground system.

[0079] The following are embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein, which can be used to execute embodiments of the method disclosed herein. For details not disclosed in the apparatus embodiments of this disclosure, please refer to the embodiments of the method disclosed herein.

[0080] This disclosure also provides a location verification device for a user equipment through exemplary embodiments. Specifically, refer to... Figure 5 As shown, the location verification device for the user equipment may include a control information sending module 510. Specifically:

[0081] The control information transmission module is used in narrowband IoT satellite scenarios to enable the mobility management function entity to send control information to the wireless access network.

[0082] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information includes location reporting control information; the control information is used to indicate that the coarse location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements.

[0083] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information is used to request the wireless access network to execute a process in which the user equipment reports precise location information.

[0084] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the control information includes, but is not limited to, coarse location information of the user equipment and identification information of the user equipment; the control information is used to instruct the radio access network to determine the precise location information of the user equipment based on the coarse location information in the control information, and to provide a precise location report to the user equipment based on the precise location information.

[0085] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the precise location information includes the tracking area identifier where the user equipment is located after the location update and / or the global identifier of the E-UTRAN cell where the location update is located.

[0086] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location verification device for the user equipment further includes:

[0087] The location re-verification module is used to verify the location of the user equipment by means of the mobility management function entity based on the tracking area identifier and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier in the precise location information after the location update.

[0088] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the precise location information further includes the tracking area code of the public terrestrial mobile network where the user equipment is located, and the tracking area code of the public terrestrial mobile network includes one or more.

[0089] In an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location verification of the user equipment is implemented as follows: A Mobility Management Function (MMF) entity, in response to the initiation of an EPC network-induced location request, determines the user equipment in a narrowband IoT satellite scenario and the coarse location information of the user equipment; the MMF entity generates a location verification request message based on the coarse location information, the requested location information type and quality of service, the serving cell identity of the user equipment, and the location information protocols supported by the user equipment; the MMF entity sends the location verification request message to a Serving Mobility Positioning Center (SMC) and receives a location response message from the SMC in response to the location verification request message; the MMF entity determines whether the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements based on the location response message, and if it determines that the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements, verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message.

[0090] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, a mobility management function entity may send control information to a radio access network, including:

[0091] When the approximate location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, the mobility management function entity sends control information to the radio access network.

[0092] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the location response message is used to indicate whether the location of the user equipment obtained by the serving mobile positioning center based on the coarse location information and / or serving cell identity in the location verification request message meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol.

[0093] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, if the obtained location of the user equipment meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the location of the user equipment, so that the mobility management function entity verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message; if the obtained location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the reason why the location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, so that the mobility management function entity sends control information to the radio access network based on the location response message, and verifies the location of the user equipment according to the accurate location report corresponding to the control information.

[0094] The specific details of each module in the aforementioned user equipment location verification device have been described in detail in the corresponding user equipment location verification method, so they will not be repeated here.

[0095] It should be noted that although several modules or units for the device used to perform actions have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0096] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0097] In an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above-described method is also provided.

[0098] Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be specifically implemented in the following forms: a completely hardware implementation, a completely software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software aspects, collectively referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system."

[0099] The following reference Figure 6 To describe an electronic device 600 according to such an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 The electronic device 600 shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitation on the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0100] like Figure 6 As shown, the electronic device 600 is manifested in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device 600 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 610, at least one storage unit 620, a bus 630 connecting different system components (including storage unit 620 and processing unit 610), and a display unit 640.

[0101] The storage unit stores program code that can be executed by the processing unit 610, causing the processing unit 610 to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. For example, the processing unit 610 can perform actions such as... Figure 1 Step S110 shown: For narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network.

[0102] Storage unit 620 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as random access memory (RAM) 6201 and / or cache memory 6202, and may further include a read-only memory (ROM) 6203.

[0103] Storage unit 620 may also include a program / utility 6204 having a set (at least one) program module 6205, such program module 6205 including but not limited to: operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0104] Bus 630 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory cell bus or memory cell controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of the various bus structures.

[0105] Electronic device 600 can also communicate with one or more external devices 700 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), and with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 600, and / or with any device that enables electronic device 600 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 650. Furthermore, electronic device 600 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 660. As shown, network adapter 660 communicates with other modules of electronic device 600 via bus 630. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with electronic device 600, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0106] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, terminal device, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0107] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a program product capable of implementing the methods described above is stored. In some possible implementations, various aspects of this disclosure may also be implemented as a program product including program code that, when the program product is run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the steps of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above.

[0108] The program product for implementing the above-described method according to embodiments of the present disclosure may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In this document, the readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0109] The program product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. A readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0110] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0111] The program code contained on the readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0112] Program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's computing device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0113] Furthermore, the above figures are merely illustrative of the processes included in the method according to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure and are not intended to be limiting. It is readily understood that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. Additionally, it is readily understood that these processes may be executed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in multiple modules.

[0114] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention described herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not invented by this disclosure. The specification and embodiments are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for verifying the location of a user equipment, characterized in that, include: In narrowband IoT satellite scenarios, the mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network.

2. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control information includes location reporting control information; The control information is used to indicate that the user equipment's rough location information does not meet the accuracy requirements.

3. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control information is used to request the wireless access network to execute the process of user equipment reporting precise location information.

4. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control information includes, but is not limited to, the approximate location information of the user equipment and the identification information of the user equipment; The control information is used to instruct the wireless access network to determine the precise location information of the user equipment based on the coarse location information in the control information, and to provide a precise location report to the user equipment based on the precise location information.

5. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that, The precise location information includes the tracking area identifier where the user equipment is located after the location update and / or the global identifier of the E-UTRAN cell where the location update is located.

6. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 5, characterized in that, The location verification method for the user equipment further includes: The mobility management function entity verifies the location of the user equipment based on the tracking area identifier and / or the E-UTRAN cell global identifier in the precise location information after the location update.

7. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that, The precise location information also includes the tracking area code of the public land mobile network where the user equipment is located, and the tracking area code of the public land mobile network includes one or more.

8. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The location verification method for the user equipment further includes: The mobility management function entity responds to the activation of the EPC network-induced positioning request by determining the user equipment in the narrowband IoT satellite scenario and the approximate location information of the user equipment; The mobility management function entity generates a location verification request message based on the coarse location information, the type and quality of service of the requested location information, the identity of the serving cell where the user equipment is located, and the location information protocols that the user equipment can support; The mobility management function entity sends the location verification request message to the serving mobility positioning center and receives the location response message from the serving mobility positioning center in response to the location verification request message; The mobility management function entity determines whether the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements based on the location response message, and verifies the location of the user equipment based on the location response message when it determines that the coarse location information meets the accuracy requirements.

9. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The mobility management function entity can send control information to the radio access network, including: When the approximate location information of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements, the mobility management function entity sends control information to the radio access network.

10. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The location response message is used to indicate whether the location of the user equipment obtained by the serving mobile positioning center based on the coarse location information and / or serving cell identity in the location verification request message meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, service quality, and location information protocol.

11. The location verification method for user equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, If the obtained location of the user equipment meets the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, then the location response message includes the location of the user equipment, so that the mobility management function entity can verify the location of the user equipment based on the location response message. If the obtained location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol, the location response message includes the reason why the location of the user equipment does not meet the accuracy requirements corresponding to the requested location information type, quality of service, and location information protocol. This enables the mobility management function entity to send control information to the radio access network based on the location response message and to verify the location of the user equipment based on the accurate location report corresponding to the control information.

12. A location verification device for user equipment, characterized in that, include: The control information transmission module is used in narrowband IoT satellite scenarios to enable the mobility management function entity to send control information to the wireless access network.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the location verification method for user equipment as described in any one of claims 1-11.

14. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: processor; as well as Memory for storing the executable instructions of the processor; The processor is configured to execute the location verification method of any one of claims 1-11 by executing the executable instructions.

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