Method for determining whether to grant access of a user equipment to a radio access network

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for determining whether to grant access of a user equipment (UE) to a radio access network in a present position of the user equipment (UE) within a communications system. The communications system comprises a control node (N1, N2) handling services for the user equipment (UE) and an access node (AN1, AN2) controlling the access network. The method is initiated by receiving a request for service processing for the user equipment (UE) in the control node (N1, N2) with an identification of the user equipment (UE). A subscriber group information is determined for the user equipment (UE) according to the identification of the user equipment and sent to the access node (AN1, AN2). Furthermore, an area access information according to the present location of the user equipment (UE) is determined in the access node (AN1, AN2). The access granting of the user equipment (UE) to the radio access network is performed according to a logical combination of the subscriber group information and the area access information. A communication network, nodes and software programs embodying the invention are also described.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for determining whether to grant access of a user equipment to a radio access network in a present position of the user equipment within a communications system, the communications system comprising a control node handling services for the user equipment and an access node controlling the access network. A communication network, nodes and software programs embodying the invention are also described.[0002] The radio access networks of customary mobile communication systems comprise one or several base stations for the wireless connection to the user equipment and an access node which controls the base stations and connects them to the core network of the communication system. The access node can be for example a base station controller (BSC) as defined in GSM or a radio network controller (RNC) for a base station subsystem according to UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) specifications. The access node therefore administra...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to obviate the above disadvantages and provide a method for controlling the access of user equipment to a radio access system within a mobile communication system, which is effective and which is easy to implement.

[0011] For the proposed method, the amount of signaling of information between the control node and the access node is low because only few bits corresponding to the particular user need to be signaled while information, e.g. tables, required for the determination of user groups are needed only in the control nodes. A record representing roaming agreements of the operator can remain at a single or few locations in the communication system, especially in the control nodes. This simplifies significantly the updating of any changes. Also it is not necessary to implement an analysis function for the user identification in the access nodes while the existing analysis function in the control node can be used for determining subscriber groups. Finally, it is possible to use the proposed method instead of checking whether a user equipment in idle mode is authorized for access to the communication system or in case that a corresponding check fails. The processing load for the checks in the nodes can be reduced in this way at the expense of increased signaling for requests to forbidden services. This option is advantageous in case of a small fraction of requests for forbidden services.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the method, an operator identification is determined in the control node from the identification of the user equipment and the subscriber group information is determined according to the operator identification. In this way, operator agreements can easily be transformed into data which can be processed in the communication system. Especially, an information on the roaming agreements for the operators can be stored, e.g. in the control node or in a central database accessible to the control node, and the subscriber group information is determined according to the information on the roaming agreements.

[0014] It is also possible to store the subscriber group information in the control node or in a user record of a VLR associated with the control node to avoid a repeated calculation or in the access node to reduce the signaling. The determined subscriber group information can then be retrieved for any further determination of an access granting to the user equipment reducing the processing and / or signaling load.

[0018] Preferably, the granting or denial of access is determined in the access node. This avoids the circumvention of access restrictions by the user equipment and is especially efficient to achieve a low amount of signaling in the communication system.

[0019] Alternatively, the subscriber group information and the area access information can be transmitted to the user equipment and the access granting is determined in the user equipment. This can avoid any unnecessary signaling due to access attempts in case of forbidden access.

Problems solved by technology

However, no mechanism for shared networks and mobiles in connected mode exists so far.

Images