Reference user equipment selection for dynamic geofencing
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-01-28
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-13
Smart Images
Figure EP2026052184_13082026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
REFERENCE USER EQUIPMENT SELECTION FOR DYNAMIC GEOFENCINGTechnical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, user equipment (UE), system and computer program for selection of a reference UE for a dynamic geofence.
[0002] Background
[0003] Location management (LM) is a service that may be provided on a service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) of a communication network. LM may be utilized in relation to one or more vertical applications that are provided over a vertical application layer (VAL) of the communication network.
[0004] The vertical application service may be related to, limited to, or otherwise dependent on, a particular location, referred to in the present disclosure as an area of interest (AOI). The boundaries of the AOI may be referred to as a “geofence”. A geofence may be static, meaning that the location of the geofence does not change over time and may be defined utilizing, for example, a particular geolocation, such as global positioning system (GPS) coordinate(s).
[0005] In other examples, a geofence may be dynamic, which geofences are referred to as a dynamic geofence. The location of a dynamic geofence may change over time. A dynamic geofence may be defined relative to the location of a reference device, such as a user equipment (UE) that is connected to a communication network over which the vertical application service is provided. The dynamic geofence may be defined at any given time in terms of a proximity range from the current location of the reference device such as, for example, a circular or other polygonal shape of a particular size centered at the location of the reference device. Thus, as the location of the reference device changes, the location of the dynamic geofence changes as well.
[0006] An example of a situation in which a dynamic geofence may be utilized is a transportation vehicle, such as a bus, where a device on the vehicle such as, for example, the driver’s mobile device or a device incorporated into the vehicle itself, may act as the reference device that is used to define a dynamic geofence that moves with the vehicle. Passengers boarding and exiting the vehicle can be tracked based on their devices entering and leaving the dynamic geofence. In this example, for example, students on a school bus can be tracked via their devices to keep a record of where they boarded and exited theschool bus, or particular services, such as entertainment services, could be provided to passengers via their devices when they are on board the vehicle. In another example, a mobile vendor, such as a food truck, that moves from location to location may wish to attract customers nearby. In this example, a device within the food truck, such as the operator’s mobile device or a device incorporated into the food truck itself, may act as the reference UE to define a dynamic geofence around the vicinity of the food truck. A marketing or advertising service may utilize the dynamic geofence to transmit advertising for the food truck to devices located within the dynamic geofence.
[0007] Improvements to dynamic geofencing are desirable.
[0008] Summary
[0009] The present disclosure relates to selection of a reference user equipment (UE) that may be utilized in a location service to define the location of a dynamic geofence, such as a dynamic geofence utilized for providing a vertical application service. In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, UEs transmit capability information of the UE and a willingness indication to a location management server (LMS) that provides the location service, and the LMS may utilize the capability information and willingness indications to identify a potential reference UE that is capable of, and willing to, act as the reference UE. The LMS may then transmit a request to act as the reference UE to the potential reference UE and, in response to receiving a consent indication indicating that the potential reference UE consents to act as the reference UE, the LMS establishes a dynamic geofence utilizing the location of the potential reference UE.
[0010] In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus, the apparatus comprising means for receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network: capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, and a willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE, identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communicationnetwork, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
[0011] In accordance with a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method comprising receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network: capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, and a willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE, identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
[0012] In accordance with a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the computer program by at least one processor of an apparatus of a communication network that causes the apparatus to perform receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network: capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, and a willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE, identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
[0013] In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, whenexecuted by at least one processor of an apparatus causes the apparatus to perform receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network: capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, and a willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE, identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
[0014] In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network: capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, and a willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE, identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
[0015] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, for each respective UE of the at least one of the plurality of UEs, receiving the capability information comprises receiving a request to register with the LMS for the location services, the request to register comprising the capability information, orcomprises receiving a request to re-register with the LMS for the location services, the request to re-register comprising the capability information.
[0016] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, further comprising determining, based on the capability information received from each respective UE of the at least one UE of the plurality of UEs, a subset of the plurality of UEs that are capable of acting as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the subset of the plurality of UEs that are capable of acting as the reference UE, a request for the willingness indication indicating a willingness to act as the reference UE, wherein receiving the willingness indication comprising receiving a response to the request for the willingness indication, the response comprising the willingness indication.
[0017] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the capability information includes one or more of: a capability indication indicating that the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, a time period over which the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, battery information that indicates a remaining charge of a battery of the UE, a battery indication indicating that the remaining charge the battery of the UE meets or exceeds a threshold for the UE to act as the reference UE, signal quality information indicating a quality of a signal at the UE from the communication network, or mobility information indicating an expected mobility of the UE.
[0018] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the willingness indication includes a time duration during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE, and identifying the first UE from the at least one or more of the plurality of UEs is based on the time durations received from each respective UE of the at least one of the plurality of UEs.
[0019] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the willingness indication includes a criteria that is to be met for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE, and identifying the first UE from the at least one or more of the plurality of UEs comprises determining that the criteria is met for the first UE.
[0020] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the criteria is that the UE has an active protocol data unit (PDU) session established with the wireless communication network.
[0021] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the request for the first UE to act as the reference UE includes a first time periodduring which the first UE is requested to act as the reference UE, and establishing the dynamic geofence comprises establishing the dynamic geofence based on the location of the first UE during the first time period.
[0022] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, the request for the first UE to act as the reference UE includes a second time period and, in response to receiving a consent indication from the first UE indicating that the first UE does not consent to acting the refence UE during the second time period, the operations further comprising identifying a second UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the capability information and the willingness indication, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the second UE, a request for the second UE to act as the reference UE, the request for the second UE to act as the reference UE including the second time period during which the second UE is requested to act as the reference UE, and in response to receiving, from the second UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the second UE consents to acting as the reference UE during the second time period, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the second UE during the second time period.
[0023] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, in response to receiving, from the first UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE does not consent to acting as the reference UE, the operations further comprising identifying a second UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication or the capability information is received, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the second UE, a request for the second UE to act as the reference UE, in response to receiving, from the second UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the second UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the second UE.
[0024] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, further comprising determining that an initial UE acting as the reference UE is no longer available to act as the reference UE, wherein the identifying the first UE is performed in response to determining that the initial UE is no longer available to act as the reference UE.
[0025] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, determining that the initial UE is no longer available to act as the reference UEcomprises one or more of determining that a current time is outside of a time period over which the initial UE is willing to act as a reference UE, determining that a criteria for the initial UE to be the reference UE is no longer met, receiving from the initial UE, via the wireless communication network, an indication indicating that the initial UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE, receiving, from an access and mobility control function (AMF) of the wireless communication network, a notification that the initial UE is out of a coverage area of the wireless communication network or de-registered from the wireless communication network, or receiving, from the initial UE via the wireless communication network, capability information related to a capability of the initial UE and determining, based on the capability information related to the capability of the initial UE, that the initial UE is no longer capable of acting as the reference UE.
[0026] In some or all examples of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects, identifying the first UE is based on a location of the first UE being within a threshold distance of a location of the initial UE.
[0027] In accordance with a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment comprising means for transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a willingness indication indicating the willingness, receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE, determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE, and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
[0028] In accordance with an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of a user equipment, the method comprising transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a willingness indication indicating the willingness, receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE, determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE, andtransmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
[0029] In accordance with a nineth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the computer program by at least one processor of a user equipment causes the user equipment to perform transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a willingness indication indicating the willingness, receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE, determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE, and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
[0030] In accordance with a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment causes the user equipment to perform transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a willingness indication indicating the willingness, receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE, determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE, and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
[0031] In accordance with an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform operations, the operations comprising: transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, awillingness indication indicating the willingness, receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE, determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE, and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
[0032] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, transmitting the capability information comprises transmitting a request to register with the LMS for the location service, the request to register comprising the capability information, or comprises transmitting a request to re-register with the LMS for the location service, the request to re-register comprising the capability information.
[0033] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, further comprising receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request for a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, wherein transmitting the willingness indication comprises transmitting a response to the request for a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, the response comprising the willingness indication.
[0034] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, the capability information includes one or more of: a capability indication indicating that the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, a time period over which the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, battery information that indicates a remaining charge of a battery of the UE, a battery indication indicating that the remaining charge the battery of the UE meets or exceeds a threshold for the UE to act as the reference UE, signal quality information indicating a quality of a signal at the UE from the communication network, or mobility information indicating an expected mobility of the UE.
[0035] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE includes determining a time period during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE, and transmitting the willingness indication includes transmitting the time duration.
[0036] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, transmitting the willingness indication includes transmitting a criteria for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE.
[0037] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, the criteria is that the UE has an active protocol data unit (PDU) sessionestablished with the wireless communication network.
[0038] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, the request for the UE to act as the reference UE includes a time period during which the UE is requested to act as the reference UE, and determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE comprises determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE during the time period.
[0039] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, further comprising determining that the UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE, and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, an updated willingness indication, the updated willingness indication indicating that the UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE.
[0040] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, further comprising receiving, from the wireless communication network, incentive information which indicates an incentive for the UE to act as the reference UE, wherein determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE and / or determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE is based on the incentive information.
[0041] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE or determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE comprises determining that an input via an input device of the UE is received that indicates a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE or indicates consent to act as the reference UE, or determining that a preconfigured setting of the UE indicates a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE.
[0042] In some or all examples of the seventh, eighth, nineth, tenth and eleventh aspects, transmitting the consent indication comprises transmitting a consent indication indicating the UE consents to acting as the reference UE, the method further comprising disabling an idle state or an inactive state of the UE while acting as the reference UE.
[0043] The above summary provides a basic understanding of some aspects of the present disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present disclosure. Nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of example implementations in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
[0044] Brief Description of the Drawings
[0045] Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings which show example implementations of the present application, and in which:
[0046] FIG. l is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system for providing location services in accordance with an example implementation.
[0047] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the physical and logical components of an apparatus in accordance with an example implementation.
[0048] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating physical and logical components of a user equipment in accordance with an example implementation.
[0049] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for a location management server in accordance with example implementation.
[0050] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of a user equipment in accordance with example implementation.
[0051] FIGs. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing operations in example procedures in accordance with example implementations.
[0052] Similar reference numerals may have been used in different figures to denote similar components. Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
[0053] Detailed Description
[0054] The subject matter is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example implementations are shown. However, many different example implementations may be used, and thus the description should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these example implementations are provided so that this application will be thorough and complete. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same elements, and prime notation is used to indicate similar elements, operations or steps in alternative example implementations. Separate boxes or illustrated separation of logical elements of illustrated systems and devices does not necessarily require physical separation of such logical elements, as communication between such logical elements may occur by way of messaging, function calls, shared memory space, and so on, without any such physical separation. As such, logical elements need not be implemented in physically or logically separated platforms, although such logical elements are illustrated separately for ease of explanation herein. Different devices may have different designs, such thatalthough some devices implement some logical elements in hardware, other devices may implement such logical elements in a programmable processor with code obtained from a machine-readable medium. Lastly, elements referred to in the singular may be plural and vice versa, except wherein indicated otherwise either explicitly or inherently by context.
[0055] References in the present disclosure to “one implementation,” “an implementation,” “an example implementation,” and the like indicate that the implementation described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every implementation includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same implementation. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an implementation, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other implementations whether or not explicitly described.
[0056] Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for providing location services in relation to a vertical application is shown. The example system 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 101 that is configured to communicate with a data network 102 via a communication network 104. The communication network 104 includes an access network 106 and a core network 108 that includes one or more network functions 110.
[0057] The data network 102 includes one or more vertical application layer (VAL) servers 112 that are configured to provide services associated with the vertical application to a VAL client 114 of the UE 101. The VAL client 114 communicates with the VAL server(s) 112 over a VAL of the communication network 104 via a VAL-UU reference point. The data network 102 also includes one or more location management servers (LMS) 116 that are configured to provide location services to a location management client (LMC) 118 of the UE 101, as well as, in some implementations, the VAL client 114 and / or the VAL server(s) 112. The LMC 118 communicates with the LMS 116 over a service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) of the communication network 104 via a SEAL-UU reference point.
[0058] The access network 106 provides wireless connectivity (e.g., radio connectivity) to the UE 101 and connects the UE 101 to the core network 104 via a backhaul network. The access network 106 may comprise a Radio Access Network (RAN), a non-terrestrial network (e.g., a satellite network), a wireless local area network (WLAN) or any other type of network that provides wireless connectivity to the UE 101 and connects the UE 101 to the core network 108. The access network 106 provideswireless connectivity (e.g., radio connectivity) to the UE 101 via at least one access node of the access network 106. For example, an access node of the access network 106 may be a radio access node and may provide radio connectivity to the UE 101. A radio access node may comprise a gNodeB (gNB), an ng-eNodeB (ng-eNB)), an eNodeB (eNB). The access node of the access network 106 may be an access point, such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point and may provide wireless connectivity to the UE 101. In some implementations, the access node of the access network 106 may be an access point that provides wired connectivity to the UE 101 (generally referred to as fixed access). The backhaul network between the access network 106 and the core network 108 may comprises a fixed network, a satellite network, or a combination thereof. The core network 108 connects the access network 106 with a data network (DN) 102 via a N6 interface (not shown) of the core network 108. As noted above, the core network comprises network functions (NF) 110 (generally referred to a network function 110 and collectively referred to as network functions 110). Each respective network function 110 may be implemented as a software running on dedicated hardware (e.g., one or more physical computing devices, such as servers), as a virtualized network function (VNF) instantiated using network function virtualization software implemented on a physical computing device, or as a container provided by infrastructure of a cloud computing system. Data network 102 may be an external public network, a private data network, or an intra-operator data network (e.g., for providing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services). The UE 101 (otherwise referred to herein as a mobile terminal) may be configured to access the access network 106, register with the core network 108, establish one or more data sessions with the core network 108, and access services provided by the core network 108 and / or application functions hosted on application servers of the data network 102, including the VAL server(s) 112 and the LMS 116.
[0059] Each NF 110 of the core network 108 may provide one or more services to other network functions 110 of the core network 108 via a service-based interface (SBI). Network functions of the core network 108 may also provide one or more services to application servers of the data network 102 such as, for example, the VAL server(s) 112 via the N6 interface (not shown) as described previously. Network functions of the core network 108 may also provide one or more services to servers of the SEAL layer, such as the LMS 116, via a north bound interface (NBI) (not shown). Each service-based interface (SBI) enables communication between two NFs 110. A SBI is the communication mechanism between these NFs. A SBI uses web-based protocols and principles, primarilyHTTP / 2 and RESTful Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), to facilitate interaction. Each NF 110 can also register itself and the services it supports (e.g., the services it offers (e.g., provides) to other network functions) to a particular NF 110 responsible for acting as a repository for the services of all other NFs 110, such as a network repository function (NRF) of the core network 108. The NRF may be used by any network function 110 to discover other network functions 110 (or instances of NFs 110) and the services the other NFs 110 support (e.g., services the other NFs provide). Any NF 110 may consume (e.g., use) the services provided and exposed by another NF 110. A NF 110 that consumes a service of another network function is generally referred to as a network function service consumer (NFc). A network function 110 that provides and exposes one or more of its services is referred to as a network function service producer (NFp).
[0060] FIG. 2 shows physical and logical components of an exemplary apparatus 200 that may be utilized to implement a location management server of a data network, such as the example LMS 116 of data network 104 described previously, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Although an example implementation of the apparatus 200 is shown and discussed below, other apparatus may be used to implement examples of the LMS disclosed herein, which may include logical and physical components that are different from those shown in FIG. 2. Also, although FIG. 2 shows a single instance of each logical and / or physical component of the apparatus 200, there may be multiple instances of each logical and / or physical component shown in FIG. 2.
[0061] The apparatus 200 includes one or more processors 202, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated logic circuitry, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a tensor processing unit, a neural processing unit, a dedicated artificial intelligence processing unit, a hardware accelerator, a quantum processor, or any combinations thereof. The one or more processors 202 may generally be referred to as processor 202 and collectively be referred to as processors 202.
[0062] The apparatus 200 also includes one or more memories 204 (generally referred to a memory 204 and collectively referred to herein as “memories 204”), which may include volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, a random-access memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)). Memory 204 may store machineexecutable instructions for execution by at least one of the one or more processors 202. For example, the machine-executable instructions 206 of a LMS described herein is shown stored in the memory 204, which may be executed by at least one of the one or moreprocessors 202, cause the apparatus 200 to perform the operations of the LMS described herein. The memory 204, in addition to the machine-executable instructions 206 may store data, information, rules, and / or policies.
[0063] In some examples, the apparatus 200 may also include one or more electronic storage units (not shown), such as a solid-state drive, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive and / or an optical disk drive. In some examples, one or more datasets and / or modules may be provided by an external memory (e.g., an external drive in wired or wireless communication with the apparatus 200) or may be provided by a transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include a RAM, a ROM, an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a CD-ROM, or other portable memory storage. The storage units and / or external memory may be used in conjunction with memory 204 to implement data storage, retrieval, and caching functions of the apparatus 200.
[0064] The processor 202 and memory 204 of the apparatus 200 may communicate with each other via a communication bus, for example. In some implementations, the apparatus 200 may be a distributed computing system that includes multiple computing devices (e.g., servers) in communication with each other over a data network, as well as optionally one or more additional components. The various operations described herein may be performed by different computing devices (e.g., servers) of a distributed computing system in some implementations. In some implementations, the apparatus 200 is a virtual machine provided by the infrastructure (e.g., a hypervisor, processors, and memories) of a cloud computing system.
[0065] Referring to FIG. 3, an example of user equipment 300 is shown that may be utilized to implement the example UE 101 of the example system 100 described previously. Although FIG. 3 shows a single instance of each physical and / or logical component of the user equipment 300, the user equipment 300 may include multiple instances of each physical and / or logical component shown in FIG. 3.
[0066] User equipment 300 may be any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples of a user equipment include a mobile station (MS), a mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a ’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of things (loT)type communication device, an unmanned vehicle (UV) provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combinations of these.
[0067] The user equipment 300 also includes one or more processors 301, one or more memories 302 (collectively referred to as memory 302) and other components or circuitry 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of operations the user equipment 300 is configured to perform, including control of access to and communications with access networks (e.g., the access network 106 illustrated in FIG. 1). The processor 301 is coupled to the memory 302. The one or more processors 301 may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, multicore processor, a tensor processing unit (TPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU), a dedicated logic circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated artificial intelligence processing unit, a hardware accelerator, a quantum processor, or any combinations thereof. The memory 302 may include a volatile or nonvolatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, a random-access memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)).
[0068] The processor 301 may be configured to execute software code 308 (e.g., the processor may execute instructions of the software code 308). The execution of the software code 308 (or the execution of the instructions of the software code) may for example cause the user equipment 300 to perform one or more operations, including the operations described herein with respect to FIG. 5. The software code 308 may be stored in memory 302. The software code 308 may include instructions for the operations of a VAL client, such as the example VAL client 114 of the example UE 101 described previously, and a location management client 118, such as the example location management client 118 of the example UE 101 described previously.
[0069] The user equipment 300 also include an antenna array 304 and a transceiver 306 for transmitting wireless signals (e.g., radio signals) to access nodes of an access network (e.g., a radio access network node of a RAN) and / or receiving wireless signals from access nodes of an access network (e.g., a radio access network node of a RAN) over an air interface 307. The wireless signals (e.g., radio signals) may carry communications, such as voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia data, and / or machine data. The antenna array 304 may be arranged internally or externally to the user equipment 300. The antenna array 304 may comprise one or more antenna elements. The antenna array 304 may be a multi -input multi output (MIMO) antenna.
[0070] The processor 301, the at least one memory 302, the transceiver 306 andother components or circuitry 303 of the user equipment 300 (e.g., a modem) can be provided on a circuit board, in chipsets, or in a system on chip (SOC). The circuit board, chipsets or SOC is denoted by reference 310 in FIG. 3. User equipment 300 may optionally include an input device 305, such as a keyboard, a keypad, or a touch-sensitive display device. The user equipment 300 also includes a battery (not shown). The user equipment 300 may also include a speaker (not shown) and a microphone (not shown). The user equipment 300 may also include a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) (not shown) or an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) (not shown).
[0071] Referring now to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a method of a LMS, for example, the LMS 116 of the data network 102 shown in FIG. 1, is shown. The method illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 4 may be utilized by the LMS to identify a potential reference UE based on capability information and willingness indications received from UEs, then request that the identified potential reference UE act as the reference UE.
[0072] At 402, the LMS receives, via a wireless communication network, capability information from at least one of a plurality of UEs that are served by the wireless communication network, such as the example wireless communication network 104 shown in FIG. 1. The capability information may be received from, for example, a location management client of each of the UEs.
[0073] In some implementations, the capability information is received from the UE during registration or re-registration of the UE with the LMS for location services. In such implementations, the capability information may be included in a request to register or re-register the UE with the LMS for location services, as the case may be, with the LMS for the location services. In some implementations, the UE may be configured to transmit capability information to the LMS periodically, aperiodically, and / or in response to detection of a triggering event.
[0074] The capability information received at 402 may be any information that is related to, or that may be relevant to, the capability of the UE to act as a reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS. In some implementations, the capability information may include one or more of: a capability indication indicating that the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, a time period over which the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE, battery information that indicates a remaining charge of the battery of the UE, a battery indication indicating that the remaining charge the battery of the UE meets or exceeds a threshold for the UE to act as the reference UE such as, for example, a threshold of at least 30% battery chargeremaining, signal quality information indicating a quality of a signal at the UE from the communication network, or mobility information indicating an expected mobility of the UE, i.e., mobility of the UE outside of its current location, (e.g., current coverage area of the wireless communication network, or current cell of the wireless communication network, or other pre-defined area such as a geofenced area).
[0075] Capability information received at 402 may include radio capability information. Radio capability information is information that relates to any of: a UE category of the UE that defines data rates at which the UE is capable of receiving data and processing limits of the UE, supported radio technologies of the UE, supported frequency bands of the UE, whether the UE supports separate uplink and downlink frequencies, a carrier aggregation capability which indicates how many component carriers and frequency bands the UE can aggregate, a maximum bandwidth the UE can support per radio band, the number of downlink and uplink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers that the UE supports, whether the UE supports beam management and / or beam switching, whether the UE supports dual connectivity, whether the UE supports moving between different types of access networks such as 5G standalone (SA), 5G non-standalone (NSA), long term evolution (LTE), and legacy networks, measurement capabilities of the UE related to how the UE measure signal quality for handovers, whether the UE is a low-power reduced capability (RedCap) device, whether the UE supports power saving modes such as extended sleep modes, and whether the UE has functionality to reduce power consumption by reducing activity listening periods.
[0076] In some implementations, the UE may transmit at least some of the capability information in the form of periodic measurement reports transmitted to the LMS, the periodic measurement reports including an indication of the strength of the radio signal received at the UE from the access network of the wireless communication network.
[0077] Optionally at 404, the LMS determines that an initial reference UE, i.e., a UE that has previously been acting as the reference UE, is no longer available or willing to act as the reference UE. In some implementations, some or all of the further steps of optionally requesting a willingness indication and / or identifying a potential reference UE are performed in response to determining at the initial reference UE is no longer available or willing to act as the reference UE. The determination that the initial reference UE is no longer available or willing to act as the reference UE at 404 may be performed in any suitable manner including, for example, one or more of determining that a current time is outside of a time period over which the initial reference UE indicated when the UE hasconsented to act as the reference UE, determining that a criteria for the initial reference UE to act as the reference UE is no longer met or will no longer be met in the future, receiving from the initial reference UE, via the wireless communication network, an indication indicating that the initial reference UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE, receiving, from an access and mobility control function (AMF) of the wireless communication network, a notification that the initial reference UE is out of a coverage area of the wireless communication network or is de-registered from the wireless communication network, or receiving, from the initial reference UE via the wireless communication network, capability information related to a capability of the initial reference UE and determining, based on the capability information that the initial reference UE is no longer capable, or will no longer be capable in the future, of acting as the reference UE.
[0078] Optionally at 406, the LMS determines based on the capability information a subset of the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which capability information is received at 402 that are capable of acting as the reference UE, and transmitting via the wireless communication network to the UEs of the subset a request for a willingness indication from the UEs indicating the willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE. The LMS may determine based on the capability information whether a UE is capable of acting as the reference UE in any suitable manner including, for example, comparing the capability information received from the UE to a set of minimum requirements for acting as a reference UE.
[0079] At 408, the LMS receives via the wireless communication network from at the at least one of the plurality of UEs, a willingness indication that indicates the willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE. In some implementations in which the LMS sends a request for the willingness indication at 406, the willingness indication may be received in a response to the request transmitted by the LMS. Alternatively, or additionally in other implementations, the UE may transmit the willingness indication in the absence of a request from the LMS. For example, the UE may transmit the willingness indication together with, or separately from, the capability information in, for example, a request to register, or re-register, with the LMS for the location service, or may transmit the willingness indication periodically, aperiodically, or in response to detection of a triggering event.
[0080] In some implementations, the willingness indication may include a time period during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE. Alternatively, oradditionally, in some implementations the willingness indication may include a criteria that is to be met for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE such as, for example, that the UE has an active protocol data unit (PDU) session established with the wireless communication network.
[0081] In some implementations, the LMS may maintain a list of UEs that are capable of acting as the reference UE and that have transmitted to the LMS a willingness indication indicating that the UE is willing to act as the reference UE. This list may be stored and utilized to determine a new reference UE when an initial reference UE is no longer willing or able to act as the reference UE, for example, if the LMS determines that the initial reference UE is no longer able to act at 404.
[0082] At 410, the LMS identifies a potential reference UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs based on the capability information and the willingness information. The potentially reference UE may be identified as a UE that is both capable of acting as the reference UE and has indicating it is willing to act as the reference UE. If the willingness indication included a time period for which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE, then identifying the potential reference UE may include determining that the time period the UE indicated it is willing to act as the reference UE matches a time period for which a new reference UE is needed. If the willing indication included a criteria to be met for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE, then the identifying at 410 may include determining whether the criteria is met. For example, if the criteria is that the UE has an active PDU session established with the communication network, then identifying at 410 may include messaging with, for example, a network function of the wireless communication network, such as for example, an access and mobility control function (AMF) to determine whether the UE is registered with, or is out of coverage of, the wireless communication system, or a session management function (SMF) to determine whether the UE has an active PDU session established.
[0083] In some implementations, identifying a potential reference UE at 410 may include identifying multiple potential reference UEs. For example, the time periods included with willingness indications for any one of the UEs may not be sufficient to cover the time period for which a reference UE is required. In this case, the LMS may identify different potential reference UEs for different time periods such that, between the different potential reference UEs, the entire time period for which a reference UE is required has an associated potential reference UE.
[0084] In some implementations, when two or more UEs are capable and willingto act as the reference UE, the LMS may identify one of the two or more UEs as the potential reference UE. For example, the LMS may rank the two or more UEs based on the capability information and / or the willingness indication and identify the UE having the highest ranking as the potential reference UE. For example, all other attributes of the two or more UEs being equal, a UE having a greater amount of battery charge remaining may be ranking higher than a UE with a lower amount of battery charge remaining, and / or a UE that has indicated a longer time period over which it is willing to act as the reference UE may be ranked higher than a UE that has indicated a shorter time period over which it is willing to act as the reference UE, and / or a UE having a better signal strength or signal quality measurement may be ranked higher than a UE having a worse signal strength or signal quality measurement.
[0085] In some implementations in which identifying a potential reference UE is performed in response to determining that the initial reference UE is no longer available or willing to act as a reference UE at 404, identifying the potential reference UE may be further based on identifying the potential reference UE being in a same location as the initial reference UE. For example, the LMS may only consider a UE as the potential reference UE if its location is within a threshold distance of the location of the initial reference UE.
[0086] At 412, the LMS transmits to the potential reference UE identified at 410, via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE. The request may include a time period over which the LMS is requesting the potential reference UE to act as the reference UE.
[0087] At 414, the LMS receives a consent indication from the potential reference UE via the wireless communication network. The consent indication indicates whether or not the potential reference UE consents to acting as the reference UE. The consent indication may be included in a response to the response transmitted by the LMS at 412. In some implementations, when the consent indication indicates that the potential reference UE consents to acting as the reference UE, the consent indication may include a time period over which the potential reference UE consents to acting as the reference UE. For example, the time period included in the consent indication may be different than a time period included in the request transmitted at 412. For example, the time period in the consent indication may be the same as the time period included in the request transmitted at 412, or may include only a portion of the time period included in the request transmitted at 412, or may extend beyond the time period in the request transmitted at 412.
[0088] At 416, if the consent indication received at 414 indicates that the UE does not consent to acting as the reference UE, i.e., “NO” at 416, then the method may proceed back to 410 and a new potential reference UE is identified and a further request is transmitted to the new potential reference UE at 412.
[0089] If the consent indication received at 414 indicates that the UE does consent to acting as the reference UE, then the method continues to 418 and the LMS establishes a dynamic geofence based on the location of the potential reference UE.
[0090] In some implementations, once the consent indication is received at 414, the UE may configure itself to act as the reference UE including, for example, by configuring itself to remain in a state that is actively connected to the wireless communication network, such as a connection management-connected (CM-connected) state, by, for example, disabling the ability of the UE to move into an idle state, such as a CM-idle state, an inactive state, such as a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, while the UE is acting as the reference UE.
[0091] Establishing the dynamic geofence may include receiving the location of the reference UE and defining the dynamic geofence as a proximity range from the location of the reference UE such as, for example, a circular or other polygonal shape of a particular size centered at the location of the reference UE. The LMS will continue to receive the location of the reference UE over time such that location of the dynamic geofence may change over time as the location of the reference UE changes. In some implementations, the shape and / or size of the dynamic geofence may vary as the location of the reference UE changes. For example, when the reference UE is at a first location, the dynamic geofence may be defined as a circular region having a radius of 50 m centered at the location of the refence UE, and when the reference UE is at a second location, the dynamic geofence may be defined as, for example, a circular region having a radius of 70 m centered at the location of the reference UE.
[0092] In some examples, the LMS may establish, within the wireless communication network, such as with a charging function (CHF) of the wireless communication network, incentives that are provided by the wireless communication network to UEs that act as reference UEs. Incentives may include, for example, additional bandwidth for the UE, or a discount in the monthly billing to the UE. In these examples, the LMS may transmit the identity of the reference UE at 420 to a network function, such as, for example, a network exposure function (NEF), the wireless communication network such that the wireless communication network can provide the reference UE with theincentive. The LMS may also, in addition to transmitting the identity of the reference UE, may transmit a request to update the subscription data of the reference UE in order to provide the incentive to the reference UE. For example, the LMS may utilize the existing procedure for NEF service operations information flow, such as, for example, the procedure defined in clause 4.15.6.2 of V19.1 3GPP TS 23.502 which enables an external application function (AF), such as the LSM, to update the subscription data, to reflect provide the incentive to the reference UE. The NEF would then, for example, indicate to the CHF that the subscription data for the identified UE be updated as requested by the LMS in order to provide the incentive to the reference UE.
[0093] Referring now to FIG. 5, a flowchart of a method of a user equipment, for example the user equipment 101 shown in FIG. 1, is shown.
[0094] At 502, the UE transmits capability information of the UE to a location management server (LMS) via the wireless communication network, such as the example LMS 116 shown in FIG. 1. The capability information may be any information that is related to the capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS. The capability information transmitted by the UE to the LMS at 502 may be substantially similar to the capability information received by the LMS as described previously with reference to 402 of FIG. 4 and is therefore not described further here to avoid repetition.
[0095] In some implementations, the capability information may be transmitted at 502 in a request to register, or re-registration, with the LMS for a location service.Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may transmit the capability information periodically, aperiodically, or in response to detection of a triggering event. In some implementations, the UE may transmit at least some of the capability information in the form of periodic measurement reports transmitted to the LMS, the periodic measurement reports including an indication of the strength of the radio signal received at the UE from the access network of the wireless communication network.
[0096] Optionally at 504, the UE may receive from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request for a willingness to act as a reference UE. As described previously with reference to 406 of FIG. 4, in some implementations, the LMS may transmit a request for a willingness to UEs that the LMS determines, based on the capability information, are capable of acting as the reference UE. The request for a willingness indication received by the UE at 504 may be substantially similar to the request described previously with reference to 406 of FIG. 4.
[0097] At 506, the UE determines a willingness to act as the reference UE. The UE may determine its willingness in any suitable manner. In some implementations, a location management client installed on the UE may prompt the user of the UE via a user interface of the UE to input whether or not the UE is willing to act as a reference UE and, in some implementations, how long the UE is willing to act as the reference UE. In examples in which an incentive is provided by the wireless communication network to reference UEs, information associated with the incentive may be included in the prompt, or together with the prompt, such as a description of the incentive that is provided. In such implementations, the UE determines a willingness to act as reference UE based on the input received from the user via the user interface. In other implementations, the UE may be preconfigured with a willingness to act as a reference UE. For example, the UE may include a reference UE setting in the settings of the UE, such as settings associated with the location management services client of the UE, that may be selected as “true” or “false”, and in some implementations, if “true” is selected for the reference UE setting, a time period for being willing to act as the reference UE and / or a criteria that must be met for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE may be input or selected with the settings such as from, for example, a drop down menu provided in the user interface of the UE.
[0098] At 508, the UE transmits to the LMS via the wireless communication network a willingness indication that indicates the willingness that is determined at 506. In examples in which the request for a willingness is received at 504, the willingness indication may be transmitted in a response to the request. In some implementations, the willingness indication may be transmitted in a request to register, or re-register, with the LMS for the location service provided by the LMS, or may be transmitted periodically, aperiodically, or in response to the detection of a triggering event. The willingness indication may be transmitted together with, or separately from, the capability information transmitted at 502. The willingness indication may include a time period during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE, and / or may include a criteria to be met in order for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE such as, for example, the UE having an active PDU session established with the wireless communication network.
[0099] At 510, a request to act as the reference UE is received from the LMS. In some implementations, the request may include a time period for which the LMS is requesting the UE to act as the reference UE. The request received at 510 may be substantially similar to the request transmitted by the LMS to the UE as describedpreviously with reference to 412 of FIG. 4.
[0100] Optionally at 512, the UE may receive incentive information that indicates an incentive to act as the reference UE. The incentive information may be received from the wireless communication network, or may be received from the LMS. For example, the request received at 510 may include the incentive information. In some implementations, the incentive information may have been received prior to determining a willingness to act at 506 such that the determination at 506 is based on the incentive information.
[0101] At 514, the UE determines whether to act as the reference UE. The determination at 514 may be similar to the determination of the willingness to act as a reference UE at 506 as described previously. For example, similar to 506, the determination at 514 may be based on input from the user via a user interface indicating whether or not to act as the reference UE, or may be based on configuration of the UE via, for example, the settings such as, for example, a reference UE setting. In examples in which the request received at 510 includes a time period over which the UE is requested to act as the reference UE, the determination at 514 may be based on whether the UE is available or willing to act as the reference UE for the time period. In implementations in which incentive information is provided to the UE, the incentive information may be included in a prompt within a user interface that prompts the user to provide input indicating whether or not to consent to acting as the reference UE.
[0102] At 516, the UE transmits a consent indication to the LMS via the wireless communication network. The consent indication indicates whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE. The consent indication may be included in a response to the request received from the LMS at 512.
[0103] Optionally at 518, when the UE transmits a consent indication indicating that the UE consents to acting as the reference UE, the UE may configure itself to act as the reference UE. Configuring itself to act as the reference UE may include configuring itself by disabling the ability or functionality of the UE to move into an idle state, such as a CM-idle state, an inactive state, such as a RRC inactive state while, acting as a reference UE. In this configuration, the UE remains in an active state, such as a CM-connected state, while acting as the reference UE. In some implementations, the UE may configure itself to act as the reference UE, including, for example, disabling the ability to move into an idle state or an inactive state, after sending the consent indication, without receiving further instruction from, for example, the LMS or the wireless communication network.
[0104] Optionally at 520, when the UE transmits a consent indication indicatingthat the UE consents to acting as the reference UE, the UE may determine at a later time that it is no longer willing or able to act as the reference UE, and may transmit to the LMS an updated willingness indication indicating that the UE is no longer willing or able to act as the reference UE. The determination at 520 may be made similar to the determination of willingness to act as a reference UE at 506 and / or the determination whether to act as the reference UE at 516. Alternatively, or additionally, the determination at 520 may be a determination that the UE is no longer capable of acting as a reference UE, or will not be able to act as a reference UE in the future, based on capability information of the UE. In response to transmitting the updated willingness indication at 520, the UE may enable the functionality of moving into an idle state or an inactive state again once the UE is not longer acting as the reference UE.
[0105] Referring to FIG. 6, a diagram showing operations in one example procedure in which a UE 602 provides capability information, a willingness indication, and a willingness time duration to a location management server 604 in a request for registration for a location service.
[0106] The UE transmits a location service registration request 606 to the location management server 604 via a wireless communication network (not shown) requesting to register with the location management server 604 for the location service provided by the location management server 604. The request 606 may be transmitted from a location management client included at the UE 602. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the request 606 includes capability information, which may be substantially similar the capability information described previously with reference to 402 in FIG. 4. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the request 606 also includes a willingness indication indicating a willingness of the UE to act as a reference UE. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the request 606 also includes a willing time duration indicating a time period during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE.
[0107] The location management server 604 may, for example, determine whether the UE is capable of acting as a reference UE based on the capability information and, in response to determining that the UE is capable of acting as a UE, the location management server 604 may store the capability information, the willingness indication, and the willingness time period for use in the future and utilize this information when determining a UE as a potential reference UE during, for example, dynamic geofencing activation or when an initial reference UE because unavailable or unwilling to act as a reference UE.
[0108] In response to receiving the request, the location management server 604performs an authorization 608 in which the location management server 604 determines whether the UE is authorized to register for the location service provided by the location management server 604. In response to determining that the UE 602 is authorized to receive the location services, the location management server 604 transmits a location service register response 610 indicating that the UE is registered for the location service.
[0109] Referring now to FIG. 7, a diagram showing operations in a procedure in which an initial reference UE 702 is unable to act as the reference UE and a new UE 704 is identified by the location management server 706 as a potential reference UE.
[0110] At 708, the location management server 706 determines that the initial reference UE, UE2702, is not available. The determination that UE2 is not available to act as the reference UE may be made by the location management server as described previously with reference to 404 of FIG. 4. The location management server identifies UE1 704 as being in the same location, i.e., having a location that is within a threshold distance from the location of UE2702, and identifies UE1 704 as a potential reference UE. The identification of UE1 704 as a potential reference UE may also be performed based on the location management server 706 determining that UE1 704 is capable of acting as a reference UE and is willing to act as a reference UE based on capability information and a willingness indication previously received from the UE1 704.
[0111] Alternatively, in other implementations, in response to determining that UE2 702 is no longer available to act as the reference UE, the location management server 706 may transmit a request (not shown) to the UEs registered with the location management server, including UE1 704, to provide capability information and / or a willingness indication and in response the UEs, including UE1 704, transmit to the location management server capability information and / or willingness indication, which capability information and willingness indications are utilized in identifying UE1 704 as a potential reference UE.
[0112] The location management server 706 transmits a configure location request 710 to UE1 704 via a wireless communication network (not shown) to request that UE1 act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence. In the example shown, the request 710 includes an indication that the request is to act as a reference UE and includes a time period over which UE1 is being requested to act as the reference UE.
[0113] UE1 704 determines whether to consent to act as the reference UE at 712. The determination at 712 may be performed by UE1 704 similarly to the determination of whether to consent to act as a reference UE described previously with reference to 514 ofFIG. 5.
[0114] The UE1 704 transmits a configure location response 714 to the location management server 706 via the wireless communication network (not shown). The configure location response 714 includes an indication of whether UE1 704 consents to act as the reference UE, with “success” indicating that UE1 704 consents and “fail” indicating that UE1 704 does not consent to act as the reference UE. In the example shown, the response 714 also includes a consent time period indicating a time period over which UE1 704 consents to acting as the reference UE if the consent indication is “success”, i.e., indicating consent to act as the reference UE. The consent time period may cover the entire time period included in the request 710, in which case UE1 may act as the reference UE for the entire time period indicated in the request 710. Alternatively, the time period in the response 714 may include only a portion of the time period included in the request 710, in which case the LMS may utilize UE1 704 as the reference UE for the time period indicated in the response, then identify a new potential reference UE for the remainder of the time period included in the request 710 that is not included in the time period included in the response 714.
[0115] Through the descriptions of the preceding implementations, the subject matter disclosed may be implemented by using hardware only, or by using software and a necessary hardware platform, or by a combination of hardware and software. The coding of software for carrying out the above-described methods described is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art having regard to the present disclosure. Based on such understandings, the technical solution of the subject matter disclosed herein may be embodied in the form of a software product. The software product may be stored in a nonvolatile or non-transitory storage medium, which may be, for example, an optical storage medium, flash drive, a hard disk, a solid-state drive, a universal serial bus (USB) drive, etc. The software program or product (otherwise referred to as a computer program or computer product) includes instructions that enable a computing device (e.g., a user equipment or a core network apparatus as described herein) to execute the methods provided in the implementations of the present disclosure.
[0116] The operations (otherwise referred to as steps) of the methods shown in the flowcharts in the drawings and described herein are for purposes of illustration only. There may be many variations to these operations or steps without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For instance, the operations may be performed in a differing order, or operations may be added, deleted, or modified, as appropriate.
[0117] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog circuitry, digital circuit, and / or quantum circuit);(b) combinations of hardware circuit(s) and software, such as:(i) a combination of analog, digital, and / or quantum hardware circuit(s); and(ii) any or all portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal and / or quantum processor(s)) with software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone device, computing device, a computing system, or server, to perform various operations); and(c) any or all portions of hardware circuit(s), such as microprocessor(s), processor(s) and / or quantum processor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when the software is not needed for operation.
[0118] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.
[0119] All values and sub-ranges within disclosed ranges are also disclosed. Also, although the systems, devices and processes disclosed and shown herein may comprise a specific plurality of elements, the systems, devices and assemblies may be modified to comprise additional or fewer of such elements. Although several example implementations are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the example methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding steps to the disclosed methods.
[0120] It is anticipated that features from one or more of the above-described implementations may be selected to create alternate implementations comprised of a sub-combination of features which may not be explicitly described above. In addition, features from one or more of the above-described implementations may be selected and combined to create alternate implementations comprised of a combination of features which may not be explicitly described above. Features suitable for such combinations and subcombinations would be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art upon review of the present disclosure as a whole.
[0121] In addition, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the example implementations described herein. It will, however, be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the example implementations described herein may be practiced without these specific details. Furthermore, well-known methods, procedures, and elements have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the example implementations described herein. The subject matter described herein and in the recited claims intends to cover and embrace all suitable changes in technology.
[0122] Although the subject matter disclosed herein and some of its advantages (e.g., technological improvements) have been described in detail, other advantages (e.g., other technological improvements) may be apparent from the present disclosure. It should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made to the subject matter disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0123] The subject matter disclosed herein may be embodied or implemented in other specific forms without departing from the scope of the claims. The described example implementations are to be considered in all respects as being only illustrative and not restrictive. The subject matter disclosed herein intends to cover and embrace all suitable changes in technology. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore, described by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the implementations set forth in the examples or implementations described herein but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
Claims
Claims1. A method for a location management server (LMS) , the method comprising at least:receiving, from each respective user equipment (UE) of at least one of a plurality of UEs served by a wireless communication network:capability information related to a capability of the respective UE to act as a reference UE, the reference UE associated with a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS; anda willingness indication of the respective UE, the willingness indication of the respective UE indicating a willingness of the respective UE to act as the reference UE;identifying a first UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the willingness indication and the capability information;transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the first UE, a request for the first UE to act as the reference UE;in response to receiving, from the first UE via the communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the reference UE.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, for each respective UE of the at least one of the plurality of UEs, receiving the capability information comprises receiving a request to register with the LMS for the location services, the request to register comprising the capability information, or comprises receiving a request to re-register with the LMS for the location services, the request to re-register comprising the capability information.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:determining, based on the capability information received from each respective UE of the at least one UE of the plurality of UEs, a subset of the plurality of UEs that are capable of acting as the reference UE;transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the subset of the plurality of UEs that are capable of acting as the reference UE, a request for the willingnessindication indicating a willingness to act as the reference UE;wherein receiving the willingness indication comprising receiving a response to the request for the willingness indication, the response comprising the willingness indication.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information includes one or more of:a capability indication indicating that the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE;a time period over which the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE; battery information that indicates a remaining charge of a battery of the UE;a battery indication indicating that the remaining charge the battery of the UE meets or exceeds a threshold for the UE to act as the reference UE;signal quality information indicating a quality of a signal at the UE from the communication network; ormobility information indicating an expected mobility of the UE.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the willingness indication includes a time duration during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE, and identifying the first UE from the at least one or more of the plurality of UEs is based on the time durations received from each respective UE of the at least one of the plurality of UEs.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the willingness indication includes a criteria that is to be met for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE, and identifying the first UE from the at least one or more of the plurality of UEs comprises determining that the criteria is met for the first UE.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the criteria is that the UE has an active protocol data unit (PDU) session established with the wireless communication network.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein:the request for the first UE to act as the reference UE includes a first time period during which the first UE is requested to act as the reference UE; andestablishing the dynamic geofence comprises establishing the dynamic geofence based on the location of the first UE during the first time period.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the request for the first UE to act as the reference UE includes a second time period and, in response to receiving a consent indication from the first UE indicating that the first UE does not consent to acting the refence UE during the second time period, the method further comprising:identifying a second UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication and the capability information is received, the identifying based on the capability information and the willingness indication;transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the second UE, a request for the second UE to act as the reference UE, the request for the second UE to act as the reference UE including the second time period during which the second UE is requested to act as the reference UE; andin response to receiving, from the second UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the second UE consents to acting as the reference UE during the second time period, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the second UE during the second time period.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in response to receiving, from the first UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the first UE does not consent to acting as the reference UE, the method further comprising: identifying a second UE from the at least one of the plurality of UEs from which the willingness indication or the capability information is received;transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the second UE, a request for the second UE to act as the reference UE;in response to receiving, from the second UE via the wireless communication network, a consent indication that indicates that the second UE consents to acting as the reference UE, establishing the dynamic geofence based on a location of the second UE.
11. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising determining that an initial UE acting as the reference UE is no longer available to act as the reference UE, wherein the identifying the first UE is performed in response to determining that the initial UE is no longer available to act as the reference UE.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein determining that the initial UE is no longer available to act as the reference UE comprises one or more of:determining that a current time is outside of a time period over which the initial UE is willing to act as a reference UE;determining that a criteria for the initial UE to be the reference UE is no longer met;receiving from the initial UE, via the wireless communication network, an indication indicating that the initial UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE;receiving, from an access and mobility control function (AMF) of the wireless communication network, a notification that the initial UE is out of a coverage area of the wireless communication network or de-registered from the wireless communication network; orreceiving, from the initial UE via the wireless communication network, capability information related to a capability of the initial UE and determining, based on the capability information related to the capability of the initial UE, that the initial UE is no longer capable of acting as the reference UE.
13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein identifying the first UE is based on a location of the first UE being within a threshold distance of a location of the initial UE.
14. A method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising at least:transmitting, via the wireless communication network to a location management server (LMS), capability information related to a capability of the UE to act as a reference UE for a dynamic geofence associated with a location service provided by the LMS; determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE;transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a willingness indication indicating the willingness;receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request to act as the reference UE;determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE; and transmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, a consent indication indicating whether or not the UE consents to acting as the reference UE.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein transmitting the capability information comprises transmitting a request to register with the LMS for the location service, the request to register comprising the capability information, or comprises transmitting a request to re-register with the LMS for the location service, the request to re-register comprising the capability information.
16. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:receiving, from the LMS via the wireless communication network, a request for a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE;wherein transmitting the willingness indication comprises transmitting a response to the request for a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE, the response comprising the willingness indication.
17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability information includes one or more of:a capability indication indicating that the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE;a time period over which the UE is capable of acting as the reference UE; battery information that indicates a remaining charge of a battery of the UE; a battery indication indicating that the remaining charge the battery of the UE meets or exceeds a threshold for the UE to act as the reference UE;signal quality information indicating a quality of a signal at the UE from the communication network; ormobility information indicating an expected mobility of the UE.
18. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein:determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE includes determining a time period during which the UE is willing to act as the reference UE; and transmitting the willingness indication includes transmitting the time duration.
19. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein transmitting the willingness indication includes transmitting a criteria for the UE to be willing to act as the reference UE.
20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the criteria is that the UE has an active protocol data unit (PDU) session established with the wireless communication network.
21. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the request for the UE to act as the reference UE includes a time period during which the UE is requested to act as the reference UE, and determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE comprises determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE during the time period.
22. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:determining that the UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE; andtransmitting, via the wireless communication network to the LMS, an updated willingness indication, the updated willingness indication indicating that the UE is no longer willing or available to act as the reference UE.
23. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising receiving, from the wireless communication network, incentive information which indicates an incentive for the UE to act as the reference UE, wherein determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE and / or determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE is based on the incentive information.
24. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein determining a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE or determining whether to consent to acting as the reference UE comprises determining that an input via an input device of the UE is received that indicates a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE or indicates consent to act as the reference UE, or determining that a pre-configured setting of the UE indicates a willingness of the UE to act as the reference UE.
25. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein transmitting the consent indication comprises transmitting a consent indication indicating the UE consents to acting as the reference UE, the method further comprising disabling an idle state or an inactive state of the UE while acting as the reference UE.
26. An apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions of a location management server which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform operations of the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.
27. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.
28. A computer program comprising instructions, wherein when the computer program is executed by an apparatus, the apparatus is caused to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.
29. A user equipment comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform operations of the method of any one of claims 14 to 25.
30. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 25.
31. A computer program comprising instructions, wherein when the computer program is executed by a user equipment, the user equipment is caused to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 25.