Hierarchical IMS Subscription Model for Parental Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IMS network mechanisms lack parental control over children's activities, allowing unsupervised access to IMS services by minors.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a hierarchical IMS subscription model with 'primary' and 'secondary' IMPIs, where only primary IMPIs can register independently, and secondary IMPIs require explicit registration by primary IMPIs, along with a barring mechanism to control registration and call establishment procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If all IMPIs are allowed to register independently in the IMS network, then each user can access services autonomously, but parental control over children's activities cannot be implemented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments IMPIs into two distinct categories: primary IMPIs (for parents) and secondary IMPIs (for children). This segmentation allows different registration behaviors - primary IMPIs can register autonomously while secondary IMPIs require explicit registration by a primary IMPI, thereby enabling parental control while maintaining ease of operation for authorized users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different registration policies to different IMPIs based on their type. Primary IMPIs have the quality of autonomous registration capability, while secondary IMPIs have the quality of requiring parental registration. This local differentiation of qualities resolves the contradiction by allowing autonomous operation where needed while restricting it where control is required.
2Adaptability or versatility
If secondary IMPIs are barred from registering without primary IMPI consent, then parental control is achieved, but the registration process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses self-service mechanisms where the HSS automatically determines whether an IMPI is primary or secondary based on stored type information. When a registration request arrives, the HSS autonomously checks the IMPI type and either permits or blocks registration without requiring complex manual verification, thus maintaining simplicity while achieving parental control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary configuration of IMPI types during subscription setup. The HSS stores the type information (primary/secondary) in advance, so that during the actual registration process, the system only needs to check pre-stored data rather than performing complex real-time verification, reducing registration process complexity.
3Reliability
If the HSS stores and checks IMPI types for every registration request, then parental control is enforced, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The HSS performs preliminary configuration of IMPI types during subscription setup and stores this information in advance. During registration processing, the system only needs to retrieve and check pre-stored type information rather than performing complex real-time verification, thus maintaining reliable parental control enforcement while minimizing processing overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex real-time verification mechanisms with simple data retrieval and comparison operations. Instead of implementing sophisticated parental consent verification protocols during registration, the system substitutes this with a straightforward check of pre-stored IMPI type flags in the HSS, significantly improving processing efficiency while maintaining control reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention faces the issue of exercising a parental control over children's activities in the IMS network, in terms of registering into the IMS network as well as in terms of call establishment, and provides for a new IMS subscription model supporting a hierarchy of IMPI's, so-called 'primary' IMPI's and so-called 'secondary' IMPI's, whereby only the primary IMPI's are allowed to register themselves, whereas the secondary IMPI's can only register themselves after having been previously registered by a primary IMPI. To this end, the present invention provides for a new method and an enhanced HSS to allow the implicit registration of one or more 'secondary' IMPI's upon the explicit registration of an IMS subscriber with a given IMPI/IMPU pair, wherein the given IMPI is a 'primary' IMPI and the given IMPU is associated with a registration set of IMPI's which includes said one or more 'secondary' IMPI's.