Buffering IMS Signaling for Mid-Session Lawful Interception
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile communication networks face challenges in providing complete lawful interception data to law enforcement agencies when interception is initiated mid-call or mid-session, as historical session information and metadata are not readily available, leading to decoding issues and incomplete records.
Innovation Solution
A method that buffers session-specific signaling data during IP multimedia subsystem sessions, allowing for the reconstruction of sessions even when interception is initiated after the session has started, and temporarily stores these data for transmission to law enforcement agencies upon termination, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and data protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If lawful interception is initiated mid-call or mid-session, then interception can be performed on ongoing communications, but historical session information and metadata are not available leading to incomplete records
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by buffering session-specific signaling data from the beginning of each IP multimedia subsystem session. This buffering occurs before lawful interception is initiated, ensuring that when mid-session interception starts, the complete historical signaling data is already captured and stored. The buffered data includes session establishment information, participant details, and codec specifications, which are then provided to law enforcement authorities alongside the intercepted communication content.
2Reliability
If session-specific signaling data is buffered for all sessions, then complete information is available for mid-call interception, but data storage requirements and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by buffering only session-specific signaling data that is relevant to lawful interception requirements, rather than buffering all possible communication data. The buffering is implemented locally at the IP multimedia subsystem level, specifically capturing signaling data such as session establishment information, participant identifiers, and codec specifications. This selective buffering approach ensures data completeness for interception while minimizing unnecessary storage and processing overhead.
3Loss of information
If complete session data is provided to law enforcement agencies, then meaningful interception records are created, but data protection and privacy concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by providing only the specific session-specific signaling data that is necessary for lawful interception purposes to law enforcement authorities. Rather than providing access to all user data or communication metadata, the system extracts and provides only the relevant signaling information such as session establishment details, participant identifiers, and technical parameters needed to decode and understand the intercepted communication content. This selective provision of data minimizes privacy risks while ensuring interception effectiveness.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for performing lawful interception in a mobile communication network regarding a user equipment being connected to the mobile communication network and/or regarding an IP multimedia subsystem session, IMS session, wherein lawful interception is able to be realized, regarding the user equipment, wherein, in case of lawful interception being realized, a law enforcement agency is provided with corresponding lawful interception data, wherein, in order to perform lawful interception regarding a specific user equipment and/or regarding a specific IP multimedia subsystem session, the method comprises the following steps: -- in a first step, the specific IP multimedia subsystem session, involving the specific user equipment, is initiated, established or prepared to be established, wherein as part thereof session-specific signaling data are buffered, -- in a second step, subsequent to the first step, in case that lawful interception is initiated while the specific IP multimedia subsystem session, involving the specific user equipment, is already established and operatively used, such initiation of lawful interception results in corresponding lawful interception data being generated and provided to the law enforcement agency, wherein, in addition, the session-specific signaling data are likewise provided to the law enforcement agency.