Public Safety ProSe Presence Filtering via Subscription Rules

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing ProSe standards do not adequately support public safety UE communication based on presence information, lacking the ability to limit discoverability of public safety personnel communications to only other public safety personnel.

Innovation Solution

A mobile computing device and ProSe presence server system that directs presence information with public-safety specific ProSe information, including a service ID, geo-location, and timestamp, allowing direct communication via a dedicated RF link only when subscription rules are met, ensuring secure communication between authorized public safety users.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If existing ProSe standards are used for public safety communication, then general proximity-based service is supported, but public safety specific requirements for restricted discoverability and secure communication are not met

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecure communicationVSAvoidpublic safety specific support

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the ProSe service into two distinct parts: a public ProSe service for general proximity-based communication, and a public safety (PuSa) specific ProSe service for restricted public safety personnel communication. This segmentation is achieved by introducing separate service IDs - a generic ProSe service ID for public services and a dedicated PuSa service ID for public safety services. The presence information is also segmented to include PuSa-specific fields such as PuSa service ID, geo-location data, and timestamp, allowing public safety personnel to be discovered and communicate only with other authorized PuSa personnel while maintaining compatibility with general ProSe infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of operation

If presence information is made publicly available for discovery, then discoverability is improved, but security and authorization control deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovediscoverabilityVSAvoidunauthorized access

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by making presence information selectively visible based on the type of service and authorization status. PuSa-specific presence information is published with restricted visibility - it is made available to the presence server and can be subscribed to by other PuSa personnel, but is not exposed to the general public. The system differentiates between public ProSe presence information and PuSa-specific presence information, applying different access control policies to each. This allows authorized PuSa personnel to discover each other while preventing unauthorized access to PuSa communication channels.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The presence server acts as an intermediary that mediates between PuSa personnel and the public network infrastructure. It receives and stores PuSa-specific presence information, processes subscription requests according to PuSa subscription rules, and selectively provides presence information to authorized users. The presence server enforces authorization control by checking whether subscribing users are authorized to receive PuSa presence information before providing it, thus securing PuSa communication while enabling discoverability among authorized personnel.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Speed

If direct RF communication is enabled between UEs, then communication speed is improved, but network control and authorization management deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication speedVSAvoidauthorization management

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by establishing authorization and subscription relationships through the presence server before direct RF communication occurs. UEs must first publish their presence information and receive subscriptions from other UEs through the presence server, which validates authorization according to PuSa subscription rules. Only after this preliminary authorization phase is complete can UEs establish direct RF communication links. This preliminary action through the presence server simplifies the overall system by centralizing authorization management, allowing direct RF communication to proceed without complex distributed authorization protocols.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10791452B2Public safety/security UE communication framework for prose via presence information

Publication Date: 2020.09.29 ALCATEL LUCENT SA

AI summary

An apparatus, e.g. a mobile computing device, directs presence information toward a presence server (PS). The presence information includes public-safety (PuSa) specific proximity-based services (ProSe) information. The apparatus also directs to the PS a request to subscribe to PuSa-specific ProSe information of a target ProSe presentity, the request including a dedicated PuSa service ID. The apparatus may discover user equipment (UE) of the target presentity only on the condition that the PS returns the presence information of the target presentity.