US 20100189035A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2010/0189035 A1 Pehrsson et al. (43) Pub. Date: Jul. 29, 2010 (54) SERVICE AREAS IN CS DOMAIN SERVICES (86). PCT No.: PCT/EP2007/056278 (75) Inventors: Arne Pehrsson, Huddinge (SE); S371 (c)(1), Magnus Hallenstal, Taby (SE); (2), (4) Date: Feb. 22, 2010 Göran Rune, Linkoping (SE); Jari Publication Classification Vikberg, Jarna (SE); Andreas (51) Int. Cl. Witzel, Herzogenrath (DE) H0474/00 (2009.01) (52) U.S. Cl. ......................................... 370/328; 370/352 Correspondence Address: (57) ABSTRACT ERCSSON INC. 6300 LEGACY DRIVE, M/S EVR1-C-11 The invention provides a method of enabling the service level networks (e.g. CSoLTE or IMS CN) to provide location PLANO, TX 75024 (US) dependent services based on a circuit Switched domain from a service level network to a mobile station communicating (73) Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET with a cell in a radio access network that utilises a packet LM ERICSSON (PUBL), Switched domain. The method includes providing cell loca Stockholm (SE) tion information relating to the location of the cell; determin ing a Service Area Identifier based on the cell location infor mation; and providing the Service Area Identifier to the (21) Appl. No.: 12/666,036 service level network. The Service Area Identifier is then used for different location based services and applications in the (22) PCT Filed: Jun. 22, 2007 service level network nodes. Get SATA cell D Send SASA Patent Application Publication Jul. 29, 2010 Sheet 1 of 5 US 2010/O189035 A1 Contro interface Internet, " see Data litterface Operator Services, etc. Gi Figure 1 (prior art) Patent Application Publication Jul. 29, 2010 Sheet 2 of 5 US 2010/O189035 A1 c5 s CO CD s s O 3||s as SPI 2s V s O ver Y CD N N. 2 r 3. s (D Sp a. t -ArcAW A. Patent Application Publication Jul. 29, 2010 Sheet 3 of 5 US 2010/O189035 A1 SS000€SO pueNVHILD) Patent Application Publication Jul. 29, 2010 Sheet 4 of 5 US 2010/O189035 A1 SWIS/SS/OO. HSO-8[]], |+ à|T OS/No ŒÐpONê SWIS/SS/OO („WW dQmldOL SIN Patent Application Publication Jul. 29, 2010 Sheet 5 of 5 US 2010/O189035 A1 Figure 5 US 2010/01 89.035 A1 Jul. 29, 2010 SERVICE AREAS IN CS DOMAIN SERVICES These solutions are called “CS over LTE' (CSoLTE) and a preferred basic architecture for these solutions will be TECHNICAL FIELD described below in relation to embodiments of the invention. Both the IMS CN and the CSOLTE solutions are described in 0001. The present invention relates to the identification of this application as service level networks meaning that the Service Areas in the Service level networks that are accessed communication towards the terminal and the 3GPP networks by mobile stations communicating with a packet Switched is based on the (S)Gi interface and IP (Internet Protocol) cell in a cellular packet Switched radio access network. based communication. 0007. One requirement for location based services and BACKGROUND applications in the existing and new CS and PS core networks 0002 Mobile Circuit Switched (CS) services based on and in the service level networks is that the location of the user GSM and WCDMA radio access are a world-wide success terminal or mobile station (MS) must be identified on differ story. They have allowed telecommunication services to be ent levels. Two such mechanisms are the Service Area Iden provided to subscribers in almost all countries of the world tifier (SAI) and Cell Global Identity (CGI) which are both with a single Subscription. Also today, the number of Sub used by the RAN to indicate the location of the MS to the CN scribers to networks that provide CS services is still growing and then used by the location based services and applications rapidly, boosted by the rollout of mobile CS services in dense in both the CS and PS parts of the core network. SAI is used population countries such as India and China. This success to indicate the current Service Area (SA) in which the user story has been further extended by the evolution of the clas terminal or mobile station (MS) is located and the CGI is used sical mobile switching centre (MSC) architecture into a soft to indicate the current cell where the MS is located. The Switch Solution. differences between SAS and cells are summarised below and 0003. However, the amount of data traffic on mobile net described in more detail later on. works could surpass that of today's broadband connections in 0008. The SA is a concept introduced in the 3GPP stan the next decade. The Third Generation Project Partnership dards as part of the standardisation of the UMTS and UTRAN (3GPP) includes a work item “Evolved UTRA and UTRAN' networks. Before this the GSM network used instead the Cell that includes development of a radio access technology to Global Identity (CGI) for similar purposes. Supportanticipated growth in mobile networks. This has been 0009. It was decided as part of the UMTS and UTRAN given the name Long Term Evolution of Universal Terrestrial standardisation work in 3GPP that the cell identities are a Radio Access Network (UTRAN)—or LTE for short. LTE radio access network (RAN) concept and should not be vis will use OFDM radio technology in the downlink and SC ible in the CN or communicated from the RAN to the CN. For FDMA for the uplink, allowing at least 100 Mbps peak data this purpose the concept of a Service Area was introduced. rate for downlink data rate and 50 Mbps for uplink data rate. However, in UMTS networks, the SAI is not knownto the MS LTE radio access can operate in different frequency bands and as only the cell identity is broadcasted in the system informa is therefore very flexible for deployment in different regions tion and then mapped to a SAI in the Radio Network Con of the world. troller (RNC) before being indicated to the CN. The location 0004. Whereas LTE development focuses on the evolution based services and applications in the UMTSCN are based on of the 3G Radio Access Network (RAN), 3GPP also includes usage of SAI to define geographical information. a System Architecture Evolution (SAE) work item to develop 0010. As the current SA is not known to the MS or to the an evolved core network (CN). This new core network is also service level network (e.g. IMS CN or CSoLTE solution), called Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Both the LTE RAN and there are problems in providing location based services and the SAE core network only operate in a Packet Switched (PS) applications in these service level networks. In particular, the domain, i.e. all services are to be supported via this domain. way that the LTE radio access network and SAE core network To date, LTE/SAE can be considered to be service “agnostic’. communications are configured means that there is no way It does not care about the nature of the data. It has been currently for the RAN (e.g. an eNodeB in LTE or RNC in assumed that services will be facilitated by a service level UTRAN) to provide the current SA of the terminal to the new core network, and in particular by the IP Multimedia Sub service level network. system (IMS). 0011. It is an aim of the present invention to alleviate this 0005. It appears however that the assumption referred to in problem. the preceding paragraph is not necessarily valid, due to the fact that some LTE/SAE network operators may not wish to SUMMARY implement an IMS network at all, or at least not simulta neously with LTE/SAE deployment. In this case, it becomes 0012. According to a first aspect of the present invention imperative that the SAE is able to handle or provide access to there is provided a method of facilitating the provision of at least certain services, and in particular to the traditional CS circuit-switched Service Area-dependent services to a mobile type services referred to hereafter as legacy CS services. station from a service level network, the mobile station com 0006 LTE and SAE are being specified without fully municating with a cell of a cellular packet Switched access accounting for co-existence with legacy CS Services. Existing domain, the method comprising: GSM and UMTS networks provide both PS and CS access 0013 providing cell location information for said cell; simultaneously, and a problem arose in how to provide CS 0.014 determining a Service Area Identifier using the based services in the LTE access networks, particularly where cell location information; and such services have already become well established. Various 0.015 providing the Service Area Identifier to said ser solutions to this problem have been devised that enable use of vice level network. LTE/SAE as access technology to the existing infrastructure 0016. In embodiments of the invention the cell location so that services can be provided using both PS and CS access. information is provided to a Mobile Management Entity, the US 2010/01 89.035 A1 Jul. 29, 2010 Mobile Management Entity determining the Service Area level network that provides services to a mobile station com Identifier and providing the Service Area Identifier to a Packet municating with a cell of a cellular packet Switched access Mobile Switching Centre. domain, the translation function entity comprising means for 0017. In other embodiments, the Service Area Identifier is determining a Service Area Identifier using location informa determined using the cell location information in the packet tion of said cell so as to enable the provision of Service switched access domain, and the Service Area Identifier is Area-dependent services to the mobile station.