Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)

Frode Bjelland

Juan-Antonio Ibanez

Frank Hundscheidt

Karl Hellwig

Stephen Christopher Terrill

Jerker F Widmark

George Vergopoulos

Ezzat Kaafarani

Hakan Sture Magnus Svensson

Vidar Oliver Lilleheim

The present invention discloses a method related to Attach procedures and Routing Area Update (RAU) procedures in packet switched cellular networks, in particular GPRS and UMTS networks. When an MS roams from a routing area covered by several SGSNs in an SGSN pool into a routing area covered by one SGSN (new SGSN) outside the pool, the roaming request will be sent from the new SGSN to a default SGSN, which for the new SGSN is believed to be the old SGSN. The default SGSN will, unless it itself is the old SGSN, relay the roaming request to the SGSN (old SGSN) previously serving the MS. To avoid that the default SGSN has to monitor for a response of the request, and thereby occupying resources in the default SGSN, the default SGSN inserts (or when possible, leave unchanged) the address of the new SGSN in the request. The response of the request will therefore be transmitted directly from the old SGSN to the new SGSN and not via the default SGSN as described in the existing technical specifications.

Optimization of handover procedures in GPRS

The present invention discloses a method for preventing hanging resources in connection with an SRNS Relocation Procedure and/or a Routing Area Update Procedure for a terminal roaming in a UMTS or a GPRS network. According to a first aspect of the present invention, when the SGSN from which a terminal is roaming detects a fault after the Relocation Command in the SRNS Relocation Procedure, a Relocation Cancel Procedure also involving any involved GGSN is initiated. According to a second aspect of the present invention, a timer is started in the SGSN to which the terminal is roaming when the Forward Relocation Request in the Routing Area Update Procedure is received. If this SGSN does not receive a Routing Area Update Request within a predefined time period, the SGSN initiate a clean up of the resources that have been occupied during the procedures towards the involved nodes. Finally, according to a third aspect of the present invention, after an uncontrolled shutdown of the terminal, the SGSN cleans up in the resulting hanging resources of the involved nodes when an Identification Request is received in the subsequent attach procedure.

Resolving hanging contexts when roaming in a GPRS network

Methods of re-establishing a connection between a radio network node and a core network having a control plane entity and a user plane entity in a communication network and of detecting faulty communication paths or re-started entities in such networks are provided. A control-plane entity sends an event in accordance with a media gateway control protocol to the user-plane entity that orders the user-plane entity to notify the control-plane entity when user-plane traffic is received from another network node or when a faulty path or re-started peer is discovered. In response to an order by the control-plane entity, a connection between the radio network node and the user-plane entity can be re-established. Heartbeat messages and heartbeat acknowledgment messages are sent through a communication path, and if a heartbeat acknowledgment message has not been received, the control-plane entity is notified of the faulty path. The heartbeat acknowledgment messages may include re-start counter values that are used to discover re-started peers.

Communication management in networks having split control planes and user planes

A method in a communication system of transferring control of a user-plane entity from a first control-plane entity to a second control-plane entity is provided. The user-plane entity sends a set of identifying parameters to the first control-plane entity, which subsequently sends the set of identifying parameters to the second control-plane entity. The second control-plane entity determines if it can control the user-plane entity. If the second control-plane entity can control the user-plane entity, then the second control-plane entity sends an indication to the user-plane entity that a change in control-plane entities has occurred and that at least some resources of the user-plane entity that were controlled by the first control-plane entity are to be controlled by the second control-plane entity. The resources may be allocated to a mobile terminal and the change in control entity may be the result of a change in location of the mobile terminal.

Communication management in mobile networks having split control planes and user planes

The invention relates to an update of an association (Gs) from a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) to a mobile switching center (MSC, . . . , MSCn) in a pool () of mobile switching centers. After receipt of a routing area update from a mobile station (MS), there follows a detection of a new assignment between the mobile unit (MS) to a mobile switching center (MSC) in the pool () of mobile switching centers. After detection of a new assignment, there follows the initialization of an association update from a serving GPRS support node to a new mobile switching center in the pool of mobile switching centers ().

Association update from a service support node to a pool of mobile switching centers

A method of facilitating charging for communication in a telecommunication network, such as a network supporting GPRS, that has a node split into a control-plane entity and a user-plane entity includes the step of sending, from the control-plane entity to the user-plane entity, an event in accordance with a media gateway control protocol. The event orders the user-plane entity to notify the control-plane entity when a predetermined volume of communication has occurred. The method further includes the steps of determining, by the user-plane entity, whether the predetermined volume has occurred, and notifying the control-plane entity when that has occurred. The predetermined volume may be a number of octets, and the user-plane entity may notify the control-plane entity by sending a notify command in accordance with the media gateway control protocol. Also, the volume of communication may be selected such that signaling between the control-plane and user-plane entities is controlled, and the control-plane and user-plane entities may be a node supporting a general packet radio service. The network may be a traditional circuit-switched network that uses packet bearers and the predetermined volume of communication may be a predetermined number of octets or packets. The user-plane entity may be pre-provisioned with the event.

Charging in communication networks having split control planes and user planes

A method and system for communicating information includes evaluation regarding routing of calls performed at a call control point in an ITSP and/or wireless network. A PIC identity associated with another party's preferences is acquired and sent to the call control point. The PIC identity identifies the type of the carrier network (e.g., circuit switched or VoIP) and is used to make further routing decisions. If a circuit-switched carrier is identified, the IP homing leg is terminated at the voice gateway in the recipient's HPLMN and information is sent over to the GMSC where normal, circuit-switched routing procedures. If a VoIP carrier is identified then the called user's roaming number is retrieved from the HLR, and the call is further routed directly over the IP domain towards a voice gateway at the visited network minimizing the number of transcodings. Additional transcoding steps can be avoided if a single encoding is agreed upon according to 'tandem free operation' (TFO). Combining inband signaling through the telephony exchanges and out-of-band signaling in the IP network it is possible to achieve, for a mobile subscriber, one encoding and one decoding of a voice.

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Arendal, Norway

Frode Bjelland