Method for implementing user localization in wireless LAN

The first method for realizing user positioning in a wireless local area network Technical Field The present invention relates to user positioning technology in mobile communications, and in particular to a method for realizing user positioning in a wireless local area network by using an access point.

BACKGROUND As users requirements for wireless access rates become higher and higher, a wireless local area network (WLAN, Wireless Local Area Network) has emerged. It is based on the 802.1 lb/a standard and can provide High-speed wireless data access technology. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical networking structure of an existing WLAN. As shown in Figure 1, a WLAN generally includes an access point (AP, Access Pont), an access controller (AC, Access Controller), an authentication, authorization, and accounting server. (AS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) devices, AC not only connects all AP, AS and DHCP devices, but also connects to the Internet Protocol (IP) network through the portal server. The end user connects to the AP wirelessly, and accesses data networks such as the Internet through the AC, and the AC controls the user's access. The AC and the AP can also be combined into one device. WLAN can get a transmission rate of up to 11 Mbps when using 802.11b technology, and a transmission rate of up to 54 Mbps when using 802.11a, and the equipment is low in price.

In order to provide users with more diverse services, operators are constantly launching new services. Some of these new services are related to the current location of the user. The current location information of the required user must be obtained, and the current user needs to be located. At present, in some mobile communication networks, such as: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), etc., all have the ability to locate users. The location information of the current cell, base station, etc. determines the approximate location range of the user, but because the coverage of the base station in GSM, UMTS and other networks is generally 500m~1000m, the user's location can only be determined within 1 km. Inside, and cant get more refined

02131350.4 The accurate positioning information. Relatively speaking, the coverage of wireless local area network access points is much smaller, only tens of meters, but the provision of user positioning information in wireless local area networks has not yet proposed a specific solution.

Summary of the Invention In view of this, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for realizing user positioning in a wireless local area network, so that it can conveniently locate users of the wireless local area network with higher accuracy.

To achieve the above objective, the technical solution of the present invention is implemented as follows: A method for realizing user positioning in a wireless local area network, including the following steps: When a user terminal accesses the wireless local area network, it first establishes a connection with its own access point, and then Perform access authentication and authorization interaction with the authentication authorization and accounting server. After the access authentication and authorization are passed, the identification information of the access point where the user terminal is currently located is stored in a preset location as the user location information of the user terminal In the information storage unit; the application that wants to obtain the user's location information initiates a request to the authentication authorization and charging server when needed, and obtains the required user's location information from the location information storage unit.

The location information storage unit is an independent device with information storage and management functions; or is an independent module set in an authentication authorization and accounting server (AS) or set in a wireless local area network access controller.

The said access point identification information is a separately defined access point identifier, or a unique identification formed by the combination of the virtual local area network identification of the current access point and the connection port number of the access point in the network control server. One location information storage The combined identifier of an access point in the service area of the unit.

The user location information is placed in the existing cell of the user access authentication request message for transmission; or placed in the newly added cell of the user access authentication request message for transmission; or placed in a separate location information transmission Transmit in signaling.

The method further includes: when the user access point changes, the wireless local area network notifies the location information storage unit to update the user location information therein.

The method further includes: the wireless local area network periodically checks whether the user is online, and if the user status changes, the location information storage unit is notified at any time to update the user location information therein.

02131350.4 The method further includes: presetting a location information conversion unit, which converts the access point identification information into longitude and latitude location data, or geographic location area name, or location information format in the form of building area name.

As can be seen from the above solution, the key of the present invention is to use the access point in the wireless local area network as the smallest unit of user positioning. When each user enters the coverage area of different access points of the wireless local area network, the wireless local area network will access the current The identification information of the access point where the user is located is used as the user's location information, and is stored in a preset location information storage unit, so that the user's location information can be obtained by the client application that needs the user's location information. The so-called client application can It is a business application, or it can be a user terminal.

Therefore, the method for realizing user positioning in a wireless local area network provided by the present invention has the following advantages and characteristics:

1) This method is that when each user accesses different access points of the wireless local area network, the wireless local area network registers the location information of the access point where it is located, so that other client applications can obtain it through the location of the access point in the wireless local area network The positioning information of the required user is thus realized the function of positioning the user in the wireless local area network.

2) Since the coverage range of the access point in the wireless local area network is usually 20-50 meters, the information of the access point where the user is located can easily locate the user within the accuracy range of 20-50 meters, which improves the positioning accuracy of the user In this way, a wealth of location-related services can be developed through the wireless local area network, so that UMTS and other telecommunication networks can easily interoperate with WLAN in terms of location services.

3) The process of sending the current user location information to the location information storage unit of the present invention is basically the same as the process of the existing WLAN user accessing the wireless local area network authentication process, except that the transfer of the positioning information is added to the access request message or after the authentication is completed The addition of the message for transmitting location information does not change the existing operation process, and the implementation is simple and convenient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical networking structure of an existing WLAN; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network structure adopted in an embodiment of the present invention;

02131350.4 Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user moving in a wireless local area network; Fig. 4 is a flowchart of user positioning information processing in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments.

As shown in Figure 2, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the basic composition of the network used in the present invention. The user terminal (UE) is directly connected to the wireless local area network access point to which it belongs through the wireless interface. At the same time, the wireless local area network access authentication unit is connected to the location information storage unit for storing user location information. In the example, it is AS. The location information storage unit is used to store the user identification and its corresponding location information, and can also store other conversion formats corresponding to the location information at the same time, such as the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the access point and the geographic location coordinates, name, etc. The location information storage unit can be an independent device, or a functional module can be embedded in a certain device, for example, embedded in an AC or AS. When the location information storage unit is an independent device, it is a device with location information storage and management functions. The device at least includes: an interface signaling processing module for signaling interaction with other network elements, such as AS, Convert the received signaling of various interfaces into information that can be recognized by the signaling management module, and send the instructions sent by the information management module to the destination network element in an appropriate signaling format; the user location information storage database is used for Store the user ID and its corresponding location information; the information management module is responsible for receiving and storing user data sent by AS, adding, modifying, and deleting user data according to AS requirements, responding to requests from other location information service network elements, and responding to corresponding users Location information data. In this example The location information storage unit is a functional module in the authentication authorization and accounting server. The authentication authorization and accounting server is connected to the access point of the wireless local area network through the AP-AS interface to store and update all user location information.

In the network structure shown in FIG. 2, it may further include a location information conversion unit for converting the identification information of the access point into the information of the longitude and latitude location, or the name of the geographic location area, or the name of the building area that can be recognized by the user terminal. format. The location information conversion unit can be set in the location information storage unit, or separately set in the AC or AS.

The present invention just utilizes the coverage area of the access point in the existing WLAN structure as the optimal user positioning.

02131350.4 The smallest location information unit uses the access point or the identifier associated with the access point as the location identifier, and on this basis, provides user location data with multiple accuracy according to different application requirements. The specific implementation principle is: when a user enters an access point coverage area of a wireless local area network for access and registration, the access point will send its own identification information as the user's location information to the location information storage unit If the location information of the user already exists in the location information storage unit, the information is updated. In this way, when other applications need user location information, the information can be obtained directly from the location storage unit.

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a user moving in a wireless local area network. The wireless local area network includes at least access point A and access point AB. Each dotted circle represents the coverage of their respective access points. Both access points are It is connected to the wireless local area network access controller, and the wireless local area network access controller is also connected to other networks. When the user terminal UE1 enters the access point A, after the access and registration process, the access point A stores its own location identification information as the current location information of UE1 in the current location information storage unit, that is, wireless local area network access Controller, or authentication authorization and accounting server, or other independent storage devices. When UE1 moves from access point A to access point B, after the access and registration process, access point B sends its own location identification information to the location information storage unit as UE1s current location information. The location information of UE1 is originally stored in the unit, so the current location information of UE1 can be updated at this time.

In the prior art, the process of a user successfully accessing a wireless local area network includes at least the following steps as shown in FIG. 4: Step 401: When the user wants to access the wireless local area network, the user terminal UE and the wireless local area network access point AP Establish a physical connection between them; Steps 402~405: In the process of user authentication, the AP initiates a user access authentication request to the AS; After the AS authentication is passed, the AS sends an access authentication request acceptance message to the AP; the AP receives the permission to access After the access is authorized, an access authentication success message is sent to the UE to notify the UE that the access is allowed.

The method of the present invention fully utilizes the existing user access authentication process, except that when the WLAN sends a user access authentication request to the AS, the AP location information is appended to the access authentication request message, that is, the user access in step 403 Add the access point identifier (APID) in the authentication request, the APID can be different

02131350.4 The first determination method, for example, is determined by the combination of the virtual local area network identifier + the port number of the access point connected to the network control server, or determined by the current access point identifier defined separately, and so on. In addition, after the user access authentication is successful, the AS stores the received location information of the current user in a preset location information storage unit, as shown in step 406 in FIG. 4, so that other client applications can find and use it.

In this embodiment, the wireless local area network includes an AP device, and the AP device is connected to an AS outside the wireless local area network. The AS is provided with a location information storage module to store the location information of each user sent by the WLAN network. In this embodiment, in step 406, the AS stores the location information of the current user in its own location information storage module.

Then, the specific positioning process of the present invention is as follows: Step 401: When the user enters a certain AP coverage area to start the access and registration process, first establish a physical connection between the user terminal UE and the access point AP of the wireless local area network Steps 402-406: After the establishment of the connection between the UE and the AP is completed, the user access authentication process is carried out. The user terminal initiates a user access authentication request to the AS through the WLAN. At this time, the AP combines the current user information and the AP identification The information is put into the user access authentication request message and sent to the AS. Among them, an AP identification information element can be set separately for the transmission of current user information and AP identification information, or existing information elements can be used; after the AS authentication is passed, it will be sent to the user The terminal sends an access authentication request acceptance message to notify the UE to allow access; at the same time, the AS records the information to the location information storage unit as the user's location information. When the legitimate application of this network or other networks needs to obtain the user's location information, it can Directly request to the AS to obtain the information from the location information storage unit.

In the above process, the user's registration process completely utilizes the existing registration signaling. When the user enters the coverage area of a new AP, the new AP repeats the process from step 401 to step 406 to refresh the storage record in the AS. The wireless local area network will also periodically check whether the user is online, and if the user status changes, it will report to the location information storage unit at any time to update the user location information therein. When the user logs out, AS will delete the user's location information record or mark its corresponding information as invalid.

Of course, the transmission of user location information in step 403 can be added to any appropriate existing signaling. As described in the above embodiment, special location information transmission signaling can also be set. And, the AP identification information

02131350.4 The first transmission can be directly sent by AP to AS, or by AC to AS. In addition, in the foregoing embodiment, the location information storage unit is set in the AS. In practical applications, a location information storage server can be connected outside the AS to store user location information specifically.

In short, the foregoing descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

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