Communications system

ES 2 693 418 T3

DESCRIPTION

Communications system

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to mobile telecommunications networks, particularly but not exclusively to networks that operate in accordance with 3GPP standards or equivalents or derivatives thereof. The invention has particular but not exclusive relevance to the interface between a local base station and a gateway device of the local base station.

Background of the technique

Under 3GPP standards, a NodeB (or an eNB in ​​LTE) is the base station through which a mobile terminal connects to the core network. Recently the 3GPP body of standards has adopted an official architecture and started work on new standards for local base stations (HNB). If the local base station operates according to the LTE standard, the HNB is sometimes referred to as a HeNB. In any case, for simplicity, only the term HNB will be used in the following description. The HNB will provide radio coverage (3G / 4G) within the local network and will connect to the mobile network through an appropriate public network (for example through an ADSL link to the Internet) and an HNB gateway (HNB-GW). As part of this standards setting process, the registration procedure between the HNB and the HNB-GW has been agreed.

It has also been agreed that an access control mechanism is mandatory in the HNB-GW while it is optionally provided for a User Equipment (UE) prior to version 8 in the HNB. Furthermore, with the varied and evolving HNB deployment scenarios, it is recognized that the HNB could operate with different access control mechanisms, namely “Open”, “Closed” and “Hybrid”. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, if the HNB is open, then mandatory access control is not required in the HNB-GW for pre-version 8 UEs. If the HNB is hybrid, then access control may not be required. Mandatory in HNB-GW for UEs prior to version 8.

Although for efficiency in understanding for those skilled in the art, the invention will be described in detail in the context of a 3G system, the principles of the invention can be applied to other systems in which mobile devices or User Equipment (UE ) communicate with one or more base stations with the corresponding system elements changed, as required.

Description of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to address one or more of the problems described above by having the HNB provide capacity information to the HNB-GW.

The present invention is defined by a method for a base station according to claim 2, a method for a gateway apparatus according to claim 4, and the corresponding claims for a base station and a gateway apparatus, according to the claims 1 and 3, respectively.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides a base station configured to communicate with a communication apparatus, the base station comprising: means for transmitting, towards a core network, a message for the communication apparatus, wherein the message includes at least information identifying whether the base station is a hybrid access mode base station; and means for receiving a message comprising an identifier for identifying a mobile communication device of the communication apparatus, based on information identifying whether the base station is a hybrid access mode base station.

In an example embodiment, the gateway determines whether the local base station is a local base station with access control in open or closed mode based on information received from the local base station, for example a registration request. The information may be defined by the presence or absence of an optional item in the local base station registration request. For example, by the presence or absence of an Access Control List in the local base station's registration request, so that if the Access Control List is present, then the gateway device determines that the local base station is a local base station with closed access and if the Access Control List is absent, then the gateway device determines that the local base station is a local base station with open access.

Alternatively, the information may be defined by the content of a mandatory element in the registration request from the local base station. For example, due to the presence or absence of entries within the aforementioned mandatory element. In one embodiment, the data is defined by the presence or absence of entries within the mandatory Access Control List in the local base station registration request, such that if the Access Control List includes one or more entries , then the gateway device determines that the local base station is a closed access local base station and if the Access Control List is empty, then the gateway device determines that the local base station is an open access local base station.

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The access mode of the local base station can be open, closed or hybrid and the gateway can treat local base stations with hybrid access mode as local base stations with open access mode or as local base stations with closed access mode or as local base stations with both open and closed access modes. In an example embodiment, the mandatory element defines whether the local base station is an open access local base station, a closed access local base station, or a hybrid access local base station.

If the local base station is a hybrid access local base station, the method may comprise performing access control for the mobile communication device and, if successful, registering the mobile communication device with the gateway device. linking and generating data that identifies that the mobile communication device is part of a closed group of subscribers associated with the local base station; if the access control is unsuccessful, registering the mobile communication device with the gateway device and generating data identifying that the mobile communication device is not part of a closed group of subscribers associated with the local base station.

In another example embodiment, the gateway determines whether the local base station is an open or closed access mode local base station based on data stored in a central database, such as an Operations and Management database.

The present invention also provides a method performed by a base station communicating with a communication apparatus, the method comprising: transmitting, towards a core network, a message for a communication apparatus, wherein the message includes at least information that identifies if the base station is a hybrid access mode base station; and receiving a message comprising an identifier for identifying a mobile communication device (3) from the communication apparatus, based on information identifying whether the base station (11) is a hybrid access mode base station.

In an example embodiment, the data is defined by the presence or absence of an optional item in the registration request to the local base station. For example, the data may be defined by the presence or absence of an Access Control List within the registration request of the local base station, such that if the local base station is a local base station with closed access, then the local access base station includes the Access Control List in the local base station registration request and if the local base station is an open access local base station, then the local access base station does not include the Access Control List in the local base station registration request.

In another embodiment, the data may be defined by the content of a mandatory element in the local base station registration request. For example, the data can be defined by the presence or absence of entries within the aforementioned mandatory element. For example, the data may be defined by the presence or absence of entries in a mandatory Access Control List in the registration request of the local base station, such that if the local base station is a local access base station closed, then the local access base station includes entries in the Access Control List in the registration request to the local base station and if the local base station is an open access local base station, then the access local base station does not include Access Control List entries in the registration request to the local base station.

In yet another example embodiment, the mandatory element may define whether the local base station is an open access local base station, a closed access local base station or a hybrid access local base station.

Brief description of the drawings

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a mobile telecommunications system of the type to which the embodiment can be applied;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of a mobile phone that is part of the system shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the local base station that is part of the system shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a block diagram of the local base station gateway that is part of the system shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a timing chart illustrating a registration procedure for registering the local base station with the gateway of the local base station; Y

Figure 6 is a timing chart illustrating a registration procedure performed when a mobile phone registers with the local base station gateway.

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Best mode of carrying out the invention

Overview

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a telecommunications system 1 for mobiles (cellular) in which a user of a mobile telephone (MT) 3 can communicate with other users (not shown) through a base station 5 of Radio Access Network (RAN) of 3G, a Radio Network Controller 7 and a central telephone network 8 when the user is away from the local 9; and that it can communicate with other users (not shown) through a local base station (HNB) 11, the Internet 13, a local base station gateway (HNB-GW) 15 and a central telephone network 8 when the user is at local 9. HNB 11 will typically connect to HNB-GW 15 through a suitable residential Internet connection, such as an ADSL or cable connection.

Mobile phone

Figure 2 schematically illustrates the main components of the mobile phone 3 shown in Figure 1. As shown, the mobile phone 3 includes a transceiver circuit 23 that can transmit and receive signals to and from the base station RAN 5 or the HNB 11 a through one or more antennas 25. As shown, the mobile phone 3 also includes a controller 27 that controls the operation of the mobile phone 3 and is connected to the transceiver circuit 23 and speaker 29, a microphone 31, a display 33, and a keyboard 35. The controller 27 operates according to the software instructions stored in memory 37. As shown, these software instructions include, among other things, an operating system 39 and a mobile phone registration module 41. In this embodiment, the mobile phone registration module 41 allows the user to select the local base station 11 in which the mobile phone 3 will register when the user is at home or when he is within range of his HNB 11. The selection it can be automatically or manually controlled by the user.

Local Base Station

Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the local base station (HNB) 11 shown in Figure 1. As shown, the HNB 11 includes a transceiver circuit 51 that functions to transmit signals to, and receives signals del, mobile phone 3 through one or more antennas 53 and which can transmit signals to and receive signals from the HNB-GW 15 through an interface 55 of HNB-GW. The operation of the transceiver circuit 51 is controlled by a controller 57 in accordance with the software stored in the memory 59. The software stored in the memory 59 includes, among other things, an operating system 61, a base station registration module 63 and a telephone registration module 65. The base station registration module 63 can register the HNB with the HNB-GW 15 and the mobile phone registration module 65 can register the mobile phone 3 with itself and with the HNB-GW 15.

HNB Gateway

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the HNB gateway (HNB-GW) 15 shown in Figure 1. As shown, the HNB-GW 15 includes a transceiver circuit 101 that can transmit signals a, and receive signals from, the HNB 11 through the HNB interface 103 and which can transmit signals to and receive signals from the core network 8 through the core network interface 105. The operation of the transceiver circuit 101 is controlled by a controller 107 in accordance with software stored in memory 109. The software stored in memory 109 includes, among other things, an operating system 111, an HNB registration module 113 and a module 115 mobile phone registration. The HNB registration module 113 controls the registration of the HNB 11 and the mobile phone registration module controls the registration of the mobile phone 3 and executes access control as required.

In the above description, the mobile phone 3, the base station 5 and the HNB gateway 15 are described, for ease of understanding, as having a number of discrete modules (such as registration modules). Although these modules may be provided in this way for certain applications, for example where an existing system has been modified to implement the invention, in other applications, for example systems designed with the features of the invention in mind from the outset, these modules they can be built into the operating system or total code so that those modules may not be discernible as discrete entities.

Access control

As mentioned above, HNB 11 defines three different types of access mode:

• Open access mode: the HNB operates as a normal cell through which any mobile phone 3 can make and receive calls;

• Closed access mode: the HNB operates as a cell with a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) in which only members of the CSG are allowed access (this is the mode defined in version-8); and • Hybrid access mode: a CSG cell where non-CSG members are also allowed access.

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Although Hybrid access mode was designed for version-9, operators would like to recommend that hybrid access mode be implemented in version-8 if it does not affect the version-8 timeline.

As will be appreciated, for the HNBs 11 operating in closed access modes, the HNB-GW 15 must perform access control to restrict access to the core network 8 to only those mobile phones 3 that belong to the respective subscriber groups. ; while for the HNBs 11 operating in open mode, there is no need for the HNB-GW 15 to do access control; and for the HNBs 11 operating in hybrid mode, there may be no need for the HNB-GW 15 to do access control. Therefore, in this embodiment, the HNB 11 informs the HNB-GW 15 about its access mode capability, so that the HNB-GW 15 can determine whether or not to do access control for the mobile phone 3 that seeks to register through that HNB 11.

A number of techniques for the HNB 11 to signal its access mode capability to the HNBGW 15 will now be described.

HNB Registration Procedure

The purpose of the HNB Registration Procedure is to register HNB 11 with HNB-GW 15 to allow HNB-GW to provide core network connectivity and service to HNB 11. The general process is illustrated in Figure 5. As shown, the process involves sending an HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST message from the HNB 11 to the HNB-GW and the HNB-GW 15 sends an HNB REGISTRATION ACCEPT message in response. There are several different options for signaling access mode capability from HNB 11 to HNB-GW 15.

Option 1: The HNB-GW 15 can deduce the access mode of the HNB 11 based on the Information Element (IE) of the Access Control List. Therefore, it is proposed to include an optional Access Control List IE in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message sent from HNB 11 to HNB-GW 15. If the HNB 11 is closed access mode, then it will include the optional Access Control List IE in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message; otherwise, if the HNB has open or hybrid access control, then it will not include the IE from the optional Access Control List in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message. Therefore, a new Access Control List IE needs to be included in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message.

HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST

<td>PARAMETER</td><td>PRESENCE</td><td>SCOPE</td><td>IE Type and Reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td><td>Criticality</td><td>Assigned Criticality</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.1</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB identity</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.2</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Location Information HNB</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.3</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Access Control List</td><td>OR</td><td></td><td>9.2.x</td><td>If this IE is included, then the access mode of the HNB is considered "Closed", otherwise "Open". (Note 1)</td><td>Yes</td><td>Ignore</td>

<td>PLMN-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.14</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Cell-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.25</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>LAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.11</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>RAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.12</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>SAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.13</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

This message is sent by HNB 11 to HNB-GW 15 to register HNB 11 in HNB-GW 15.

Address: HNB HNB-GW

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9.2.x Access Control List

<td>lE / Group Name</td><td>Presence</td><td>Scope</td><td>IE type and reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td>

<td>Access Control List</td><td></td><td>0.maxUEs</td><td></td><td>If this list is empty, then the ACL is considered empty.</td>

<td>&gt; IMSI</td><td>M</td><td></td><td>IMSI 9.2.10</td><td></td>

Note 1: The above option assumes that HNB-GW 15 treats both open access HNBs and hybrid access HNBs the same and therefore, hybrid HNBs do not need to inform HNB-GW 15 about their List of Access control. It is currently unclear in the standards whether or not this assumption is valid. Consequently, if the HNB-GW 15 does need to have the Hybrid HNB Access Control List, then this option will not work.

Note 2: It is not clear from the current standards documentation if it is possible to have a closed mode HNB without IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identification) in the Access Control List (i.e. an empty Access Control List) . If it is assumed that a closed HNB cannot have an empty Access Control List, then the presence of the Access Control List IE should be made mandatory (preferable to optional as suggested above) in the HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST message. HNBAP. Thus, if the HNB-GW 15 receives an IE from the Access Control List in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST, then the HNBGW 15 can deduce that the HNB 11 is open access mode; if not, if there is at least one entry in the Access Control List IE, then the HNB-GW can determine that the HNB 11 is a closed mode HNB.

Option 2: The HNB 11 can indicate its capacity (Open, Closed or Hybrid) to the HNB-GW 15 during the HNB registration procedure in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message using a new Capacity Information IE of the HNB, as shown in the following table.

HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST

<td>PARAMETER</td><td>PRESENCE</td><td>SCOPE</td><td>IE Referen Type</td><td>^YInc</td><td>Semantic Description</td><td>Criticality</td><td>Assigned Criticality</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.1</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB identity</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.2</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB Location Information</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.3</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Information HNB capacity</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2">9.2. And</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>PLMN-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.14</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Cell-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.25</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>LAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.11</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>RAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.12</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>SAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td colspan="2"> 9.2.13</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

9.2. And HNB Capacity Information

The HNB Capability Information IE is sent from the HNB to the HNB-GW to provide information on the capability of the HNB.

<td>IE / Group Name</td><td>Presence</td><td>Scope</td><td>IE type and reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td>

<td>HNB Capacity Information</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

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<td>&gt; Access Control Type</td><td>M</td><td>(Open, Closed, Hybrid)</td><td></td><td></td>

Option 3: The HNB-GW 15 OAM (Operations and Maintenance) functionality stores the HNB access mode for each HNB 11. After a successful HNB Registration in the HNB-GW 15, the HNB-GW 15 retrieves the access mode of the OAM database HNB (not shown) and executes access control accordingly.

EU Registration Procedure

Based on the possible options described above, the HNB-GW 15 will learn about the access control mode of the HNB during the HNB Registration procedure. The HNB-GW 15 will store this information for next use, until the HNB 11 deregisters itself or updates this information through another HNBAP procedure. In one embodiment, the mobile phone registration (illustrated in Figure 6) will be performed using the following steps:

1. Until established at the HNB 11, the mobile phone (MT) 3 initiates an initial NAS procedure (eg an LU Procedure) by establishing an RRC connection with the HNB 11.

two. The MT 3 then transmits an RRC Initial Direct Transfer message carrying the initial NAS message (eg Location Update Request message) with NAS level identification (IMSI or TMSI, P-TMSI, etc. .).

3. The HNB 11 initiates the registration of the MT 3 to the HNB-GW 15. If the HNB 11 has a closed or hybrid access mode, then before starting the Mobile Phone Registration procedure, the HNB executes the COMMON ID OF NAS to obtain the IMSI of mobile phone 3, if that identification was not received in the RRC Connection Establishment or Initial Direct Transfer message.

Four. HNB 11 can optionally realize access control based on IMSI and access control list.

5. The HNB 3G 11 tries to register the mobile phone 3 in the HNB-GW 15 by transmitting the UE HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST, which contains the identification of the mobile phone (IMSI in the case of a closed / hybrid access HNB, or TMSI / IMSI in the case of an open access HNB).

6. If the HNB 11 is open access mode, then the HNB-GW 15 will accept the registration of the mobile phone 3 and will assign a context identification for the mobile phone 3.

7. If the HNB 11 is in closed access mode, then the HNB-GW 15 will perform the access control for the mobile phone 3 trying to use the specific 3G HNB.

8. If the HNB 11 is of hybrid access mode, then the HNB-GW 15 will perform the access control for the mobile phone 3 trying to use the specific 3G HNB. If the access control is successful, then the HNB-GW 15 will accept the registration of mobile phone 3 and assign a context ID for mobile phone 3. In this case, mobile phone 3 is considered as a CSG mobile phone . This information is stored and could be used for other purposes, such as differentiation of services etc. On the other hand, if the access control fails, then the HNB-GW 15 will still accept the registration of the mobile phone 3 and assign a context identification to the mobile phone 3. However, in this case, the mobile phone 3 will be considered a noCSG mobile phone (whose information will be stored and could be used for purposes such as differentiation of services, etc.).

9. If the HNB-GW accepts the mobile phone registration request, then the HNB-GW will send the ACCEPT EU REGISTRATION message to the HNB including the unique context identification.

10. After successfully completing the Mobile Phone Registration Request message, the HNB 11 sends a CONNECT message containing the Initial UE rAnAP message.

eleven. Upon receipt of the CONNECT RUA message, the HNB-GW 15 performs the establishment of the SCCP connection towards the core network 8. HNB-GW 15 may include Initial UE Message in the SCCP CR message. Alternatively, the HNB-GW 15 sends an Initial UE Message upon successful establishment of the SCCP connection.

Modifications and Alternatives

A detailed embodiment has been described above. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a number of modifications and alternatives to the above embodiment can be made and still benefit from performing the invention.

In the above embodiment, a mobile phone based telecommunications system was described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the signaling techniques described in the present application can

ES 2 693 418 T3 to be used in other communication systems. Other communication nodes or devices may include user devices such as, for example, personal digital assistants, laptops, web browsers, etc.

In the above embodiment, a number of software modules were described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the software modules can be provided in compiled or non-compiled form and can be delivered to the base station or mobile phone as a signal over a computer network, or on a recording medium. Furthermore, the functionality performed by part or all of this software can be performed using one or more dedicated hardware circuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred, as it facilitates the updating of the base station 5 and the mobile phone 3 to update their functionalities.

Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail here.

The following is a detailed description of how the present invention can be implemented with the currently proposed 3GPP standard. Although various features are described as essential or necessary, this may be the case only for the proposed 3GPP standard, for example, due to other requirements imposed by the standard. These statements should not, therefore, be construed as limiting the present invention in any way.

Introduction

During the recent RAN # 3 meetings, the HNB registration procedure has been agreed upon and embodied in the Stage-2 document. The list of IEs sent from the HNB to the HNB-GW is currently being discussed in the HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST message and some IEs [2] have already been agreed. This contribution discusses the inclusion of HNB capacity information in the HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST message.

It is assumed that pre-version-8 UEs will continue to exist in the current field for a long time. Therefore, the network must support pre-version-8 UEs and CSGs simultaneously. Furthermore, it has already been agreed that the access control mechanism is mandatory in the hNB-GW, while it is optional in the HNB for pre-version-8 UEs. Furthermore, with the evolving scenarios of hNb deployments, they realize that the HNB could be operated with different access control mechanisms, specifically “Open”, “Closed” and “Hybrid”. This agreement has already been reached in SA1 [1]. Clearly, if the HNB is open access or hybrid, then no mandatory access control is required in the HNB-GW for pre-version-8 UEs. Therefore, for efficient work it is already necessary that the access mode capacity of the HNB is known by the HNB-Gw.

Explanation

4.1 2.1 Background

As mentioned in [1], three different types of access modes are defined for HNB / HeNB.

• Open access mode: HNB / HeNB operates as a normal cell, that is, a non-CSG cell.

• Closed access mode: HNB / HeNB operates as a CSG cell. This is the mode defined in version 8. It is a CSG cell where only CSG members are allowed access.

• Hybrid access mode: a CSG cell which at the same time is allowed access to non-CSG members.

Although the LS answer [1] refers to version-9, it is specifically mentioned that operators would like to recommend the implementation of hybrid access mode in version-8 if it does not affect the version-8 timescale .

To avoid unnecessary access controls on the HNB-GW when the HNB is open or hybrid access, the HNBGW must be aware of the access mode capability of the HNB.

This document discusses some of the possible solutions in the following sections.

2.2 HNB Registration Procedure

The purpose of the HNB Registration Procedure is to register the HNB with the HNB-GW to allow the HNBGW to provide service and connectivity to the core network for the HNB.

Option 1: The HNB-GW can deduce the access mode of the HNB based on the IE of the Access Control List, received from the HNB. Therefore, it is proposed to include the optional Access Control List IE in the HNB HnBaP REGISTRATION REQUEST message. If the HNB has closed access mode, then it will include the optional Access Control List IE in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message; otherwise if the HNB has open access control then it will not include the IE from the Access Control List

ES 2 693 418 T3 optional in HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message. Therefore, a new Access Control List IE needs to be included in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message.

4.2. HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST

This message is sent by the HNB to the HNB-GW to register the HNB with the HNB-GW.

Address: HNB HNB-GW

<td>PARAMETER</td><td>PRESENCE</td><td>SCOPE</td><td>IE Type and Reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td><td>Criticality</td><td>Assigned Criticality</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.1</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB identity</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.2</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB Location Information</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.3</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Access Control List</td><td>OR</td><td></td><td>9.2.x</td><td>If this IE is included, then the access mode of the HNB is considered "Closed", otherwise "Open". (Note 1)</td><td>Yes</td><td>Ignore</td>

<td>PLMN-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.14</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Cell-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.25</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>LAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.11</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>RAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.12</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>SAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.13</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td colspan="7">Note 1: It is assumed that the HNB-GW will need the same treatment for “Open” and “Hybrid” access modes of operation.</td>

9.2.x Access Control List

<td>IE / Group Name</td><td>Presence</td><td>Scope</td><td>IE type and reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td>

<td>Access Control List</td><td></td><td>0..maxUEs</td><td></td><td>If this list is empty, then the ACL is considered empty.</td>

<td>&gt; IMSI</td><td>M</td><td></td><td>IMSI 9.2.10</td><td></td>

Note 1: The above option assumes that from the point of view of the HNB-GW, an open access or hybrid access HNB are the same. Therefore, hybrid mode HNBs do not need to report the ACL to the HNB-GW. It is currently unclear from the standards if the HNB-GW needs to have the ACL for a hybrid HNB. If the HNB-GW 10 needs to have the Hybrid HNB ACL then this option will not work.

Note 2: It is not clear from the specification if it is possible to have a closed mode HNB without the IMSI in the ACL. If it is assumed that a closed HNB cannot have an empty ACL, then an Access Control List IE should be mandatory in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message. So, if the HNB-GW receives an IE from the Access Control List in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST, then the HNB will be considered as open access mode; if not, if there is at least one entry in the Access Control List IE, then the HNB is considered as HNB in ​​closed mode.

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Option 2: The HNB may indicate its capacity during the HNB registration procedure in the HNB HNB REGISTRATION REQUEST message using a new HNB Capacity Information IE.

<td>PARAMETER</td><td>PRESENCE</td><td>SCOPE</td><td>IE Type and Reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td><td>Criticality</td><td>Assigned criticality</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.1</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB identity</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.2</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB Location Information</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.3</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>HNB Capacity Information</td><td>M</td><td></td><td>9.2.x</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>PLMN-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.14</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>Cell-ID</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.25</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>LAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.11</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>RAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.12</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

<td>SAC</td><td>M</td><td></td><td> 9.2.13</td><td></td><td>Yes</td><td>Reject</td>

4.3. 9.2. And HNB Capacity Information

The HNB Capability Information IE is sent from the HNB to the HNB-GW to provide information on the capability of the HNB.

<td>IE / Group Name</td><td>Presence</td><td>Scope</td><td>IE type and reference</td><td>Semantic Description</td>

<td>HNB Capacity Information</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td>

<td>&gt; Access Control Type</td><td>M</td><td>(Open, Closed, Hybrid)</td><td></td><td></td>

Option 3: The HNB-GW OAM stores the HNB access mode for each HNB. Following a successful HNB Registration with the HNB-GW, the HNB-GW retrieves the access mode of the HNB from the OAM database and performs access control accordingly.

2.2 EU Registration Procedure

Based on the possible options mentioned in section 2.1, the HNB-GW will learn about the HNB's access control mode during the HNB Registration procedure. The HNB-GW will store this information for future uses, until either the HNB de-registers itself or updates this information through another HNBAP procedure. In Figure 6, UE is used instead of mobile phone (TE) 3. UE registration can be done by following the steps below:

12. After establishing itself at the HNB, the UE initiates an initial NAS procedure (eg an LU Procedure) by establishing an RRC connection with the HNB.

13. The UE then transmits an Initial Direct Transfer RRC message carrying the initial NAS message (eg Location Update Request message) with NAS level identification (IMSI or TMSI, P-TMSI, etc ...) .

14. The HNB initiates the registration of the UE towards the HNB-GW. If the HNB has closed / hybrid access mode, then before starting the UE Registration procedure, the HNB executes the NAS COMMON ID procedure to obtain the IMSI of the UE, if that identification was not received in the RRC message. Establishment of Connection or Initial Direct Transfer.

fifteen. HNB can optionally perform access control based on IMSI and access control list.

ES 2 693 418 T3

16. The 3G HNB attempts to register the UE in the HNB-GW by transmitting the UE REGISTRATION REQUEST HNBAP, which contains the identification of the UE (IMSI in the case of a closed / hybrid access HNB, or TMSI / IMSI in the case of open access mode).

17. If the HNB is open access mode, then the HNB-GW will accept the UE's registration and assign it a context identification for the UE.

18. If the HNB is closed access mode, then the HNB-GW will perform the access control for the particular UE trying to use the specific 3G HNB.

19. If the HNB is hybrid access mode, then the HNB-GW will perform access control for the UE by attempting to use the specific 3G HNB. If the access control is successful, then the HNB-GW will accept the UE's registration and assign it a context identification. The UE is considered as the UE of the CSG, which could be used for other purposes, such as service differentiations etc. If the access control fails, the HNB-GW still accepts the registration of the UE and assigns a context identification for the UE. However, the UE will be considered a non-CSG UE, which could be used for purposes such as service differentiations etc.

twenty. If the HNB-GW accepts the UE's registration request, then the HNB-GW will send the UE REGISTRATION ACCEPTANCE message to the HNB including the unique context identifier.

twenty-one. After successfully completing the UE Registration Request message, the HNB sends a CONNECT message containing the UE Initial RANAP message.

22. Upon receipt of the CONNECT RUA message, the HNB-GW performs the SCCP connection establishment towards the CN. The HNB-GW may include the Initial UE Message in the SCCP CR message. Alternatively, the HNB-GW sends an Initial UE Message upon successful establishment of the SCCP connection.

Conclution

Enter the new HNB Capacity Information IE in the HNB HNBAP REGISTRATION REQUEST message.