EP1531645A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Context transfer in a communication network comprising plural heterogeneous access networks
Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
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Filing: 2003-11-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2023-11-12
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to a method for a context transfer in a communication network comprising a plurality of heterogeneous access networks (620,621,622), wherein a mobile terminal is attached to one of the access networks. Further, the present invention relates to a context transfer manager (600) performing the method. Moreover, the present invention relates to a mobile terminal specially adapted to perform the provided method for a context transfer. To facilitate a context transfer between heterogeneous access networks, the present invention introduces a context transfer manager generating at least one context based on capabilities and parameters associated to the mobile terminal and capabilities and parameters of the neighboring access networks (503) taking into account the respective access technology. Further the context transfer manager is common to the heterogeneous access networks in the communication network and performs the context transfers related to a particular mobile terminal.
Inventors
- 👤 Jens Bachmann
- 👤 Alexander Bourgett
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 20:58
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04W; H04W36/00; H04W36/0005; H04W36/0011; H04W36/0033; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/2854; H04L12/2856; H04W36/14; H04W36/24; H04W36/32; H04W8/00; H04W8/22; H04W8/24; H04W36/144; H04W36/1446; H04W8/02; H04W8/08; H04W8/10; H04W84/00; H04W84/02; H04W84/04; H04W84/042; H04W84/10; H04W84/12; H04W88/00; H04W88/02; H04W88/06; H04W92/00; H04W92/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
203 words
A method for a context transfer in a communication network comprising a
plurality of heterogeneous access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622),
wherein a mobile terminal (207) is attached to one of the access networks, the
method comprising the steps of: a context transfer manager (200, 600) receiving location information (501), the context transfer manager (200, 600) determining neighboring access
networks (502) for the mobile terminal (207) based on the location information, the context transfer manager (200, 600) generating at least one context (503)
for the neighboring access networks and the mobile terminal (207), the context transfer manager (200, 600) transmitting a context (504) to each of
the neighboring access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622) and the
mobile terminal (207), wherein the generation of the at least one context (304) is based on
capabilities and parameters associated to the mobile terminal (207) and
capabilities and parameters of the neighboring access networks (220, 221,
222, 620, 621, 622) taking into account the respective access technology, and wherein the context transfer manager (200, 600) common to the plurality of
heterogeneous access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622) in the
communication network performs the context transfers related to said mobile
terminal (207).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of the mobile
terminal (207) receiving a beacon signal indicating the presence of another
access network, performing a handover from the current access network to
the new access network from which the beacon signal is received.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the context (304) generated for
each of the neighboring access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622) and
the mobile terminal (207) comprises a static or temporary identifier of the
mobile terminal (207).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method according to claim 3, wherein the static or temporary identifier is
used by a context manager (209, 210, 211, 609, 610, 611) in the new access
network to associate the mobile terminal (207) to its context received from the
context transfer manager (200, 600).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the mobile terminal (207)
includes the static or temporary identifier in the data transmitted to the new
access network.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
32 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising the step of
pre-configuring the mobile terminal (207) based on the context received from
the context transfer manager (200, 600).
Claim 7
Independent Claim
56 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the context transfer
manager (200, 600) receives status information from the mobile terminal
(207), the status information indicating the quality of service achieved in the
current access network and/or indicates unsuccessful access attempts to at
least one other access network than the current access network.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method according to claim 7, wherein the step of determining neighboring
access networks comprises adapting a selection algorithm used for
determining the neighboring access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622)
based on the status information from the mobile terminal (207).
Claim 9
Independent Claim
36 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising the step of
the context transfer manager (200, 600) storing information on failed access
attempts to access networks reported by the mobile terminal (207).
Claim 10
Independent Claim
81 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the capabilities and
parameters associated to the mobile client comprise at least one of
authentication, authorization and accounting parameters comprising static
and/or temporary terminal identifiers, user preferences comprising the
requirements for the terminal's communications, guaranteed service quality
parameters, and/or access permissions to services, session data comprising
encryption keys, seeds, ciphers and/or header compression information,
terminal capabilities comprising information on the display, network interfaces,
processing power, supported applications and/or video/audio codecs.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
71 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the capabilities and
parameters of the neighboring access network comprise at least one of
access technology specific attributes comprising a radio frequency, data rates,
channels, and/or coding schemes, access network specific attributes
comprising cryptographic capabilities of the respective access network, an
access network identifier, supported quality of service mechanisms, available
traffic classes, local services, information portals, and/or public transportation
information.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
69 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the location
information received by the context transfer manager (200, 600) is received in
a paging message transmitted by the mobile terminal (207) or by a signalling
message from an authentication server (206) in the home domain of the
context transfer manager (200) after an authentication procedure performed
between the mobile terminal (207) and the authentication server (206).
Claim 13
Independent Claim
40 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the location
information is based on a geographical location obtained from a location
determining device or a network related location determined based on a
network address and/or network prefix.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
33 words
The method according to one of claims 2 to 13, wherein the handover is
performed upon having received context information from the context transfer
manager (200, 600) related to the new access network.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
47 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 13, wherein a markup-language
based data format is used to describe the context transferred from the context
transfer manager (200, 600) to the plurality of access networks (220, 221, 222,
620, 621, 622) and the mobile terminal (207).
Claim 16
Independent Claim
56 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising the step of
an authentication server (206, 606) in a neighboring access network receiving
the context from the context transfer manager (200, 600) performing an
registration and/or authentication procedure of the mobile terminal (207) with
the neighboring access network using the received context information.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 16, wherein the registration and/or
authentication procedure comprises registering a security key of the mobile
terminal (207).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of the mobile
terminal (207) using the registered security key for communication upon
attaching to the neighboring access network in which the security key has
been registered.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
22 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the context transfer
manager (600) resides in a visited communication network.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method according to claim 19, wherein a context transfer manager (200)
in a home communication network of the mobile terminal (207) transmits data
relevant for the generation of the at least one context to the context transfer
manager (600) of the visited communication network.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
53 words
The method according to one of claims 1 to 20, further comprising the step of
a context manager (209, 210, 211, 609, 610, 611) in an access network
receiving the context from the context transfer manager (200, 600), wherein
the context manager maintains no connection to another context manager in
another access network.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
189 words
A context transfer manager (200, 600) in a communication network comprising
a plurality of heterogeneous access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622),
wherein a mobile terminal (207) is attached to one of the access networks, the
context transfer manager (200, 600) comprising: receiving means for receiving location information, processing means (202, 602) for determining neighboring access networks for
the mobile terminal (207) based on the location information, context generation means (201, 601) for generating at least one context (304)
for the neighboring access networks and the mobile terminal (207), transmitting means for transmitting the respective context to each of the
neighboring access networks and the mobile terminal (207), wherein the context generation means (201, 601) is adapted to generate the
at least one context (304) based on capabilities and parameters associated to
the mobile terminal (207) and capabilities and parameters taking into account
the respective access technology of the neighboring access network, and wherein the context transfer manager (200, 600) common to the plurality of
heterogeneous access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622) in the
communication network performs the context transfers related to said mobile
terminal (207).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
The context transfer manager (200, 600) according to claim 22, wherein the
context transfer manager (200, 600) is adapted to perform the method
according to one of claims 1 to 21.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
53 words
A mobile terminal (207) in a communication network comprising a plurality of
heterogeneous access networks (220, 221, 222, 620, 621, 622), wherein the
mobile terminal (207) is attached to one of the access networks, the mobile
terminal being adapted to perform one of the methods according to one of
claims 1 to 21.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US20030103496A1
Cited
WO2003079700A1
Cited
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