Method for a subscriber unit's communication with a service
and a component in a network
Description
The invention relates to a method for a subscriber unit's
communication with a service that requires information
about the subscriber unit's location. Such services are
also referred to as Location Based Services (LBS) or as
Location Dependent Services (LDS).
As part of such services and with the aid of position-
related data, an end user is provided with information that
relates to the location of the subscriber unit or is
furnished with services, the type or content of which
depends on the location of the end user, or the furnishing
of which requires knowledge of the end user's location.
Often, these are services in the context of mobile
communication systems, where the end user uses a mobile
communication terminal, for example a mobile telephone,
such that the location of the end user cannot be known to
the service provider at the outset, for which reason data
about the position of the end user or about the position of
his terminal need to be communicated to the service
provider.
In this description, end user refers to a user of a
subscriber terminal unit. For the sake of linguistic
simplification, the location of the end user's subscriber
terminal unit shall hereinafter be referred to in brief as
the end user's location, although this will mean the
location of the subscriber terminal unit unless expressly
stated otherwise.
Location-based services can also be offered in connection
with stationary terminal units, for example in telephone
networks, which can include both conventional connection-
oriented telephone networks and packet-switched networks,
in particular Internet protocol-based telephone networks.
In conventional so-called landline networks, the end user's
location can often be determined from his telephone number,
because in such networks the telephone numbers are often
assigned according to a geographic numbering system.
In this case, telephone numbers are often assigned in a
location-based manner because the hardware structure of
these networks is oriented on the geographic distribution
of the subscriber units, such that in these cases the first
few digits of a telephone number indicate the location
based on the underlying telephone number system. Examples
include area codes, which allow an inference as to the
region where the end user is located. However, the
invention is not restricted to such telephone number
systems.
The increasing importance of Internet-based devices and
communication systems is creating a growing need for
determining the location of a terminal communication unit
in a manner other than from its telephone number, because
such devices often do not use telephone numbers that permit
a conclusion about the location of the terminal unit and
also do not transmit any other information that would allow
an inference about the unit's location.
It is therefore the objective of the present invention to
provide a technical teaching with which location-based
services can be used even by the types of terminal units
and networks that do not allow for the use or transmission
of location-based information from the terminal unit.
Examples of such terminal units are Internet phones,
notebooks, desktop computers or other information
technology equipment suitable for communication, which
often are assigned only one address within a local network,
preferably an Internet address, which does not allow any
conclusions about the location of the device.
According to the invention, this objective is achieved by a
method for a subscriber unit's communication with a service
according to patent claim 1 or by a component in a network
according to the independent product claim.
According to the invention, a method is provided for a
subscriber unit's communication with a service that
requires the subscriber unit's location information,
wherein the subscriber unit sends the service a message
containing information about the subscriber unit's location,
and where at least one piece of information about the
subscriber unit's location is stored in at least one
network component and is made available by one network
component.
In this context, a subscriber unit refers to any type of
device that a communication subscriber uses for
communication. Important examples of subscriber units are
communication terminal units such as telephones or
information technology devices such as personal computers
or similar devices.
In this context, a message that is transmitted by a
subscriber unit to a service and contains information about
the location of the subscriber unit refers to any message
that at the time it is received by the service contains
information about the location of the subscriber,
regardless of the time or point in the transmission path of
the message at which this information about the subscriber
unit's location was inserted.
In this context, a network component refers to any device
in a network suitable for communication that is equipped to
store information about a subscriber unit's location and
make said information available for communication.
One preferred embodiment of the present invention is a
method, wherein at least one piece of information about the
subscriber unit's location is obtained by the subscriber
unit from a network component, is stored in the subscriber
unit and, when a message is sent to the service, is
inserted by the subscriber unit into the message. The
process of obtaining the information about the subscriber
unit's location is preferably carried out when logging the
subscriber unit onto the network that the subscriber unit
uses for communication.
The network component from which the subscriber unit's
location information has been obtained has been provided
with the subscriber unit's location information, preferably
by an administrator. Preferably, this information has been
stored in the network component in advance by the
administrator. When the subscriber unit logs onto the
network, the subscriber unit's location information
preferably is transferred from the memory of the network
component, where the subscriber unit's location information
was stored by the administrator, to the subscriber unit, is
stored therein and is inserted by the subscriber unit into
the message when transmitting a message.
In other preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention,
which can also be combined preferably with previously
described or with other exemplary embodiments of the
invention, a method is provided with which at least one
piece of information about the subscriber unit's location
is inserted into the message by a component of the network
when sending a message to the service. In these embodiments
of the invention, the information about the subscriber
unit's location is preferably not stored in the subscriber
unit but rather inserted later into the message by the
network component. Preferably, this is done by adding the
subscriber unit's location information to a message after
that message is transmitted initially by the subscriber
unit without the subscriber unit's location information.
Preferably, this can occur in a network component that is
used to forward the message to the service and that detects
the fact that information about the subscriber unit's
location is missing and preferably inserts this information
into the message or, so that the information can be
inserted, forwards the message to the network component
that inserts the information about the subscriber unit's
location.
Preferably, according to the invention, at least one piece
of information about a subscriber unit's location stored in
a network component is independent of a network address of
the subscriber unit. This is especially associated with the
advantage that the network administrator or another
authority can assign network addresses independent of the
subscriber unit's location. In these embodiments, changes
to the network configuration do not require or affect any
verification of or change to the information about the
subscriber unit's location.
Some preferred embodiments of the invention provide that at
least one piece of information about the subscriber unit's
location stored in a network component is identical for
multiple spatially adjacent subscriber units. These
embodiments are associated with the advantage that, in
cases where greater accuracy of the information about the
subscriber unit's location is not required by a location-
based service, the location of the subscriber unit can be
provided less precisely. For example, instead of the room
in a building, only the building number may be provided.
In some of the preferred embodiments of the invention, at
least one provided piece of information about the
subscriber unit's location is provided in a format that is
adapted to the recipient of the message or to the service
offered by this recipient. Preferably, the provided format
is converted depending on the addressed service. For
example, a building and/or room number can be converted
into geographic coordinates for the location if the service
used by the subscriber in operating the subscriber unit
prefers or requires that the location information be
provided in this format. Preferably, the preferred format
is known to the network component providing this
information or is disclosed to this component by the
service, preferably requested by the component in a dialog
with the service and the component. The invention is in no
way limited to a specific format.
In some preferred embodiments of the invention, at least
one piece of information stored in a network component
about the subscriber unit's location is displayed or
announced at least sometimes on the subscriber unit. For
this purpose, the subscriber unit is preferably equipped
with a display direction or an acoustic output device, and
the network component in which the information about the
subscriber unit's location is stored transfers this
information at times or on certain occasions to the
subscriber unit and in doing so causes the information
about the subscriber unit's location to be displayed or
announced on the subscriber unit. This has the advantage
that the subscriber who is going to use this subscriber
unit for communication is able to check the correctness of
the location information easily.
Preferably, this display or announcement is carried out in
such a manner that one subscriber, after the display or
announcement of the at least one piece of information about
the subscriber unit's location stored in a network
component, receives the option to confirm the correctness
of the information, to repeat the display or announcement
or to identify it as incorrect through a respective input
at the subscriber unit. Preferably, the subscriber unit is
equipped for this purpose with a respective input device
with which the correctness of the information can be
confirmed, its display or announcement can be repeated or
it can be identified as incorrect.
In some preferred embodiments of the invention, a
subscriber unit is at least sometimes locked with respect
to at least one service that requires information about the
subscriber unit's location, if after a display or
announcement of the at least one piece of information about
the subscriber unit's location, which is stored in a
component of the network, a subscriber has marked this
information as incorrect through a respective input at the
subscriber unit.
In some preferred embodiments of the invention, at least
one piece of information about the subscriber unit's
location stored in a network component is displayed or
announced at the subscriber unit after a network component
has registered a change of the network structure.
Preferably this occurs when a network structure has been
changed by adding, removing or replacing components or if
the address assignment or other parameters of the network
have been altered, which could or will affect communication
in the network.
The invention is described below in more detail based on
preferred exemplary embodiments and with reference to the
figures.
The figures show:
FIG. 1 - a schematic representation of the message flow in
a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 - a schematic representation of the message flow in
a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 - a schematic representation of the message flow in
a third embodiment of the invention.
The invention offers an option for utilizing location-based
services with communication devices that are not yet
equipped with the ability to determine their own location
and/or to forward this information about their own location
in a message to a location-based service. However,
location-based services assume that the location of a
communication device, such as a telephone, for example, is
known. Auxiliary constructs that use, for example, the IP
address as an indicator for the location of a communication
device involve difficulties, for example due to address
translation (network address translation, NAT) or due to
dynamic address assignment by so-called DHCP (dynamic host
configuration protocol) servers.
Location-based assignment of IP addresses (Internet
protocol addresses) or of so-called fully qualified domain
names (FQDNs) and their provisional location-based
interpretation are associated with various problems and
cause an often considerable additional network
administration effort. Such difficulties can be avoided
through suitable embodiments of the present invention. In
one preferred embodiment of the invention, a so-called
network access control (NAC) switch (also: network
admission control), i.e., a device in a network that
controls the access to this network, for example, ensures
that network devices normally log onto a company network or
local network at a certain switch or port.
Network admission control (NAC) is a technology that
controls network access of all devices that are or can be
connected to the network. For example, in networks NAC
components frequently check the authorization of a
subscriber unit to connect to a specific port of this
network. For this purpose, NAC components with this
functionality preferably have information about the
location of the port where this subscriber unit is to be
connected. Descriptions of the NAC technology can be found,
for example, at
http://www.enterasys.com/company/literature/nac-ds.pdf or
http://www.enterasys.com/products/advanced-security-
apps/enterasys-network-access.aspx.
Routers are network devices often operating at OSI layer 3
that connect or disconnect multiple computer networks as
applicable. The router analyzes the arriving data packets
according to their target address and either blocks or
forwards them. "Routed" packets, i.e., packets forwarded by
a router, either arrive in this manner at a target network
that is connected directly to the router or are forwarded
to another router that can be reached via the network.
Some exemplary embodiments of the invention preferably use
functionally advanced routers that can operate at OSI
Layer 5. In particular, according to the invention such
functionally advanced routers should be able to analyze
messages to see if they are addressed to a location-based
service. However, the invention is not restricted to
exemplary embodiments that assume the use of such
functionally advanced routers.
In a first group of preferred embodiments of the invention
that do not assume the use of such functionally advanced
routers, information about the subscriber unit's location
is always inserted in every message. This at least ensures
that this information about the subscriber unit's location
is included in every message, in particular in messages
that are to be transmitted to a location-based service.
Should this approach appear unfavorable with regard to a
network operator's privacy policies, the invention provides
preferred embodiments wherein information about the
subscriber unit's location is subsequently filtered out of
such messages that are not addressed to a location-based
service using components provided for this purpose, for
example so-called "OSV Switches". These embodiments are
associated with the advantage that knowledge about the need
for and/or contents of location-based information need only
be provided or be available in components that are involved
in call processing decisions. The network load is thus kept
low, and private or confidential information is protected.
In a second group of preferred embodiments of the invention,
which do not assume the use of such functionally advanced
routers, it is intended to provide a profile or multiple
profiles, which are preferably administered centrally, in
which the destination numbers of location-based services
such as emergency numbers for police, fire department, or
similar services are stored. Preferably, additional
profiles can be provided for each subscriber, in which the
subscriber can store additional numbers decentrally (for
example, telephone numbers of service provider companies
such as pizza delivery services), to which information
about the subscriber unit's location should be transferred.
These embodiments of the invention offer the advantage that
the effort for central administration of such profiles
could be limited to the required level, and that, moreover,
private settings could be made easily, preferably also as a
function of time or other parameters. These embodiments of
the invention also have options for preferred variations,
where preferably decisions are made automatically regarding
whether and for which destination number information about
the subscriber unit's location is attached, based on
location and/or time and preferably using programmed
suitable authorities provided for this purpose.
A switch is a connection element, preferably operating at
OSI Layer 2, that connects network segments to each other.
The term refers to a network device that forwards data to
the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.
Thus, the NAC switch has knowledge of all devices
registered in the network, whereby regularly, i.e., as a
rule, the switch port, the IP address and the device type
of the devices registered in the network are known to said
NAC switch.
For implementing the present invention, a NAC component may
also be expanded by a function operating at Layer 5, where
said function preferably analyzes data traffic on the basis
of the so-called session initiation protocol (SIP) in a
manner similar to that of a so-called session border
control (SBC), for example.
Layer 5 (session layer, control of logic connections, also
referred to as communication control layer) ensures process
communication between two systems. The OSI layer model
(also open systems interconnection [OSI] reference model)
refers to a layer model of the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO), which has been developed as a
design basis for communication protocols in computer
networks. The communication tasks have been divided into
seven successive layers. Each layer has a description
listing the tasks it is to accomplish. These requirements
must be implemented by the communication protocols. The
concrete implementation is not specified and can, therefore,
be very different. Thus, by now numerous such protocols
exist for each of the seven layers.
A session border controller (SBC) is a device used in
particular in IP-based telephone networks such as voice-
over-IP networks. Its function is described, for example,
in the Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_border_controller. The
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) also is often used in
these networks. This protocol is described, for example, in
the Wikipedia article
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol
and is standardized in RFC3261 and other RFCs.
If a telephone transmits a SIP request, i.e., a request to
a service using the session initiation protocol, and if
this service is a location-dependent service, for example
an emergency telephone number or another location-dependent
service, then this layer 5 SIP function would become active
and integrate the respective location information into the
outgoing SIP requests, such that they are provided with the
location-specific information in the direction of the SIP
server, even if the transmitting subscriber units do not
feature the capability of adding any location information
to the messages they transmit.
Such a procedure is advantageous, for example, in
connection with telephone devices that do not store
location-specific information and therefore cannot insert
location-specific information into outgoing messages. This
makes it possible to carry out true communication with
location-dependent services, independent of IP addresses or
FQDNs. Using the present invention, entire
telecommunication systems with such terminal units could be
set up to address location-dependent services even without
modifying the software of the terminal telephone units. For
this purpose, already existing network components such as a
NAC switch, for example, could preferably be expanded or
supplemented appropriately, or replaced by new NAC switches,
depending on which measure involves less effort.
Preferably, the location information can be a text element
preconfigured in the network component, i.e., in the NAC
switch for example, or a so-called PIDF-LO object or
another format in which location-specific information could
be stored.
Thus, in some embodiments the invention provides for
modification of the data traffic, for example data traffic
based on the SIP protocol, for which session border
controllers (SBCs), for example, are well suited. Thus, the
invention is preferably implemented by expanding NAC
switches with location-specific SBC components.
In case of protected connections, which are protected, for
example, according to the transport layer security (TLS)
protocol according to RFC5246 and other RFCs
(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security),
other embodiments of the invention are preferred wherein
the NAC switch is not required to modify a SIP message
within the SIP signaling path. In these cases, it is
preferred that the NAC switch operates as a service for
other network elements interested in'location information,
for example, the SIP switch, and supplies these network
elements with the location information. Thus, in the case
of a TLS-encrypted message, the SIP switch makes a request
to the network component that is provided with location
information, for example the NAC switch, and requests the
stored location information from the NAC switch and can
then integrate this information within the SIP switch into
the signaling information. One advantage of the invention
can be seen in that the location-based information is
obtained directly from the network infrastructure and
registration information of the switched-in telephones or
subscriber units, such that a misconfiguration can be
avoided to a great extent.
A central network component, preferably a NAC switch,
assumes the role of assigning the location information to a
specific subscriber unit in the network, for example to a
telephone. Even devices that do not have any location
information stored in the device or any option for
determining the location information by other means are
thus enabled to address location-dependent services.
Today, the legislators of many countries stipulate that
emergency calls to an emergency call center must by law be
transmitted with a subscriber telephone number for the
transmitting terminal unit that allows for a call back to
the subscriber who transmitted the emergency call. Other
so-called location-based services also require location-
specific information for processing.
In traditional, i.e., analog or TDM-based infrastructures,
this poses few problems, because location and telephone
number can be correlated clearly. In these types of
infrastructures, the location of the telephone remains the
same at all times.
However, in modern, preferably IP-based telephones, the
location of the telephone is not always the same. It can be
selected almost arbitrarily within a corporate network.
This also applies to so-called soft clients, i.e.,
telephone applications on a notebook used as a phone.
Possible known solutions for determining the location of a
telephone are:
1. Determination of the IP address of the calling
subscriber unit and correlation with a location.
2. Determination of the FQDN from the SIP message of the
calling subscriber and correlation with a location.
These two methods have the disadvantage that a data element
is implicitly associated with a piece of location
information. Such implicit methods are associated with
complex planning, administration and corresponding
susceptibility to errors.
3. The telephone is assigned a phone number with geographic
significance, which is routed to the emergency call
center and can be used for callback. However, this
method requires a unique "geographic number" for each
user, which is often expensive and difficult to
administer. This geographic telephone number is also
referred to as a location identification number (LIN).
It can also differ from the subscriber's correct
telephone number, for example in a so-called unified
communication environment where only so-called global
numbers are used.
4. The phone knows or determines its location and sends it
along with the emergency SIP message, for example in the
so-called PIDF-LO format. In an emergency, however, this
location information must be mapped back to a callback
number with geographic significance in order to reach
the emergency call center via the so-called PSTN network,
which is usually associated with significant effort.
Often different location-based services also require that
location information be supplied in different data formats.
For example, a location-specific telephone number is
required for emergency calls, while other services require
the GPS coordinates of the device, for example. Other
services, such as e-mail, require information about the
location of the device from which the e-mail has been sent
in text form, in order for such information to be sent in
an e-mail, in the format City, Street, House Number, for
example. There are also location-based services that
require the location information in a processed manner,
e.g., in the form of pixel or vector graphics.
It is generally desirable that no additional administrative
activities become necessary during network operation. A
trouble-free network operating largely without additional
interventions should be ensured without users or
administrators having to make changes or interventions when
using location-based services.
In some embodiments of the invention, the subscriber unit,
for example, a telephone terminal unit or a telephone
application on a notebook, obtains location-based
information, such as the location identifier (LID), from
the network infrastructure. Preferably, this location
identifier is independent of an IP address assigned to the
subscriber unit or of a so-called FQDN. Preferably, this
location identifier is allocated to a specific switch port
or preferably to an entire floor of a building or even to
the entire building.
The location identifier is an internal variable which
identifies the location of the subscriber unit and is
preferably adapted by the location mapping service to a
format required by the addressed service. As described
below, the location identifier can be adapted to a callback
number (the location identification number, LIN) .
Preferably, this callback number (location identification
number, LIN) is used in case of an emergency call. From a
database that is preferably located at the emergency call
center, data on the caller, preferably the home address
and/or the caller's callback number, can be determined with
the location identifier number (LIN). In an emergency call,
the location identifier number (LIN) is transmitted as the
calling number and is preferably registered in a database
at the emergency call center. In some embodiments of the
invention, when a device logs into the network, for example,
this device receives the location identification via
protocols such as DHCP, LLDP-MED or other protocols and
stores it internally in the subscriber unit. Preferably,
the location identifier uniquely represents a specific
location. The location identifier may be assigned in a
different manner for each switch port, which is associated
with the best possible accuracy (location resolution).
In other embodiments of the invention, some or all of the
LAN ports of a building floor or even of an entire building
may receive the same location identifier. Assigning the
same location identifier to different switch ports is a
matter of the required accuracy and location resolution for
the corresponding location-based services.
In some embodiments of the invention, with requests to
location-based services, for example in the form of SIP
requests or in the form of other protocols, using the SOAP
for example, the location identifier is sent along in a
transparent form with the message sent to the location-
based service. The recipient of the so-called request, i.e.,
the SIP server for example, will then convert, preferably
using a respective service (location mapping service), the
location identifier into location-based information in a
format required by that service.
Such a location mapping service allows, for example,
respective location information to be generated in any
desired format for a variety of location-based services.
For emergency calls, this location identifier is preferably
converted into a location identification number (LIN) as an
emergency callback number and used from then on. For other
location-based services, the location identifier can be
mapped or translated into respective location information.
For example, the location service can provide GPS
coordinates for the device location in order to display it
on a map or street guide. In other exemplary embodiments of
the invention, the location service can provide the address
for the same site, preferably in the form of City, Street,
House number, Floor, Room, etc. In other exemplary
embodiments of the invention, the location mapping service
can provide a short version of the location for sending an
electronic business card. In other exemplary embodiments of
the invention, the location mapping service can provide
respective bitmaps or vector graphics with the required
graphic information and send them together with the message.
Preferably, only the generic location identifier will be
needed as an input variable.
The location mapping service that is required for
converting the address formats and that converts the
location identifier, preferably conforming to the actual
layout of the site and the premises, into either into a
real location or a usable emergency callback number is a
network function that is. preferably provided by a network
component. The subscriber unit's location obtained using
the location mapping service can also be used for other
location-dependent services.
Due to the fact that, according to some embodiments of the
invention, the location identifier is loaded automatically
from the network infrastructure, i.e., from a network
component, this embodiment of the invention allows for
automatic support of so-called nomadic devices put into
operation somewhere within a corporate network.
In some embodiments of the invention, the location
identifier is formed from the information elements (digits)
of GPS coordinates (latitude, longitude, altitude). In this
form, a location identifier will also be readable by
information technology equipment (machine readable). It can
thus also be interpreted, for example in the emergency call
center, in case of a failure of the location mapping
service.
Location-based services such as emergency calls often
require considerable administrative effort to integrate the
location information from subscriber units such as
telephones into the network infrastructure. This applies
regardless of whether the location information is obtained
and administered from the network infrastructure, via a
pre-configuration of network components or via other
services.
Configuration errors can never be ruled out completely. LAN
wiring in office buildings and entire office complexes can
require many miles of LAN cables, various hierarchies of
LAN switches and routers. Often they suffer from a
juxtaposition of existing (older) LAN wiring and new LAN
cables that are added to the existing wiring. In this
context, reliable processes, methods and equipment are
needed to ensure the correctness of location-based
information. Correctness in this case means to ensure that
a subscriber unit is actually located at the location for
which its entry in the network infrastructure is configured.
Some exemplary embodiments of the invention now allow
examination of the correctness of location information by
the subscriber who typically uses a subscriber unit. In the
case of a telephone terminal unit, a telephone application
is preferably provided in this context that communicates
with the user using a telephone display or a voice menu. In
the case of an application on a notebook, the location
information determined by the network can be communicated
to the user or subscriber preferably via a so-called pop-up
dialog or the like.
Preferably after registering the subscriber unit in the
network, i.e., as a rule after start-up of the telephone
unit, notebook or other subscriber unit, the user or
subscriber is shown the configured or determined location
information via a display device on the telephone or in
text form via a telephone menu using a protocol, for
example the session initiation protocol SIP or the SOAP, or
also using other protocols. In other exemplary embodiments
of the invention, this information can also be read to the
user or subscriber via a speech synthesizer (text-to-
speech) .
The user or subscriber then has the opportunity to review
the displayed or output location information and to confirm
the correctness of the information by pressing a particular
key. For example, in this context, pressing the ,1' key
could indicate confirmation of the correctness of the
information. Another key could indicate that the
information is not correct and that the network
administrator must correct this particular entry. This
could be done, e.g., by pressing the y2' key, which
indicates to the network administrator that he must check
the location information for this port. Pressing another
key, e.g., the ^3' key, could mean in this context that the
display or announcement must be repeated.
If the user presses the s2' key, i.e., the key indicating
that the location information displayed to him is incorrect,
this could trigger an action that temporarily turns off or
locks the respective location-based services for that
device until the correct location information is entered
into (provided to) the network infrastructure or relevant
network component. For example, an e-mail could be sent to
the system administrator, who then has to attend to this
particular entry in the system.
Preferably, the consistency of location information is
verified by the subscriber only once, namely after it has
been provided to this subscriber unit's LAN port. After
that, verification is no longer required on a regular basis,
i.e., a user or subscriber does not need to perform this
review procedure every time, because the location
information is preferably linked to the LAN port in a fixed
manner. The same is true when another device, such as a
telephone, is connected subsequently to this port. In this
case, the location mapping system sets a respective
information unit, such as a "correct flag," when confirming
the correctness of the location information to prevent re-
querying of the subscriber.
In some preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention,
the network infrastructure is capable of recognizing a
change in the network infrastructure, using devices or
network elements intended for this purpose. This can be
done, for example, by a modified MAC address or by several
modified MAC addresses within the system; then a re-
verification of the location information can be initiated
by the subscriber.
In the event that the location information is present as
GPS coordinates, and is therefore not readily verifiable
for a subscriber, preferably the subscriber can be provided
with an application that presents the GPS coordinates on a
city map or other type of map. This will allow the
subscriber to see displayed and verify even location
information that is originally not available to him for
verification.
Using these exemplary embodiments of the invention, it is
possible to detect and fix configuration errors easily when
configuring location information in network components.
Figure 1 schematically shows an exemplary embodiment of the
invention in which a subscriber unit TG obtains location
information 11 from a network component NK and incorporates
this location information into a message 12, which in this
example is initially sent to a router R, which forwards the
message 13, 14 via a wide area network (WAN) to the
provider LDS of a location-based service. Since the service
provider of the location-based service LDS has received the
subscriber unit's location information in the messages 12,
13 and 14 and it is now known to him, he can reply in a
location-based manner to the request from the subscriber
unit and sends a respective message 15 via the wide area
network, which forwards 17 it 16 via the router R to the
subscriber unit TG.
FIG. 2 schematically shows another exemplary embodiment of
the invention, in which the subscriber unit TG sends a
message 21 to the router R, wherein this message 21 does
not include location-based information about the subscriber
unit. The router R determines that it is a message to a
location-based service LDS and that the message does not
include location-based information about the subscriber
unit TG. As a result, the router R sends a request 22 to
the network component NK where the location-based
information about the subscriber unit TG is stored.
The network component NK replies to this request from the
router R with a message 23 to the router R that includes
the location-based information about the subscriber unit TG
The router R can then insert the location-based information
about the subscriber unit TG into the message 21 sent to
the router R by the subscriber unit TG and in this manner
generate a message 24, which the router forwards 24 to the
wide area network, and which is forwarded 25 via the wide
area network to the provider of the location-based service
LDS.
The location-based service, now in possession of the
location-based information about the subscriber unit TG,
can now answer the request 21 from the subscriber unit TG
in a reasonable manner, i.e., using the location-based
information for the subscriber unit TG, and to this end
sends 26 a message to the wide area network, which forwards
28 this message 27 in router R to the subscriber unit TG.
FIG. 3 schematically shows another exemplary embodiment of
the invention, where a subscriber unit TG obtains a
location identifier (LID) from a network authority LP, in
which location-based information about subscribers units on
the network is stored. In the event that the subscriber
unit now intends to send a request 32 to a location-based
service LDS, the message initially goes through a session
border control SBC, which replaces the internal IP address
of the subscriber unit with an external IP address.
Because the message 32 in this example still contains a
generic location identifier that cannot or should not be
used for external callbacks, in the message 32 the session
border control (SBC) also replaces the generic location
identifier that is to be used only internally, for example,
with a location identifier that is also externally valid,
for example a call number that can be used externally,
wherein the session border control (SBC) initially directs
33 a respective request to a database DB, which this
database DB answers 34 by transferring 34 the externally
valid location identifier to the session border control
(SBC). This externally valid location identifier is
preferably inserted in a format that is specific to the
addressed location-based service.
The message 32 provided with the externally valid location
identifier is then 35 forwarded 35, 36 via a wide area
network WAN to the location-based service LDS. The
location-based service, for example an emergency call
number, now initiates a callback 37, 38, 39 using the
external callback number provided to it.
Patent Claims
1. Method for a subscriber unit's communication with a
service that requires the subscriber unit's location
information, where the subscriber unit sends the service a
message containing information about the subscriber unit's
location, characterized in that at least one piece of
information about the subscriber unit's location is stored
in at least one network component and is made available by
a network component.
2. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that at least
one piece of information about the subscriber unit's
location is obtained by the subscriber unit from a network
component, is stored in the subscriber unit and when
sending a message to the service is inserted into the
message by the subscriber unit.
3. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that when
sending a message to the service at least one piece of
information about the subscriber unit's location is
inserted into the message by a network component.
4. Method as in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that at least one piece of information
stored in a network component about the subscriber unit's
location is independent of a network address of the
subscriber unit.
5. Method as in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that at least one piece of information
about the subscriber unit's location stored in a network
component is identical for multiple subscriber units that
are spatially adjacent to each other.
6. Method as in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that at least one piece of information
provided about the subscriber unit's location is provided
in a format adapted to the recipient of the message or to.
the service offered by this recipient.
7. Method as in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that at least one piece of information
about the subscriber unit's location stored in a network
component is displayed or announced at least sometimes by
the subscriber unit.
8. Method as in claim 7, characterized in that, after
display or announcement of the at least one piece of
information about the subscriber unit's location stored in
a network component, a subscriber receives the option to
a) confirm the accuracy of this information,
b) repeat its display or announcement, or
c) identify it as inaccurate
through a respective input at the subscriber unit.
9. Method as in claim 8, characterized in that a
subscriber unit is at least sometimes locked with respect
to at least one service that requires information about the
subscriber unit's location, if after a display or
announcement of the at least one piece of information about
the subscriber unit's location stored in a component of the
network, a subscriber has marked this information as
incorrect through a respective input at the subscriber unit.
10. Method as in one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in
that at least one piece of information about the subscriber
unit's location stored in a network component is displayed
or announced by the subscriber unit after a network
component has registered a change of the network structure.
11. Network component that includes a storage device for
storing at least one piece of information about the
location of at least one subscriber unit in this network.
12. Component as in claim 11 that inserts information
about a subscriber unit's location, or provides it for
insertion, into a message that this subscriber unit is
transmitting to a service that requires information about
the subscriber unit's location.

Using a method for a subscriber unit's communication with a
service that requires information about the subscriber
unit's location, the subscriber unit sends the service a
message containing information about the subscriber unit's
location and at least one piece of information about the
subscriber unit's location is stored in at least one
network component and is made available by a network
component.