Provision of user policy to terminal

1. A method for providing a user policy to a terminal connected in a network, the method comprising:

receiving, in a visited network, a first user policy associated with the terminal, wherein the first user policy is applied in a home network of the terminal;

configuring a second user policy for the terminal based at least in part on the received first user policy and based at least in part on a local policy of the visited network; and

providing the configured second user policy to the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises registering the terminal in the visited network.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the terminal is registered through a protocol for carrying authentication for network access procedure.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein configuring the second user policy comprises identifying an attribute which is common to the first user policy and the local policy; and

determining a value for the attribute which satisfies the local policy.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the first user policy comprises a subscriber profile of the terminal.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein configuring the second user policy for the terminal is further based at least in part on a roaming agreement between the visited network and the home network.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising applying the second user policy to uplink packets which are sent from the terminal.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising detecting the terminal in the visited network.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pulling the first user policy from the home network.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first user policy is obtained during an authentication of the terminal.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the second user policy is provided to the terminal during an authentication of the terminal.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein the second user policy is piggy-backed in an authentication message to the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 1 further comprising enforcing the second user policy responsive to a successful authentication.

14. The method according to claim 1 further comprising-authenticating the terminal through an authentication and key agreement scheme.

15. The method according to claim 1 wherein the second user policy is configured and provided to the terminal responsive to a determined emergency.

16. The method according to claim 1 wherein the configured second user policy is enforced by the visited network.

17. A mobile communication system including:

a terminal having a home network; and

a network element located in a visited network and configured to

receive a first user policy associated with the terminal, wherein the first user policy is applied in the home network of the terminal;

create a second user policy for the terminal based at least in part on the received first user policy and based at least in part on a local policy of the visited network; and

provide the created second user policy to the terminal.

18. The system according to claim 17 wherein the network element is further configured to control registration of the terminal in the visited network.

19. The system according to claim 17 wherein creating the second user policy comprises:

identifying a common attribute between the first user policy and the local policy; and

determining a value for the common attribute which satisfies the local policy.

20. The system according to claim 17 wherein the first user policy comprises a subscriber profile of the terminal.

21. The system according to claim 17 , wherein creating the second user profile for the terminal is further based at least in part on a roaming agreement between the visited network and the home network of the terminal.

22. The system according to claim 17 wherein the terminal is configured to apply the second user profile to uplink packets transmitted from the terminal.

23. The system according to claim 17 wherein the second user policy is enforced by the visited network.

24. A user terminal for connection in a mobile communication system, the user terminal being configured to:

authenticate into a visited network, wherein the visited network is distinct from a home network of the user terminal;

receive an authentication success message from the visited network, wherein the authentication success message includes a user policy which is to be used by the user terminal in the visited network, and further wherein the user policy is based at least in part on a local policy of the visited network; and

apply the user policy to uplink packets which are transmitted from the user terminal.

25. The user terminal according to claim 24 wherein the user policy is received from a network element of the visited network.

26. The user terminal according to claim 24 wherein the user policy overrides a home network policy of the user terminal.

27. The user terminal according to claim 24 wherein the user policy is enforced by the visited network.

28. A network element in a mobile communication system, the network element being configured to:

receive an authentication request from a user terminal;

communicate with a home network of the user terminal to determine whether to grant the authentication request;

receive a first user policy of the user terminal from the home network; create second user policy for the user terminal based at least in part on the first user policy and at least in part on a local policy of the visited network; and

if the authentication request is to be granted, provide the second user policy to the user terminal for use within the visited network.

29. The network element according claim 28 wherein the network element is an element of the visited network.

30. The network element according to claim 28 wherein the network element is further configured to register the user terminal in the visited network.

31. The network element according to claim 28 wherein creating the second user policy comprises identifying a common attribute between the first user policy and the local policy; and

determining a value for the common attribute which satisfies the local policy.

32. The network element according to claim 28 , wherein creating the second user policy is further based at least in part on a roaming agreement between the visited network and the home network of the user terminal.

33. The network element according to claim 28 , wherein the network element is further configured to detect the user terminal in the visited network.

34. The network element according to claim 28 , wherein the first user policy comprises a subscriber policy of the user terminal, and further wherein the network element is configured to pull the subscriber policy from the home network.

35. The network element according to claim 28 , wherein the first user policy is received from the home network during authentication of the user terminal.

36. The network element according to claim 28 , wherein the second user policy is provided to the user terminal along with an authentication message.