Wireless communication system and method
View Patent ↗A device and method arranged to control access to resources of a communication network by a User Equipment (UE). One embodiment includes an apparatus for a user equipment for use in controlling access to resources of a communication network, the apparatus including a processing system arranged to cause the apparatus to: monitor for a change in a state of association between a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell and the user equipment, said CSG cell having a Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) and a CSG Identity (CSG ID) associated therewith; and in response to a said change, communicate data indicative of the change, of said CSG ID and of said PLMN ID, for receipt by a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) associated with the user equipment, whereby to enable the UICC to control access to resources of said CSG cell.
1. An apparatus for a user equipment, the apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer code, being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
monitor for a change in a state of association between a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell and the user equipment, said CSG cell having a Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) and a CSG Identity (CSG ID) associated therewith; and
in response to a said change, communicate data indicative of the change, and of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID, for receipt by a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) associated with the user equipment, whereby to enable the UICC to control access to resources of said CSG cell,
wherein said data indicative of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID are communicated via an envelope command of the type ‘Event Download—CSG Cell Selection’.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said envelope command comprises one of:
a CSG ID Type Length Value (TLV), and said CSG ID TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID;
a CSG cell selection status Type Length Value (TLV), and said CSG cell selection status TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID;
a Home (e)Node B (H(e)NB) name Type Length Value (TLV), and said H(e)NB name TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID; and
a Type Length Value (TLV) for communicating data indicative of said PLMN ID.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the change in the state of association comprises one of:
the user equipment has entered a serving area of the CSG cell;
the user equipment has left the serving area of the CSG cell;
the user equipment has registered with the CSG cell;
the user equipment has been rejected for service in the CSG cell;
the user equipment is being served by the CSG cell; and
the user equipment is camped on the CSG cell.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a modem.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the modem is adapted to receive data relating to said CSG cell via any one of:
a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN);
a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN); and
a Enhanced Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).
6. A method of controlling access to resources of a communication network by a user equipment, the method comprising causing the user equipment to:
monitor for a change in a state of association between a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell and the user equipment, said CSG cell having a Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) and a CSG Identity (CSG ID) associated therewith; and
in response to a said change, communicate data indicative of the change, and of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID, for receipt by a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) associated with the user equipment, whereby to enable the UICC to control access to resources of said CSG cell,
wherein said data indicative of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID are communicated via an envelope command of the type ‘Event Download—CSG Cell Selection’.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said envelope command comprises one of:
a CSG ID Type Length Value (TLV), and said CSG ID TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID;
a CSG cell selection status TLV, and said CSG cell selection status TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID;
a Home (e)Node B (H(e)NB) name TLV, and said H(e)NB name TLV comprises data indicative of said PLMN ID; and
a Type Length Value (TLV) for communicating data indicative of said PLMN ID.
8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the change in the state of association comprises one of:
the user equipment has entered a serving area of the CSG cell;
the user equipment has left the serving area of the CSG cell;
the user equipment is being served by the CSG cell; and
the user equipment is camped on the CSG cell.
9. An apparatus, comprising:
a subscriber identity module associated with a user equipment;
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer code, being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive data indicative of a change in a state of association between a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell and the user equipment, and data indicative of a CSG ID and a Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN) ID associated with said CSG cell, wherein said data indicative of a CSG ID and a PLMN ID associated with said CSG cell are received in an envelope command of the type ‘Event Download—CSG Cell Selection’; and
use said subscriber identity module to control access to resources of said CSG cell on the basis of said received PLMN ID.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the subscriber identity module to access the resources of the CSG cell.
11. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the subscriber identity module to release resources of the CSG cell.
12. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein said envelope command comprises one of:
a CSG ID Type Length Value (TLV), said CSG ID TLV comprising data indicative of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to identify a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the CSG ID TLV;
a CSG cell selection status TLV and a CSG ID TLV, said CSG cell selection status TLV comprising data indicative of said PLMN ID, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to identify a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the CSG cell selection status TLV;
a Home (e)Node B (H(e)NB) name TLV and a CSG ID TLV, said H(e)NB name TLV comprising data indicative of said PLMN ID, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to identify a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the H(e)NB name TLV; and
a Type Length Value (TLV) for communicating data indicative of said PLMN ID, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to identify a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the TLV.
13. A universal integrated circuit card comprising an apparatus according to claim 9 .
14. A method, comprising:
receiving data indicative of a change in a state of association between a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell and a user equipment, and data indicative of a CSG ID and a Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN) ID associated with said CSG cell, wherein said data indicative of a CSG ID and a PLMN ID associated with said CSG cell are received in an envelope command of the type ‘Event Download—CSG Cell Selection’; and
using a subscriber identity module associated with said user equipment to control access to resources of said CSG cell on the basis of said received PLMN ID.
15. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises using said subscriber identity module to access the resources of the CSG cell.
16. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises using said subscriber identity module to release resources of the CSG cell.
17. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises:
receiving a CSG ID Type Length Value (TLV) via said envelope command, said CSG ID TLV comprising data indicative of said CSG ID and said PLMN ID; and
identifying a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the CSG ID TLV.
18. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises:
receiving a CSG cell selection status TLV via said envelope command, said CSG cell selection status TLV comprising data indicative of said PLMN ID; and
identifying a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the CSG cell selection status TLV.
19. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises:
receiving a Home (e)Node B (H(e)NB) name TLV via said envelope command, said H(e)NB name TLV comprising data indicative of said PLMN ID; and
identifying a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the H(e)NB name TLV.
20. The method according to claim 14 , in which the method comprises:
receiving a TLV included in said envelope command, said TLV being for communicating data indicative of said PLMN ID; and
identifying a PLMN associated with the received CSG ID on the basis of data contained in the TLV.