Communication system for supporting inbound roamer user equipment
A communication apparatus for supporting a registration procedure for an inbound roamer user equipment, ‘UE’, in a visited public land mobile network, ‘VPLMN’ that includes a transceiver and a controller. The controller is configured to: control the transceiver to receive, from a communicator of the VPLMN, a request for authentication information; retrieve the authentication information from a communicator of a home public land mobile network, ‘HPLMN’; and control the transceiver to transmit the authentication information to the serving CSCF of the VPLMN for use in the registration procedure.
1. IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Centralized Services Interworking Function (ICS-IWF) for supporting a registration procedure for an inbound roamer user equipment, ‘UE’, in a visited public land mobile network, ‘VPLMN’, the ICS-IWF comprising:
a transceiver and a controller wherein the controller is configured to:
control the transceiver to receive, from a serving Call Session Control Function, ‘CSCF’, of the VPLMN, a request for authentication information;
retrieve the authentication information from a Home Subscriber Server ‘HSS’/ Home Location Register ‘HLR’ of a home public land mobile network, ‘HPLMN’; and
control the transceiver to transmit the authentication information to the serving CSCF of the VPLMN for use in the registration procedure.
2. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the request for the authentication information in a Diameter protocol message.
3. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the authentication information in a Diameter protocol message.
4. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the communication apparatus to act as a Home Subscriber Server, ‘HSS’, towards the serving CSCF of the VPLMN and to act as a visited location register, ‘VLR’, towards the communicator of the HPLMN.
5. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate and store a subscription profile for the inbound roamer following receipt of the authentication information.
6. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate at least one initial filter criteria, ‘iFC’, for invoking at least one application server, ‘AS’.
7. The ICS-IWF according to claim 1 , wherein the UE is attached to the VPLMN using a circuit switched, ‘CS’, communication technology and wherein the authentication information comprises CS authentication information.
8. A method performed by an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Centralized Services Interworking Function (ICS-IWF) for supporting a registration procedure for an inbound roamer user equipment, ‘UE’, in a visited public land mobile network, ‘VPLMN’, the method comprising:
receiving, from a serving Call Session Control Function, ‘CSCF’, of the VPLMN, a request for authentication information;
retrieving the authentication information from a Home Subscriber Server ‘HSS’/ Home Location Register ‘HLR’of a home public land mobile network, ‘HPLMN’; and
transmitting the authentication information to the serving CSCF of the VPLMN for use in said registration procedure.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium computer-implementable instructions that, when executed by a programmable IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Centralized Services Interworking Function (ICS-IWF), cause the programmable ICS-IWF to perform the method of claim 8 .
10. The ICS-IWF according to claim 2 , wherein the Diameter protocol message is a Cx message.