Method and apparatus for instance identifier based on a unique device identifier

1. A method of providing device identification (DevID) protection in a user equipment of network, comprising the steps of:

constructing, by a User Equipment (UE), an Instance ID derived from an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI);

performing a REGISTER request from a UE to a Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF);

forwarding, by the P-CSCF, the request to the Interrogating-C II Session Control Function (I-CSCF);

making, by the I-CSCF, a request for information related to the Subscriber registration status by sending the private user identity, public user identity and visited domain name to an Home Subscriber Server (HSS);

returning, by the HSS, the Serving-Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) required capabilities to the I-CSCF;

using, by the I-CSCF, the S-CSCF required capabilities information to select a suitable S-CSCF;

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the REGISTER request to the selected S-CSCF;

challenging, by the S-CSCF, the registration request;

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the response to the P-CSCF;

forwarding, by the P-CSCF, the response to the UE;

resending, by the UE, the REGISTER request with authentication credentials;

forwarding, by the P-CSCF, the request to the I-CSCF;

making, by the I-CSCF, a request for information related to the Subscriber registration status by sending the private user identity, public user identity and visited domain name to an HSS;

returning, by the HSS the S-CSCF required capabilities;

using, by the I-CSCF, the information about the S-CSCF required capabilities to select a suitable S-CSCF;

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the REGISTER request to the selected S-CSCF;

informing, by the S-CSCF, the HSS that the user has been registered;

including, upon being requested by the S-CSCF, by the HSS the user profile in the response sent to the S-CSCF;

constructing, by the S-CSCF acting as registrar, a Globally Routable User Agent (GRUU) based on the Instance ID;

sending, by the S-CSCF sends a 200 (OK) response, including the GRUU, to the 1CSCF indicating that registration was successful;

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the 200 (OK) response to the P-CSCF indicating that registration was successful; and

forwarding, by the P-CSCF, the 200 (OK) response to UE indicating that registration was successful.

2. A method for use by a device, such as a User Equipment (UE), for registering in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), towards a registrar, using packet switched access, comprising the steps of:

creating, by the UE, an Instance identification (ID) using a Uniform Resource Name (URN) format which transports a Type Allocation Code (TAC) and Serial Number (SNR) in clear text;

sending, by the UE, a REGISTER request to a Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF);

forwarding, by the P-CSCF to an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) the REGISTER request;

making, by the I-CSCF, a request for information related to the Subscriber registration status by sending the private user identity, public user identity and visited domain name to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) of the UE;

returning, by the HSS, the required capabilities;

using, by the I-CSCF, the required capabilities to select a suitable S-CSCF;

forwarding by the I-CSCF to the selected S-CSCF, the REGISTER request;

challenging, by the selected S-CSCF, the registration request;

if unauthorized, forwarding by the selected I-CSCF, the response to the P-CSCF, the P-CSCF forwarding the response to UE, the UE reseeding the REGISTER request to the P-CSCF with authentication credentials and the P-CSCF forwarding the request to the I-CSCF.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the steps of performing a user registration status query procedure, comprising:

the I-CSCF requesting information related to the Subscriber registration status by sending the private user identity, public user identity and visited domain name to the HSS.;

the HSS returning the S-CSCF required capabilities and the I-CSCF using this information to select a suitable S-CSCF;

the I-CSCF forwards the REGISTER request to the selected S-CSCF;

the S-CSCF informing the HSS that the user has been registered; whereupon being requested by the S-CSCF, the HSS will also include the user profile in the response sent to the S-CSCF; further comprising constructing a Globally Routable User Agent (UA) URIs (GRUU) by the S-CSCF, acting as the registrar.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of sending, by the SCSCF a 200 (OK) response to the I-CSCF indicating that registration was successful;

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the 200 (OK) response to the P-CSCF indicating that registration was successful; and

forwarding, by the P-CSCF, the 200 (OK) response to UE indicating that registration was successful.

5. A method for registering, by a network, a device, such as a User Equipment (UE), using circuit switched (CS) access, comprising the steps of:

CS attaching by a UE to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) Server;

performing, by the MSC/Visitor Location Registrar (VLR) to a Home Location Registrar/Home Subscriber Server (HLR/HSS), authentication and location updating;

CS attach accepting by the MSC to the UE;

evaluating, by the MSC Server, whether it needs to perform registration with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), comprising the steps of deriving a home network domain name to perform DNS queries to locate the Interrogating-Call Session Control Function (I-CSCF) in the home network;

creating, by the MSC Server, an Instance ID using a URN format which transports an Type Allocation Code (TAG) and Serial Number (SNR) in clear text;

routing a REGISTER request from the MSC Server to the I-CSCF in the home network;

performing a user registration status query procedure;

forwarding the REGISTER request from the I-CSCF to a selected Serving-CSCF (S-CSCF);

informing, by the S-CSCF, of the HSS that the user has been registered;

constructing a Globally Routable User Agent (UA) URIs (GRUU) by the S-CSCF (acting as the registrar) based on the Instance ID;

sending, by the S-CSCF to the I-CSCF, a 200 (OK) response indicating that Registration was successful, the 200 (OK) response including the GRUU; and

forwarding, by the I-CSCF, the 200 (OK) response to the MSC Server indicating that Registration was successful.