Method, apparatuses and computer program product for assigning a unique location area code in a network comprising small cells served by home node B's underlying a macrocell

摘要

In a network comprising a cluster of small cells 100-111 underlying a macrocell 112, each small cell served by its own Home Node B 100, 101 is assigned a unique “on the air” Location Area Code so that as a User Equipment 113 moves from the coverage area of one Home Node B to another it will initiate a Location Update. Each time a Location Update is initiated, this triggers a location presence notification message to a presence server 206. The Core Network 203 is unaware of the “on the air” Location Area Codes and so does not need to be informed of User Equipment movement between Home Node B's. The Home Node B network is arranged to handle the registration procedure locally, as from the Core Network perspective, the Location Area Code has not changed. Instead, the Core Network sees a Iu LAC that is shared amongst the several Home Node B's operating through a single Home Node B Gateway. Hence the arrangement offers fine granularity of location presence detection with no additional Core Network load.

主权项

1. A method operating a cellular communication system comprising a plurality of neighbouring small cells, each of said plurality of neighbouring small cells supporting communications between a wireless communication unit and a core network through an access controller, the method comprising:
assigning a unique area code from a group of unique area codes to each neighbouring small cell, storing a unique area code associated with the access controller; receiving at a first of said neighbouring small cells, a registration request from a wireless communication unit, said request including an identity of the wireless communication unit and an area code of a last visited cell; comparing the area code of the last visited cell with the area code of the first cell, and if they are different and belong to said group of unique area codes, generating an acceptance message including the unique area code of the first cell and forwarding said acceptance message to the wireless communication unit without forwarding the registration request to the core network otherwise; replacing the unique area code of the first cell with the area code associated with the access controller in the registration request and forwarding the request to the core network; and replacing the unique area code associated with the access controller with the unique area code of the first cell in a registration acceptance message received from the core network and forwarding the registration acceptance message to the wireless communication unit.