Method of subscribers of mobile terminals identification managed by a controller in A 2G/3G radio access network

摘要

In a 3GPP UMTS and/or GSM network the subscriber identity IMSI and the MS/UE identity IMEI, in spite of being not required at the access network for speech and data calls, they can be nonetheless acquired by a controller either BSC or RNC which simulating the behaviour of the MSC sends an IDENTITY_REQUEST message to the MS/UE, differently from the current specifications where this message is sent only by the Core Network transparently to the BSC/RNC. At the reception of the IDENTITY_REQUEST the MS/UE increments the send sequence number N(SD) included in the IDENTITY_RESPONSE message and sends it to the requester with the requested IMSI/IMEI. The BSC/RNC, at the reception of the IDENTITY_RESPONSE message, transmits a neutral MM_NULL standard message to the Core Network. The latter, ignores the MM_NULL message but increments the value of N(SD) at the network side to avoid of discarding a subsequent message from the MS/UE. The procedure can be repeated for collecting the identities IMSI / IMEI of all MSs/UEs for localization aims and/or mobility management ( fig.8 ).