WO2020263137A1

WO2020263137A1 - Server node, digital assistant and methods for privacy handling related to incoming calls in a communications network

Info

Publication number: WO2020263137A1
Application number: PCT/SE2019/050621
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ester Gonzalez De Langarica
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2019-06-26
Filing date: 2019-06-26
Publication date: 2020-12-30
Also published as: EP3991395A1

Abstract

A method performed by a server node, for handling an incoming call to a first User Equipment (UE). the first user uses a Digital Assistant (DA) is provided. The DA is shared by the first UE of a first user and a second UE of a second user. The server node receives (302) from an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node, a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE. The notification comprises an Identity, ID, of the first UE and an ID of the calling UE. The incoming call is to be announced in the DA. Based on the ID of the first UE, server node obtains (303) information that the first UE uses the DA that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE, when announcing the incoming call in the DA. The server node sends (305) to the DA, the notification of the incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE B is removed based that the calling UE is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA.

Description

SERVER NODE, DIGITAL ASSISTANT AND METHODS FOR PRIVACY HANDLING RELATED TO INCOMING CALLS IN A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a server node, a Digital Assistant (DA) and methods therein. In particular, they relate to handling an incoming call to a UE user using a shared DA.

BACKGROUND

In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (ST A) and/or user equipment (UE), communicate via a Local Area Network such as a WiFi network or a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNB as denoted in 5th Generation (5G). A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the wireless device within range of the radio network node. The radio network node

communicates to the wireless device in DownLink (DL) and from the wireless device in UpLink (UL).

Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS), also called a Fourth

Generation (4G) network, have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, for example to specify a Fifth Generation (5G) network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR). The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E- UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access network wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs used in 3rd Generation (3G) networks. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of a 3G RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially“flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they are not connected to RNCs. To compensate for that, the E-UTRAN specification defines a direct interface between the radio network nodes, this interface being denoted the X2 interface.

Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.

In addition to faster peak Internet connection speeds, 5G planning aims at higher capacity than current 4G, allowing higher number of mobile broadband users per area unit, and allowing consumption of higher or unlimited data quantities in gigabyte per month and user. This would make it feasible for a large portion of the population to stream high-definition media many hours per day with their mobile devices, when out of reach of Wi-Fi hotspots. 5G research and development also aims at improved support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment.

IMS is a general-purpose, open industry standard for voice and multimedia communications over packet-based IP networks. It is a core network technology, that may serve as a low-level foundation for technologies like Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Voice over IP (VoIP), Push-To-Talk (PTT), Push-To-View, Video Calling, and Video Sharing.

Originating Identification Restriction (OIR)

The IMS supplementary service OIR allows the originating user to define how the identity is going to be presented to the called party.

From 3GPP standards:

“The OIR service is a service offered to the originating user. It restricts presentation of the originating user's identity information to the terminating user. When the OIR service is applicable and activated, the originating network provides the destination network with the indication that the originating user's identity information is not allowed to be presented to the terminating user. In this case, no originating user's identity information shall be included in the requests sent to the terminating user.“ Over-The-Top (OTT) services have been introduced allowing a third party telecommunications service provider to provide services that are delivered across an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The IP network may e.g. be a public internet or cloud services delivered via a third party access network, as opposed to a carrier's own access network. OTT may refer to a variety of services including communications, such as e.g. voice and/or messaging, content, such as e.g. TV and/or music, and cloud-based offerings, such as e.g. computing and storage.

A further OTT service is a Digital Assistant (DA). The DA may perform tasks or services upon request from a user of a UE.

A core network node may detect a keyword, which may also be referred to as a hot word, indicating that the user is providing instructions to the DA and may forward the instructions to a network node controlled by a third party service provider, the network node may e.g. comprise a DA platform.

An intent is an abstract description of an operation to be performed. The text describing an intent when used herein is written with the text font courier New itaii c. An intent may be used with context#startActivity (intent) to launch an Activity, broadcastlntent to send it to any interested BroadcastReceiver components, and Context . startService (Intent) OG Context . bindService (Intent, ServiceConnection, int) to communicate with a background Service.

An Intent provides a facility for performing late runtime binding between the code in different applications. Its most significant use is in a launching of activities, where it may be thought of as the glue between activities. It is basically a passive data structure holding an abstract description of an action to be performed.

When a user calls startActivity ( ) or startActivityForResult () and pass it as an implicit intent, the system resolves the intent to an app that can handle the intent and starts its corresponding Activity. If there's more than one app that can handle the intent, the system presents the user with a dialog to pick which app to use.

E.g. a user is saying to its DA:“DA, call Bob”.“DA” is in this case the keyword, or anything configured by the operator, and“Call Bob” is the“intent” The trigger to wake up the DA is the keyword. Then the intent can be call Bob or other actions available.

The DA platform may e.g. be a bot of a company providing a certain service, such as e.g. a taxi service or a food delivery service. An Internet bot, also known as a web robot, a WWW robot or simply a bot, is a software application that runs automated tasks such as scripts, over the Internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone.

The DA platform may then forward the instructions to a further network node, which may e.g. be an Application Server (AS) node, an agent server node, a skill server node or similar. This further network node has access to the core network node such as an IMS node via a Service Exposure Application Programming Interface (API). Thereby the DA may access the IMS node and perform services towards the core network node.

The DA platform is often required to pay a fee to the operator in order to be reachable by the operator^'s DA users. The user may also be required to pay fees to the operator and network provider for the usage of DA services. The operator may further be required to pay fees to the network provider for every transaction performed via the Service Exposure API.

A further way to implement the DA may be to provide the user with direct access to the network node controlled by the third party service provider comprising the DA platform. This may e.g. be done using a dedicated UE having access to the network node. This way of implementing the DA is commonly referred to as an OTT-controlled DA.

One of the services that can be invoked may e.g. be a telephony services or bot, implemented by the operator.

Some different models to support voice controlled digital assistants in IMS have been discussed, such as e.g. Operator-controlled DA and OTT-controlled DA.

In an Operator-controlled DA, the operator has its own DA. All the functionality such as keyword detection, request fulfillment, media handling is contained within the operator domain. No service exposure is needed.

Regarding OTT-controlled DA, the keyword detection is done by the OTT DA and the request is fulfilled in the OTT cloud. Sessions are initiated from the OTT DA towards the operator network. When the request relates to service interaction and/or service manipulation, the OTT DA must use IMS service exposure APIs to access IMS

capabilities. An OTT DA may e.g. comprise an OTT DA device such as a smart speaker such as e.g. Amazon echo or Google Home speakers, and e.g. the OTT DA may comprise an application interacting with the IMS network, and an OTT platform. A Service Exposure API when used herein means an API exposing the IMS capabilities to third party applications. These capabilities are for example call handling, message handling, supplementary service handling etc.

Figure 1 depicts an OTT controlled DA. Alice owns the UE and the OTT DA such as an Amazon echo. One of the services that may be invoked is the telephony services or bot, implemented by the operator.

In this model, the user Alice invokes the OTT DA, such as e.g. of Amazon or Google by saying Operator X, call Bob” Operator X, add Charlie to the call which is a keyword.

Keyword detection is done locally in the OTT DA. This voice keyword is streamed to an OTT Skill Platform. Service Exposure is needed in the IMS network to access IMS capabilities from the OTT. Therefore the OTT Skill Platform sends a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)/ Representational State Transfer (REST)“add Charlie to the call” to the skill/agent server of the operator. The skill/agent server parses this request and matches the identity to the IMS user identity, e.g. private Id, or public Id, and sends e.g. an

HTTP/REST“IMS Service Exposure API addParti cipan t (Charli e) to an IMS network node.

HTTP/REST is a protocol supported between the skill server and the IMS core network. SIP/RTP in the Figures relate to the IMS protocol.

Note that this model does not support the in-call DA case as the DA has no knowledge of ongoing sessions in the operator network.

Shared Das such as smart speakers, e.g. Google and Amazon

Google and Amazon are some of the Digital Assistant platform providers. One of the features they support is the ability to identify different person^'s voice coming from one shared smart speaker.

First the smart speaker^'s users must“teach” their voice to the DA platform, i.e. the users create a voice profile. The typical case is when the device is shared among the family members in the household.

Thanks to this feature the Digital Assistant can provide a personalized experience to the users.

SUMMARY

As a part of developing embodiments herein the inventors identified a problem which first will be discussed. As described above, the user gets an incoming call and the DA smart speaker will indicate it e.g. by saying:" Incoming call from Bob to Alice”.

When the smart speaker is shared, this may be a privacy issue. The call is addressed to one of the members of the family or group only, and the calling identity should not be disclosed to everyone. Alice may not be comfortable with other members of the family / group hearing who is the caller, Bob in the example.

An object of embodiments herein is improve the user experience in a

communications network using DAs.

According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a server node, for handling an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE, A1. the first user uses a Digital Assistant, DA. The DA is shared by the first UE of a first user and a second UE of a second user. The server node receives from an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node, a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE. The notification comprises an Identity, ID, of the first UE and an ID of the calling UE B. The incoming call is to be announced in the DA. Based on the ID of the first UE, server node obtains information that the first UE uses the DA that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE, when announcing the incoming call in the DA. The server node sends to the DA, the notification of the incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE B is removed based that the calling UE is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a DA, for handling an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE. The DA is used by a first user of the first UE. The DA is shared by the first UE of a first user and a second UE of a second user. The DA sends to a server node, information that the DA is shared. The information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE and the second UE sharing the DA, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE when announcing the incoming call in the DA. The DA receives from the server node, a notification of the incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE has been removed based that the calling UE is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE. Based on the received notification, the DA announces the incoming call to the first UE in the DA, without identifying the calling UE.

According to a further aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a server node configured to handle an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE, of a first user. The first UE uses a Digital Assistant, DA. The DA is shared by the first UE of a first user and a second UE of a second user. The server node further is configured to:

-Receive from an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE, which notification is adapted to comprise an Identity, ID, of the first UE and an ID of the calling UE, and which incoming call is to be announced in the DA,

- based on the ID of the first UE, obtain information that the first UE uses the DA that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE, when announcing the incoming call in the DA, and

- send to the DA, the notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE B is adapted to removed based that the calling UE is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA.

According to a further aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a Digital Assistant, DA, configured to handle an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE. The DA is adapted to be used by a first user of the first UE. The DA is adapted to be shared by the first UE of a first user and a second UE of a second user. The DA is further configured to:

- Send to a server node skill server, information that the DA is shared, which information further adapted to comprise respective IDs of the first UE and the second UE sharing the DA, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE when announcing the incoming call in the DA,

- receive from the server node a notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE B is adapted to be removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE, and

- based on the received notification, announce the incoming call to the first UE in the DA, without identifying the calling UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating prior art.

Figure 2 a and b are a schematic block diagrams illustrating embodiments of a

communications network.

Figure 3 is a sequence diagram depicting an embodiments of a method in a

communications network.

Figure 4 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a server node.

Figure 5 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a DA.

Figure 6 a and b are schematic block diagrams illustrating embodiments of a server node.

Figure 7 a and b are schematic block diagrams illustrating embodiments of an Digital

Assistant.

Figure 8 schematically illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an

intermediate network to a host computer.

Figure 9 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection.

Figures 10 to 13 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments herein provide calling identity presentation privacy for shared smart speakers.

Embodiments herein may relate to OTT-controlled DA model.

Embodiments herein provide:

A mechanism to inform the server node whether the DA smart speaker is shared or

If the smart speaker is shared: - the calling identity is not disclosed when the DA announces the incoming call.

- in some embodiments, give the called user a possibility to query who the calling identity is before picking up the call. Note that the called user may see the calling identity in one of his/her other devices and this query may not be needed.

- If the DA smart speaker is not shared the calling identity will be disclosed.

Embodiments herein overcome the privacy problem when there is an incoming call to a shared DA smart speaker. Privacy is a raising concern when using Digital Assistant smart speaker, especially when they are shared by several users.

Figure 2a is a schematic overview depicting a communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. Figure 2b is depicting a an example scenario of some nodes being a part of the communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The communications network 100 may be a wireless communications network and comprises one or more RANs 104 and one or more CNs 106. The wireless communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, Wi-Fi, (LTE), LTE- Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

Network nodes operate in the wireless communications network 100, such as one or more radio network nodes 110 providing radio coverage to UEs in the wireless communications network 100.

Each radio network node 110 provides radio coverage over a geographical area by means of antenna beams. The geographical area may be referred to as a cell, a service area, beam or a group of beams. The radio network node 110 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point, an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, a UE acting as an access point or a peer in a Device to Device (D2D) communication, or any other network unit capable of communicating with a UE within the cell served by the radio network node 110 depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used.

UEs such as a first UE A1 , a second UE A2 and a calling UE B operate in the communication network 100.

The UEs A1 , A2 and B may e.g. be a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, a user equipment and/or a wireless terminals, an NB-loT device, an eMTC device and a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and an NR device

communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that“UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, wireless device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets, television units or even a small base station communicating within a cell.

The first UE A1 is used by a first user, the second UE A2 is used by a second user and the calling UE B is used by a calling user.

A DA 125 operates in the communications network 100. According to example embodiments herein at least the first user uses the DA 125 which is shared with the second user. This means that DA 125 is shared between the first user owing the first UE A1 and the second owing the second UE A2. E.g. the first user may be Alice and the second user may be Alice’s daughter. The DA 125 may comprise a DA apparatus such as e.g. a smart speaker, e.g. located in the first and second user’s home.

The DA 125 may e.g. be a DA comprising or being accessible to a DA platform also referred to as a DA platform 151 , e.g. in a cloud 101.

When used herein, the DA 125 and the DA platform 151 may be seen as one unit, i.e. that the OTT DA 125 is associated with or comprises the DA platform 151. The DA 125 may comprise a client which may be an entity that sends requests towards a server node 150 described below. The CN 106 further comprises a core network node such as an IMS node 130 comprised in an IMS network. The IMS node 130 is used for serving requests coming via a Service Exposure API.

The IMS node 130 may be connected to a server node 150. The server node 150 may be located in the cloud 101 as depicted in Figure 2, in the CN 106 or in a third Party domain of the communications network. The server node 150 may be a server such as a skill server or an agent server.

Furthermore, the DA 125 and the server node 150 may be collocated nodes, stand alone nodes or distributed nodes comprised in the cloud 101.

The method will first be described from a helicopter perspective as a signalling diagram showing the involved nodes such as the DA 125, the server node 150, and the IMS node 130 with reference to Figure 3. Thereafter embodiments of the method as seen from the perspective of each respective server node 150 and DA 125 will be individually described one by one with reference to respective flow charts of Figures 4 and 5.

In an example scenario of embodiments herein the first user Alice of a UE A1 is a DA 125 user. She shares the DA 125 with a second user e.g. her daughter, of the second UE A2. Alice wished to have privacy for incoming calls relating to any medical clinic since she does not want her daughter to know that when a medical clinic is calling Alice.

Therefore the first user Alice will enforce the DA 125 to avoid identifying calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 , when the incoming call is announced in the DA 125. In this scenario UEs specified in a policy will be UEs relating to any medical clinic, and in this scenario a calling user Bob is calling witch calling UE B from a medical clinic.

An example embodiment of a method performed in the communications network 100 for handling an incoming call to Alice, the first UE A1 , will now be described with reference to a sequence diagram depicted in Figure 3.

Action 301.

The DA 125 receives a voice instruction from Alice, the first UE A1. The voice instruction comprises an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling specified UEs related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The enforcement is to be specified in a in a policy related to the first UE A1.

Alice may say to the DA 125: Register in my voice profile, privacy for incoming calls from any medical clinic.

This action relates to Action 501 described below.

Action 302.

The DA 125 sends to the server node 150, information that the DA 125 is shared. This information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE A1 and the second UE A2 sharing the DA 125. The information further comprises an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. In this scenario UEs specified in a policy will be UEs relating to any medical clinic. The the server node 150 makes the requested registrations in the policy related to the first UE A1 according to the received information, in this scenario, it is registered in the user Alice’s policy. The server node 150 will keep track of the incoming calls to the UE A1 of the first user Alice according to the policy and see to that no calls from any medical clinic will be identified when announced in the DA 125..

This action relates to Action 401 and 502 described below.

Action 303.

The user Bob of the UE B calls Alice’s UE A1 , which call is cached up in the IMS node 130. The IMS node 130 notes the ID of the called first UE A1 and the ID of the calling UE B. The IMS node then sends a notification to the server node 150. The notification comprises information of the incoming call from the calling UE B. In this example, the user Bob of the UE B is calling from a medical clinic. The notification comprises the ID of the first UE A1 being called and the ID of the calling UE B. The incoming call is to be announced in the DA 125.

This action relates to Action 402 described below.

Action 304.

The server node 150 knows the policies of the UEs that they serve. The server node 150 uses the ID of the first UE A1 to find and check the policy of the first UE A1 , in this example the UE A1 policy of Alice, the user of the UE A1. So, based on the ID of the first UE A1 , the server node 150 obtains information that the first UE A1 uses the DA 125 that is a shared. The server node 150 further obtains information about the an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 , when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. Thus, based on the ID of the calling UE B, the server node 150 identifies that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. In this example it is specified in the policy of Alice, that the enforcement relates to avoiding to identify any calling UEs that are calling from a medical clinic. And the server node 150 will therefore prevent the DA 125 to expose the identity of Bob calling from the medical clinic. This action relates to Action 404 described below.

Action 305.

The server node 150 then sends 405 to the DA 125, the notification of the incoming call. However, in this notification, the ID of the calling UE B is removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. This action relates to Action 405 and 503 described below.

Action 306.

The DA 125 receives the notification without any identity of the calling UE. Based on the received notification, the DA 125 announces the incoming call to the first UE A1 in the DA 125, without identifying the calling UE B. The DA 125 e. a smart speaker, may say “Alice you have got a call”. This action relates to Action 504 and 503 described below.

Action 307.

Alice may see who is calling since it may be displayed in her UE A1. However, in some embodiments the user cannot see who is calling. In these embodiments, Alice which is the rightful user may wish to see who is calling before picking up the call. Alice may say to the DA 125,“who is calling me?

Action 308.

The DA 125 do not know wo is calling since no ID of the caller was received from the server node 125, but the DA 125 knows that Alice is allowed to know who is calling and sends the ID of Alice’s UE A1 and a request for the identity of the calling UE B to the server node 150. Thus the DA 125 receives from the DA 125, the request for the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1 , which request comprises the ID of the first UE A1. This action relates to Action 406 and 505 described below. Action 309.

The server node 150 knows who is calling Alice, the user of the first UE A1 , since it was received in the notification from the IMS node 130. The server node 150 thus obtains the ID of the calling UE B, based on the ID of the first UE A1 and based on the received notification.

This action relates to Action 407 described below.

Action 310.

The server node 150 sends to the DA 125, the obtained ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1 based on the received notification.

This action relates to Action 408 and 506 described below.

Action 311.

The DA 125 now knows that it is OK to identify the calling UE so the DA 125 announces the calling UE B in the DA 125. The DA 125 may e.g. say:“The caller is Bob”. This action relates to Action 507 described below.

Method in the server node 150

Example embodiments of a method performed by a server node 150 skill server, for handling an incoming call to the first UE A1 , will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Figure 4. As mentioned above, the first user uses the DA 125. The DA 125 is shared by the first UE A1 of the first user and the second UE A2 of the second user. Dashed boxes in Figure 5 represent optional actions. The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

Action 401

In some embodiments, the server node 150 receives from the DA 125, information that the DA 125 is shared. The information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE A1 and the second UE A2 sharing the DA 125, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The information may be received in different rounds or all at the same time.

The one or more calling UEs specified in the policy may be a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, e.g. caller from medical clinic a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority or any similar or type or person.

Action 402

The server node 150 receives from the IMS node 130, a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE B. The notification comprises an ID of the first UE A1 and an ID of the calling UE B. The incoming call is to be announced in the DA 125.

Action 403

Based on the ID of the first UE A1 , the server node 150 obtains information and an enforcement. The information comprises that the first UE A1 uses the DA 125 that is a shared. The enforcement relates to avoiding identify one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 , when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

Action 404

In some embodiments, based on ID of the calling UE B, the server node 150 identifies that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. Action 405

The server node 150 sends to the DA 125, the notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE B is removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

Action 406

In some embodiments, the server node 150 receives from the DA 125, a request for the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1. The request comprises the ID of the first UE A1. Action 407

In some of these embodiments, the server node 150 obtains the ID of the calling UE B, based on the ID of the first UE A1

Action 408

In some these embodiments, the server node 150 then sends to the DA 125, the obtained ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1.

Method in the DA 125

Example embodiments of a method performed by the DA 125, for handling an incoming call to the first UE A1 , will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Figure 5. As mentioned above, the DA 125 is used by the first user of the first UE A1 , and the DA 125 is shared by the first UE A1 of the first user and the second UE A2 of the second user. Dashed boxes in Figure 5 represent optional actions.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

Action 501

In some embodiments, the DA 125 obtains a voice instruction from the user of the first UE A1. The voice instruction comprises an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling specified UEs related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The enforcement is to be specified in a in a policy related to the first UE A1.

The one or more calling UEs specified in the policy may be represented by a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, e.g. caller from medical clinic a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority or any similar.

Action 502

The DA 125 sends to a server node 150, information that the DA 125 is shared. The information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE A1 and the second UE A2 sharing the DA 125, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The information may be sent in different rounds or all at the same time. Action 503

The DA 125 receives from the server node 150, a notification of an incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE B has been removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1.

Action 504

Based on the received notification, the DA 125 announces the incoming call to the first UE A1 in the DA 125, without identifying the calling UE B.

Action 505

In some of these embodiments, the DA 125 sends to the server node 150, a request for the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1. The request comprises the ID of the first UE A1.

Action 506

In some of these embodiments, the DA 125 receives from the server node 150, the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1 based on the sent ID of the first UE A1.

Action 507

In some of these embodiments, the DA 125, announces the identity of the calling UE B in the DA 125 based on the received notification.

An advantage of embodiments herein is that they provide protection of the calling identity when the call rings in a smart speaker that is shared among many users and in some embodiments, the exposure needed by the IMS network to retrieve the caller identifier when requested by the rightful user.

To perform the method actions above, the server node 150 is configured to handle an incoming call to the first UE A1 of the first, and the server node 150 may comprise the arrangement depicted in Figure 6a and Figure 6b. The first UE A1 is adapted to use a Digital Assistant, DA, 125, and which DA 125 is adapted to be shared by the first UE A1 of a first user and a second UE A2 of a second user. The server node 150 may comprise an input and output interface 600 depicted in Figure 6a, configured to communicate e.g. with the IMS node 130 and the DA 125. The input and output interface 1000 may comprise a receiver (not shown) and a transmitter (not shown).

The server node 150 is further configured to, e.g. by means of a receiving unit 610 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, receive from the IMS node 130, a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE B. The notification is adapted to comprise an ID of the first UE A1 and an ID of the calling UE B. The incoming call is to be announced in the DA 125.

The server node 150 is further configured to, e.g. by means of a obtaining unit 620 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, based on the ID of the first UE A1 , obtain information that the first UE A1 uses the DA 125 that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 , when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

The one or more calling UEs specified in the policy is adapted to be a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, e.g. caller from medical clinic a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.

The server node 150 is further configured to, e.g. by means of a sending unit 630 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, send to the DA 125, the notification of the incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE B is adapted to removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

The server node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of a identifying unit 640 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, based on ID of the calling UE B, identify that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1 in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The server node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 610 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, receive from the DA 125, information that the DA 125 is shared the information may further be adapted to comprise respective IDs of the first UE A1 and the second UE A2 sharing the DA 125, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

The server node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 610 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, receive from the DA 125, a request for the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1 , which request is adapted to comprise the ID of the first UE A1.

The server node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the obtaining unit 620 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, obtain the ID of the calling UE B, based on the ID of the first UE A1.

The server node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 630 in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6b, send to the DA 125, the obtained ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as a processor 650 of a processing circuitry in the server node 150 depicted in Figure 6a, together with a respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the

embodiments herein when being loaded into the network node 150. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the network node 150.

The server node 150 may further comprise a memory 660 depicted in Figure 6a, comprising one or more memory units to store data on. The memory 660 comprises instructions executable by the processor 650. The memory 660 is arranged to be used to store e.g. enforcements, user policies, instructions, configurations and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the server node 150.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the units in the radio server node 150 mentioned above may refer to a combination of analogue and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g. stored in the server node 150 that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a system- on-a-chip (SoC).

In some embodiments, a computer program 670 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 650, cause the at least one processor 650 of the server node 150 to perform the actions above.

In some embodiments, a carrier 680 comprises the computer program 670, wherein the carrier 680 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer- readable storage medium.

To perform the method actions above the DA 125 is configured to handle an incoming call to the first UE A1 , and the DA 125 may comprise the arrangement depicted in Figure 7a and Figure 7b. The DA 125 is adapted to be used by a first user of the first UE A1 , and the DA 125 is adapted to be shared by the first UE A1 of a first user and a second UE A2 of a second user.

The DA 125 may comprise an input and output interface 700 depicted in Figure 7a, configured to communicate e.g. with the server node 150 and the user of the UE A1. The input and output interface 700 may comprise a receiver (not shown) and a transmitter (not shown).

The DA 125 is further configured to, e.g. by means of a sending unit 710 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, send to the server node 150, information that the DA 125 is shared. The information is further adapted to comprise respective IDs of the first UE A1 and the second UE A2 sharing the DA 125, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125.

The one or more calling UEs specified in the policy may be adapted to be represented by a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, e.g. caller from medical clinic a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.

The DA 125 is further configured to, e.g. by means of a receiving unit 720 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, receive from the server node 150, a notification of the incoming call. In the notification, the ID of the calling UE B is adapted to be removed based that the calling UE B is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE A1.

The DA 125 is further configured to, e.g. by means of an announcing unit 730 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, based on the received notification, announce the incoming call to the first UE A1 in the DA 125, without identifying the calling UE B.

The DA 125 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of an obtaining unit 740 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, obtain a voice instruction from the user of the first UE A1. The voice instruction is adapted to comprise an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling specified UEs related to the first UE A1 when announcing the incoming call in the DA 125. The enforcement is to be specified in a in a policy related to the first UE A1.

The DA 125 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 710 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, send to the server node 150, a request for the ID of the calling UE B requested by the first UE A1 , which request is adapted to comprise the ID of the first UE A1.

The DA 125 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 720 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, receive from the server node 150, the ID of the calling UE B adapted to be requested by the first UE A1 based on the sent ID of the first UE A1. The DA 125 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the announcing unit 730 in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7b, based on the received notification, announce the calling UE B in the DA 125. The embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as a processor 750 of a processing circuitry in the DA 125 depicted in Figure 7a, together with a respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the DA 125. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the DA 125.

The DA 125 may further comprise a memory 760 comprising one or more memory units to store data on. The memory comprises instructions executable by the processor 750. The memory 760 is arranged to be used to store e.g. user policies, enforcements, instructions, configurations and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the DA 125.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the units in the DA 125 mentioned above may refer to a combination of analogue and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g. stored in the DA 125 that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a system-on-a-chip (SoC).

In some embodiments, a computer program 670 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 650, cause the at least one processor 650 of the DA 125 to perform the actions above.

In some embodiments, a carrier 1180 comprises the computer program 1170, wherein the carrier 780 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

Further Extensions and Variations

With reference to Figure 8, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 3210 such as the wireless communications network 100, e.g. a NR network, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 3211 , such as a radio access network, and a core network 3214. The access network 3211 comprises a plurality of base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c, such as the network node 110, access nodes, AP STAs NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 3213a, 3213b, 3213c. Each base station 3212a, 3212b, 3212c is connectable to the core network 3214 over a wired or wireless connection 3215. A first user equipment (UE) e.g. the UE A such as a Non-AP STA 3291 located in coverage area 3213c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 3212c. A second UE 3292 e.g. the first or second radio node 110, 120 or such as a Non-AP STA in coverage area 3213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 3212a. While a plurality of UEs 3291 , 3292 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 3212.

The telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to a host computer 3230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 3230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 3221 , 3222 between the telecommunication network 3210 and the host computer 3230 may extend directly from the core network 3214 to the host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 3220. The intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 8 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 and the host computer 3230. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 3250. The host computer 3230 and the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 3250, using the access network 3211 , the core network 3214, any intermediate network 3220 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as

intermediaries. The OTT connection 3250 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 3250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 3212 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 3230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 3291. Similarly, the base station 3212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 3291 towards the host computer 3230.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 9. In a communication system 3300, a host computer 3310 comprises hardware 3315 including a communication interface 3316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300. The host computer 3310 further comprises processing circuitry 3318, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 3318 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 3310 further comprises software 3311 , which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 3310 and executable by the processing circuitry 3318. The software 3311 includes a host application 3312. The host application 3312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 3330 connecting via an OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 3312 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 3350.

The communication system 3300 further includes a base station 3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 3310 and with the UE 3330. The hardware 3325 may include a communication interface 3326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300, as well as a radio interface 3327 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 3370 with a UE 3330 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 9) served by the base station 3320. The communication interface 3326 may be configured to facilitate a connection 3360 to the host computer 3310. The connection 3360 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 9) of the

telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, the hardware 3325 of the base station 3320 further includes processing circuitry 3328, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 3320 further has software 3321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

The communication system 3300 further includes the UE 3330 already referred to.

Its hardware 3335 may include a radio interface 3337 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 3370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 3330 is currently located. The hardware 3335 of the UE 3330 further includes processing circuitry 3338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application- specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 3330 further comprises software 3331 , which is stored in or accessible by the UE 3330 and executable by the processing circuitry 3338. The software 3331 includes a client application 3332. The client application 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 3330, with the support of the host computer 3310. In the host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 may communicate with the executing client application 3332 via the OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the user, the client application 3332 may receive request data from the host application 3312 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 3350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that the host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330 illustrated in Figure 9 may be identical to the host computer 3230, one of the base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c and one of the UEs 3291 , 3292 of Figure 8, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 9 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 8.

In Figure 9, the OTT connection 3350 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 3310 and the use equipment 3330 via the base station 3320, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 3330 or from the service provider operating the host computer 3310, or both. While the OTT connection 3350 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

The wireless connection 3370 between the UE 3330 and the base station 3320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 3330 using the OTT connection 3350, in which the wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 between the host computer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in the software 3311 of the host computer 3310 or in the software 3331 of the UE 3330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 3350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 3311 , 3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 3320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer’s 3310 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 3311 , 3331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc. Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 8 and Figure 9. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 10 will be included in this section. In a first action 3410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction 3411 of the first action 3410, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In an optional third action 3430, the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional fourth action 3440, the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 8 and Figure 9. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 11 will be included in this section. In a first action 3510 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3520, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional third action 3530, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 8 and Figure 9. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 12 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3610 of the method, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second action 3620, the UE provides user data. In an optional subaction 3621 of the second action 3620, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In a further optional subaction 3611 of the first action 3610, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in an optional third subaction 3630, transmission of the user data to the host computer. In a fourth action 3640 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 8 and Figure 9. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 13 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3710 of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In an optional second action 3720, the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In a third action 3730, the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

When using the word "comprise" or“comprising” it shall be interpreted as non limiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

1. A method performed by a server node (150), for handling an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE, (A1), which first user uses a Digital Assistant, DA, (125), and which DA (125) is shared by the first UE (A1) of a first user and a second UE (A2) of a second user, the method comprising:

receiving (402) from an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130) a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE (B), which notification comprises an Identity, ID, of the first UE (A1) and an ID of the calling UE (B), which incoming call is to be announced in the DA (125),

based on the ID of the first UE (A1), obtaining (403) information that the first UE (A1) uses the DA (125) that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1), when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125),

sending (405) to the DA (125) the notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE (B) is removed based that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1) in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

based on ID of the calling UE (B) identifying (404) that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1) in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, further comprising:

receiving (401) from the DA (125), information that the DA (125) is shared, which information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE (A1) and the second UE (A2) sharing the DA (125), and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, further comprising: receiving (406) from the DA (125), a request for the ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1), which request comprises the ID of the first UE (A1), obtaining (407) the ID of the calling UE (B), based on the ID of the first UE (A1), and

sending (408) to the DA (125), the obtained ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1).

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy is a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.

6. A computer program (670) comprising instructions, which when executed by a

processor (650), causes the processor (650) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-5.

7. A carrier (680) comprising the computer program (670) of claim 6, wherein the carrier (680) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

8. A method performed by a Digital Assistant, DA, (125), for handling an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE, (A1), which DA (125) is used by a first user of the first UE (A1), and which DA (125) is shared by the first UE (A1) of a first user and a second UE (A2) of a second user, the method comprising:

sending (502) to a server node (150), information that the DA (125) is shared, which information further comprises respective IDs of the first UE (A1) and the second UE (A2) sharing the DA (125), and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125),

receiving (503) from the server node (150) a notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE (B) has been removed based that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1), and based on the received notification, announcing (504) the incoming call to the first UE (A1) in the DA (125), without identifying the calling UE (B).

9. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

obtaining (501) a voice instruction from the user of the first UE (A1), which voice instruction comprises an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling specified UEs related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125), which enforcement is to be specified in a in a policy related to the first UE (A1).

10. The method according to any of the claims 6-7, further comprising:

sending (505) to the server node (150), a request for the ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1), which request comprises the ID of the first UE (A1),

receiving (506) from the server node (150), the ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1) based on the sent ID of the first UE (A1), and

based on the received notification, announcing (507) the calling UE (B) in the DA (125).

11. The method according to any of the claims 8-10, wherein the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy is represented by a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.

12. A computer program (770) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (750), causes the processor (750) to perform actions according to any of the claims 8-11.

13. A carrier (780) comprising the computer program (770) of claim 12, wherein the carrier (780) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

14. A server node (150) configured to handle an incoming call to a first User

Equipment, UE, (A1) of a first user, which first UE (A1) is adapted to use a Digital Assistant, DA, (125), and which DA (125) is adapted to be shared by the first UE (A1) of a first user and a second UE (A2) of a second user, the server node (150) further being configured to:

receive from an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130) a notification of an incoming call from a calling UE (B), which notification is adapted to comprise an

Identity, ID, of the first UE (A1) and an ID of the calling UE (B), and which incoming call is to be announced in the DA (125),

based on the ID of the first UE (A1), obtain information that the first UE (A1) uses the DA (125) that is a shared, and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1), when

announcing the incoming call in the DA (125), and

send to the DA (125), the notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE (B) is adapted to removed based that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1) in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

15. The server node (150) according to claim 14, further being configured to:

based on ID of the calling UE (B) identify that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1) in which the enforcement to avoid identifying the calling UE shall be applied when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

16. The server node (150) according to any of the claims 14-15, further being

configured to:

receive from the DA (125), information that the DA (125) is shared, which information further is adapted to comprise respective IDs of the first UE (A1) and the second UE (A2) sharing the DA (125), and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125).

17. The server node (150) according to any of the claims 14-16, further being

configured to: receive from the DA (125), a request for the ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1), which request is adapted to comprise the ID of the first UE (A1),

obtain the ID of the calling UE (B), based on the ID of the first UE (A1), and send to the DA (125), the obtained ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1).

18. The server node (150) according to any of the claims 14-17, wherein the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy is adapted to be a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.

19. A Digital Assistant, DA, (125), configured to handle an incoming call to a first User Equipment, UE, (A1), which DA (125) is adapted to be used by a first user of the first UE (A1), and which DA (125) is adapted to be shared by the first UE (A1) of a first user and a second UE (A2) of a second user, the DA (125) further being configured to:

send to a server node (150), information that the DA (125) is shared, which information further adapted to comprise respective IDs of the first UE (A1) and the second UE (A2) sharing the DA (125), and an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling UEs specified in a policy related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125),

receive from the server node (150) a notification of the incoming call, in which notification the ID of the calling UE (B) is adapted to be removed based that the calling UE (B) is one of the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy related to the first UE (A1), and

based on the received notification, announce the incoming call to the first UE (A1) in the DA (125), without identifying the calling UE (B).

20. The DA (125) according to claim 19, further being configured to:

obtain a voice instruction from the user of the first UE (A1), which voice instruction is adapted to comprise an enforcement to avoid identifying one or more calling specified UEs related to the first UE (A1) when announcing the incoming call in the DA (125), which enforcement is to be specified in a in a policy related to the first UE (A1).

21. The DA (125) according to any of the claims 19-20, further being configured to: send to the server node (150), a request for the ID of the calling UE (B) requested by the first UE (A1), which request is adapted to comprise the ID of the first UE (A1),

receive from the server node (150), the ID of the calling UE (B) adapted to be requested by the first UE (A1) based on the sent ID of the first UE (A1), and

based on the received notification, announce the calling UE (B) in the DA

(125).

22. The DA (125) according to any of the claims 19-21 , wherein the one or more calling UEs specified in the policy is adapted to be represented by a UE related to any one or more out of: a UE of a type of caller, a UE of a specific person, a UE of a specific country, a UE of a type of company, a UE of a specific company, a UE of a specific authority.