FI108605B - Location management method, mobile and system - Google Patents

Description

108605 j j j j Location management method, mobile and system - Förfarande för läges- hantering, mobilteleapparat och system

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a location management method in communication cellular systems. In particular, the invention relates to a process as disclosed in the preamble of the independent method claim.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The macrodiversity combination relates to a situation where a mobile station shares one sig-! 10 signals to more than one radio connection, to more than one base station, and the network combines the received signals to produce the original signal. Macro diversity combining is advantageous especially in cellular radio systems utilizing spread spectrum technology. Multiple radio broadcasts in spread spectrum systems! use the same frequencies at the same time, so that for each individual connection, all other transmissions are background noise. For this reason, it is important to seek to reduce the transmission power of mobile stations and base stations. The advantage of macrodiversity combining is that, in a macrodiversity connection, the aggregate transmission power of the partial connections is generally lower than the transmission power that would be required if the same connection were to be made using only one radio connection to one base station. In particular, this applies to a situation where a mobile station is located near the cell boundary, i.e. when nothing, “! the base stations are not very close to the mobile but more than one base station; · :: is located approximately the same distance from the mobile station. The macrodiversity combination is intended to be used eg in the UMTS system currently under development. (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).

Figure 1 shows an example of a macrodiversity connection in a UMTS system. The mobile station (MS) 100 has simultaneous radio communication with two base stations 105. The base stations 105 are controlled by radio network controllers. The radio network controllers RNC1 and RNC2 are controlled in turn by core network elements, e.g., Mobile Services Switching Centers (MSCs) 115, which control silicon-switched connections, and Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs). , which control packet-switched connections. The interface between a core network (CN, Core Network) and a radio access network (RAN, Radio Access * '·' Network) is called an Iu interface (Interface UMTS). The interface between two radio network controllers is called an Iur interface. Figure 1 further illustrates two location areas LA1 and LA2 in addition to 108605 2. A single Location Area (LA) covers several cells under the control of a single MSC.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the connections of the MS 100 pass through two radio network controllers RNC1, RNC2. One of these is the so-called drifting RNC, which only allows all signaling through the Iur interface to the main RNC, called the Serving RNC (SRNC). Among other tasks, the serving RNC performs the actual macro diversity combination.

In the current GSM rigid system, location management is based on a cell identifier and a location area. In the GPRS rigid system, each location area further comprises one or more multiple Routing Areas (RAs). Correspondingly, the location of the mobile station can be uniquely determined by the cell identifier and the location area identifier, and in GPRS also by the routing area identifier. However, in the UMTS system, this approach leads to several problems. For example, in the case of Figure 1, the mobile station communicates with two cells located in different location areas, whereby location determination is not as simple as in a conventional GSM system. Therefore, the use of macrodiversity combining leads to a degree of uncertainty about the location of the mobile station.

In addition, the mobile station itself may not know the location and routing area of the active set of cells if the network does not provide system information for each cell at the time the cell is mapped to the active set. This causes problems when the mobile station has active connections to one element of the core network, e.g. . to the MSC, and no active connection to another core network element :. ·. such as SGSN, whereby packet data units are idle. In idle mode, MS should perform a location update at regular intervals, or whenever MS moves ''; 25 new routing or location areas. However, in a situation where the mobile station does not know the ·, / location and routing areas of the cells, a further problem arises that one should decide '*' 'whether or not to update the location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

';; An object of the invention is to provide a location management method which avoids the prior art problems described above.

'' The objects of the invention are achieved by assigning an active macro; · Priority levels for a set of cells. There may be two or more priority levels. The two-level priority system is implemented by dividing the cells of the active set into two classes:: * · i: either the serving cell or the serving cell set; 108605 I 3 j to the side. The serving cell set comprises cells that belong to the active set and are under the control of the serving RNC. One of the serving cells is selected as the master cell that determines the location of the mobile station. There can also be more than two priority levels.

The method according to the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterizing part of the independent method claim. The mobile station according to the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterizing part of the independent mobile communication claim. The system according to the invention is characterized in what is stated in the characterizing part of the independent claim 10 to the rigid system. Other preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

DRAWINGS IN BRIEF

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a prior art problem, Figure 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 3 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 4 illustrates a mobile station according to a preferred embodiment, Figure 5 shows a system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

»« *: 20 In the drawings, similar parts are marked with the same reference numbers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

1. CELL PRIORITIES

In the method of the invention, the active set of the macrodiversity connection, ""; the cells are assigned priority levels. For example, there may be two priority levels, namely, "Priority" and "Non-Priority" cells. Priority levels can be assigned to pre-. . for example, certain location-based services that are available in a particular area of the :: network, or, for example, cellular routing and / or location areas. Alternatively, the Prioritized cells may be those of the active set, Y: which are under the control of the serving RNC, and the non-Prioritized cells may be; · · · 30 cells under the control of another RNC.

4, 108605

2. A SET OF SERVING CELLS

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the prioritization is accomplished by defining a set of serving cells from the active set. The serving cell set is that set of cells that is in the active set and is under the control of the serving RNC. Because the active set may comprise one or more cells, and since the serving RNC controls at least one active set cell, the serving set of cells may cover the entire active set or form its own subset in the active set.

The MS can use all cells of the serving set for various network operations, for example, location recording or Mobile Originated (MO) connection management (CM) service requests and, for example, retrieving responses via RRC when the message is already active on a core network. element.

3. UPGRADE OF SERVING CELLS

When the SRNC adds new cells to the active set, it informs the MS whether or not the new cell is under the control of the SRNC, that is, whether the new cell is a serving cell. This message may advantageously be added to the Active Set UPDATE message, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol active between the MS and the SRNC, as a new parameter, for example. Thus, for MS, the set of serving cells is constantly updated. However, the invention is not limited to the ACTIVE SET 'of the RRC; UPDATE message, because the new::: cell in the serving cell can be notified to the MS via other messages as well. For example, i.i i can define a whole new message specifically for this purpose.

. ·. ·. Preferably, the plurality of serving cells is stored in a memory element of the MS, for example, as a list or a table. A person skilled in the art is familiar with several different ways of storing data sets on digital memory elements, and therefore, storing data sets is not described in more detail in this specification.

The updating of the serving cell set is described in more detail with reference to Figure 2. 30. Fig. 2 shows a mobile station 100 in macrodiversity communication 105 via base stations BS2, BS3 and BS4. Base stations BS2 and '·; · BS3 are under control of radio network controller RNC1 110, while base station BS4 is: Y: under control of RNC2 110. The arrows in dashed line in Figure 2 illustrate ··: the signal flow in the radio access network and indicate that in this example RNC1 is> 08605 5 serving RNC. Further, Figure 2 illustrates MSC11515 and SGSN 120 connected to radio network controllers. In the example of Figure 2, the base stations BS2, BS3 and BS4 form an active set. The other base stations shown in Figure 2 are not in use and therefore do not belong to the active set. Base stations BS2 and BS3 promise to be among the serving cells because they are under control of the SRNC. In the event that the serving RNC wants to associate, for example, a base station BS1 with an active set, the network sends an active set update message RRC ACTIVE SET UPDATE to notify the mobile station that that base station is active and confirm that the base station BS1 cell belongs to the serving cells. In the event that the serving RNC wants to attach, for example, a base station BS5 to an active set, the network sends an active set update message RRC ACTIVE SET UPDATE to notify the mobile station of the addition of that base station to the active set. In this case, the network may also explicitly state that the BS5 cell is not a serving cell, or implicitly inform by not indicating whether the BS5 cell is a serving cell, and the mobile station may, by default, conclude that the BS5 cell is not a serving cell. among.

4. MASTERSOL

Preferably, one of the cells of the serving cell set is selected as the master cell, i.e., the serving cell at the time of selection. The master cell can then be used to determine the location of the mobile station, for example, in the location update and call management service request procedures, and the paging portion of the radio access network. By the message I: COMPLETE LAYER 3 sent by RANAP (Radio Access Network Application Part), said master cell can be identified as 25 mobile station locations. The advantage of selecting a master cell is e.g. the fact that it removes the confusion caused by macrodiversity: the location of the mobile station. Master cell selection ·. ·. There are a number of different ways that some of these can be applied, some of which are described by way of example. below. However, the following examples are exemplary only and in no way limit the invention.

: § 30 However, the invention is not limited to the use of the COMPLETE LAYER 3 message, • '': information about a new cell added to the serving cell can be reported. '. to the mobile station using other messages as well. For this purpose, for example, '' why a whole new message can be defined.

, ·. ·. The mobile station may use the master cell for various network functions, for example, storing a location, t: 35 location, or uplink (MO, Mobile Originated) connection control 108605 6! For example, sending service requests related to Connection I (CM, Connection Management) and, for example, sending call replies via an RRC connection when the device is already in active communication with a core network element.

4.1 MASTER CELL SELECTION: FIRST EXAMPLE

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the master cell is selected according to a predefined rule. This embodiment has the advantage that the master cell information does not have to pass from network to mobile and from mobile to network since both, the network and the mobile station follow the same rule. On the network side, the selection of the master cell according to a predefined rule is most preferably performed by the SRNC.

Many different types of rules can be applied in different embodiments of the invention. For example, the cell that has been in the active set for the longest time and is under the control of the SRNC may be selected as the master cell. In this solution, for example, the network and the mobile station may store a time when the cell is associated with the 15 active sets to determine how long the cell has been in the active set. Another way to implement the rule is by queuing. In this solution, the cell attached to the active set is first located at the end of the queue. If a cell leaves an active set, it also leaves the queue. The first cell in the queue belonging to the serving cell is therefore the cell which has been the longest in the active 20 and is under the control of the SRNC. If a master cell is removed from the active set, the new master cell is selected according to this rule.

j The SRNC may also notify the selected master cell to the mobile station in a specific *:: message, for example, to ensure that the mobile and the SNRC have selected: -:: the same cell as the master cell.

25 4.2 MASTER CELL SELECTION: SECOND EXAMPLE

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mobile station suggests which of the plurality of serving cells should be selected as the master cell. Advantageously, the mobile :: message may indicate the desired cell, for example, in a location update message, in a kernel: • service area message, or in a call reply message. The notification may be included in a ·, for example, RRC-level data message. The advantage of this embodiment is that the mobile station has the ability to propose a master cell when it has a valid reason for selection. The SRNC may not always know the most appropriate cell for the mobile if, for reasons other than the control of the SRNC, the • / some cell is more useful than others.

i 7 108605 I For example, a mobile station may have a list of home cells that should be available mushrooms according to use. Home cells may have some special benefits, such as lower billing rates, higher allowed transmission speeds, or other special service provided by your local operator. For example, a list of home cells may be stored in a UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), a global user identifier for 5 mobile stations. If one or more home cells are among the serving cells, it is preferable to select one of these cells as the master cell.

In another example, a cellular network may have local services, i.e., certain services are provided in predetermined service areas, e.g., within a particular cell or group of cells. Such services can be, for example, Short Message Service (SMS) messages to mobile devices in a certain area, for example advertising messages sent to those in the mall! mobile stations. Services may include, for example, lower rates and higher transmission speeds in identified areas, such as within a particular company and in the vicinity. Such services are at least known as Local Cellular Services (LCS). Typically, the mobile station's SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) stores information about local services and the cells that provide these services, whereby the mobile station can advantageously use said information when selecting a master cell.

20 If the SRNC receives a proposal from the mobile station for a serving cell, the SRNC adds a notification of the cell proposed by the mobile station to the RANMAP COMPLETE LAYER 3 update message. It is recommended that the SRNC check whether the proposed cell is a •.:.: Active set of the mobile station and is under the control of the SRNC, that is, •. i; whether that cell belongs to a serving cell. If the mobile station proposes Ii: 25 cells that are not among the serving cells, the SRNC may select, for example, a master cell according to a predetermined rule.

The suggestion of a master cell in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in more detail in the following description and the accompanying Figure 3. Figure 3 shows a mobile station 100 having a macrodiversity connection via base stations BS2 and BS3. The base stations BS2 and BS3 are under control 110 of the radio network controller RNC1, which in this example is also a serving RNC. Figure 3 further illustrates a mobile switching center MSC 115 connected to an RNCL and a service provider; ::.; GPRS Support Cell SGSN 120.

In Figure 3, the mobile station has a packet data connection to the SGSNL, and the location of the mobile station 35 is registered in the location area LA1. For example, the mobile station performs an update of the location by sending a LOCATION UPDATE REQUEST message to a network, such as a mobile services switching center MSC, which in this example does not have an active connection to the mobile station. Along with said message, the mobile station transmits the identifier of the selected cell, i.e. the cell identifier of the base station BS3. As a result, the location of the mobile station in the network is registered in the location area LA2, the base station in the BS3 cell. Without the suggestion of the mobile station, the RNC would receive a location update request from two base stations and would have to select the master cell itself, for example according to a predetermined rule as described above.

The mobile station may also send a LOCATION UPDATE REQUEST message to any of the 10 core network elements that have an active connection to the mobile station. For example, if a mobile station has an active packet connection to one of its SGSNs, the mobile station may still send a LOCATION UPDATE REQUEST message, for example, if the mobile station detects that it has moved to a new routing area.

As explained above, the location update request is only an example of a situation in which a mobile station may propose to select a particular master cell. The mobile station may also suggest a cell, for example, when requesting a core network service, for example, when requesting a new connection. In the example of Fig. 3, the mobile station may send a message to the MSCln switching center to initiate a voice connection and, at the same time, indicate the desired master cell as a parameter attached to the message. In this example, the message may be, for example, a connection request message, a SETUP message, a service request message addressed to the connection manager, a CM SERVICE REQUEST message, an invitation reply message, a PAGING RESPONSE message, or some other message sent to start a voice connection.

: 'X 5. EFFECT OF THE SRNC RESTART

»* · <* * · '·' * · 25 Relocating the SRNC makes the location management of a mobile station more complicated when the mobile station is active. SRNC Repeat # ::; the role and tasks of the RNC serving in management shall be transferred from one RNC to another.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the priority levels of the active set of cells change in response to the relocation of the serving RNC. Serving. ·. The resettlement of 30 van RNCs is described in more detail, for example, in Finnish patent application FI980736.

; In a solution where prioritization is accomplished by defining a set of serving cells', the set of serving cells must be modified after relocating the SRNC. An incentive for this may be, for example, a notification sent to the mobile station after the SRNC has been relocated. The notification may be performed, for example, by a new SRNC, as a result of which the mobile station updates the serving cell set to reflect the relocation of the serving RNC. The notification can be implemented, for example, by sending a predefined message, for example, a SRNC 5 RELOCATION NOTIFICATION message. After updating the serving cell set, one of the cells in the serving cell set is selected as a master cell, for example i according to one of the embodiments described above. The following are a few examples of how the serving cell set update is performed after relocating the SRNC.

10 5.1 FIRST EXAMPLE

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the updating of the serving cell set proceeds as follows in a situation where, in a macrodiversity connection: two radio network controllers are involved. When the signaling between them on the relocation of the RNC and the transfer of the status of the serving RNC from the first 15 RNCs to the second RNC is completed, the second RNC notifies the mobile station that the serving RNC is now a second RNC. In response to the notification, the mobile station examines the active set and exchanges, in each cell of the active set, whether or not that cell is a serving cell. If a particular cell is declared to belong to the active set, the notification is now modified to exclude cell 20 from the serving cell set. If a particular cell is declared to be outside the serving cell set, the notification is now modified to associate the cell with the serving cell set. In other words, those cells that are under the control of the serving RNC are marked to be outside the serving cell set, and those cells under the control of the new serving RNC are marked as belonging to the serving cells.

>> * I ·

: 5.2 SECOND EXAMPLE

Γ: The above example cannot be applied in a situation where more than two radio network controllers are involved in the macrodiversity connection because the serving cells include cells controlled by only one radio network controller and the remaining 30 active cells are cells controlled by more than one radio network controller. . According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the new serving RNC includes information about the cells in the message where it notifies the mobile station of the relocation of the serving RNC - that is, information that allows the mobile to determine which cells belong to. 35 serving cells and which do not. Preferably, the cell information comprises at least a list of the identifiers of the cells that belong to the active set and are controlled by the new serving RNC. The cell information may also include a list of all cells under the control of the serving RNC, whereby the mobile station can compare the received list and the active set to determine the set of serving cells.

The solution described has the advantage that it does not require major changes to existing procedures. As an additional option, an RNC identifier could be added to the cell identifiers, so that the mobile station would always know which cells are under the control of a particular RNC. In that case, a set of serving cells would be a subset comprising both an active set and a set of all cells under the control of the serving RNC, and the update of the serving cell set could simply be performed based on the RNC identifier of the new serving RNC. However, such a solution would require significant changes to existing procedures.

15 6. LOCATION UPDATE

One possibility for the above problem - that is, when a location update should be performed - is to install a multi-code feature on the receiver, that is, to arrange the receiver so that it can receive more than one transmitter at a time; by this means, the receiver can monitor the BCCH-20 channel through which the network transmits messages containing system information. Another solution is to arrange the receiver to perform reception in a blocked state, whereby. : ': Messages containing system information could be received in a blocked state *; ; den holes. However, such solutions result in complex receiver structures and increase the manufacturing costs of mobile stations. A single,; 25 more simple solutions.

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1 * I

v .: In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the location information request procedure is used to obtain location information, i.e., information on the prevailing serving cell set. According to this embodiment, the mobile station may request; Sets the SRNC to send a message containing system information to the mobile station and the ver. 30 kon via active RRC connection. The solution enables the use of an RRC connection which is already active because the mobile station has a connection; : e.g., to a mobile switching center, and thus, the packet units of the mobile station do not have to monitor the BCCH channels in the hope that they would receive messages containing system information: *. The * * i »» 108605 n messages containing system information transmitted over the RRC connection may have the same format as the BCCH channels, or a custom format may be defined for this purpose.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the SRNC can transmit the system information of the master cell even without explicitly requesting it by the mobile station. For example, the SRNC may send system information of the master cell after sending another message to the mobile station.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mobile station monitors changes in the serving cells to determine when a location update should be performed. The events that may be a stimulus for the mobile station 10 to send a location update signal may be, for example, one of the following: - relocation of the SRNC, - changing of the master cell according to one of the embodiments described above, especially when the new 15 master cell is in a different routing area than the previous master cell, or, for example, when the last of the cells that belonged to the serving cell at the time of the previous location update has been removed from the active set.

However, the events listed above are merely examples and do not limit the invention in any way. Other events may also trigger a location update procedure.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mobile station uses, at least in part, a location request request procedure to determine which cell should be selected as a \ mast cell. In this solution, the location request request procedure may be implemented, e.g., as described above.

. ::. 25 7. MOBILE EXAMPLE

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a digital mobile station, more generally a mobile station according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The mobile station comprises a microphone 301, a keypad 307, a display 306, a headset 314, and an antenna duplexer i. or a switch 308, an antenna 309, and a control unit 306, all of which are typical components of a conventional III *, ···, 30 mobile station. Further, the mobile station includes a typical '! Transmitter and receiver blocks 304, 311. Transmitter block 304 comprises the functions necessary to: decode, decode and modulate speech and channels, and the RF circuits needed to amplify the signal for transmission. Receiver block 311 comprises amplifier circuits and functions required for modulating and decoding signal decoder 108605 12 and decoding channel and speech. The signal produced by microphone 301 is amplified in amplification step 302 and converted to digital form in A / D converter 303, after which the signal is transmitted to transmitter block 304. The transmitter block encodes the digital signal and outputs 5 modulated and amplified RF signals to RF antenna 309 duplexer 308. Receiver block 311 demodulates the received signal, decodes and deletes the channel coding. The resulting speech signal is converted to analog form in a D / A converter 312, and the signal from the converter is amplified in amplifier step 313, after which the amplified sig-10 signal is transferred to headset 314. The control unit 305 controls the mobile operations, reads commands on the keypad 307 307. The mobile station communicates with the network using macrodiversity links, i.e., it has means 305, 304, 308, 309, and 311 for communicating with the network using macrodiversity links. In addition, mobile station 15 comprises receiver means 320 for receiving information to establish a priority order for a plurality of cells, and selection means 321 for selecting a mast cell based at least in part on said priority order. Further, the mobile station preferably comprises means 322 for notifying the selected cell of the master to the network. Preferably, said receiver means 320 for receiving information for establishing a priority order 20 as well as said selection and notification means are implemented using software stored in a memory element of the control unit 305, which is operated by the microprocessor of the control unit 305.

: 'J ;: 8. EXAMPLE OF THE SYSTEM:.: · Figure 5 is a block diagram of a communication cellular system. Cellular:. ·: The core network of the 25 radio subsystems comprises mobile switching centers (MSC), other networks: test elements (in GSM, e.g. SGSN and GGSN, Serving GPRS Support Node: and Gateway GPRS Support Node, where GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service, and related broadcasting systems. Figure 5; in the solution, the core network of the telecommunication cellular system 930 comprises a core network. 30 CN 931, to which three parallel radio access networks are linked. Of these, networks 932 and 933 are UMTS radio access networks and network 934 is a GSM radio access network. The upper UMTS radio access network 932 is, for example, a commercial radio access network, owned by a telecommunications operator providing mobile services. equally to all users of said operator. The lower UMTS radio access ....: 35 network 933 is, for example, privately owned and owned, for example, by the company on whose premises the said radio access network operates. Typically, the cells of the private radio access network 13 108605 933 are nano- and / or picocells that can only be operated by employees of said company. Each of the three radio access networks may have cells of different sizes that provide different types of services. In addition, cells 932, 933, and 934 of each of the three radio access networks may be wholly or partially overlapping.

Preferably, the device 10 shown in Figure 5 is a so-called dual-band telephone that can serve as either a second generation GSM phone or a third generation UMTS phone, depending on the services available at each location and the communication needs of the user. The device may also be a multi-frequency telephone which functions as either a mobile station or a plurality of different communication systems depending on the needs of the user and the services available. The radio access networks and services available to the user are specified in the SIM card 936 attached to the device.

Fig. 5 further shows some details of the structure of the radio access network. Typically, the radio access network 932, 934 comprises one or more base stations 937 and a control unit 42. In UMTS radio access networks 932, 933, the control unit is called a radio network controller RNC, and in the GSM networks 934 the control unit is called a base station controller BSC. In addition, radio access networks typically also include other network elements, such as transcoder units. Figure 5 further shows a mobile services switching center (MSC) 43 which mainly controls the circuit switched connections of the mobile stations 10 and a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 41 which mainly controls the packet switched connections of the mobile stations (10).

According to the invention, the cellular communication system 20 comprises an i: ': 200 system arranged to receive information that identifies the master; *: cell and announces the cell location of the selected cell to the cellular network of the communication cellular system. Preferably, system 200 is located in a communications cellular network. ·. ·. 25 in the radio access network 932. The system 200 may advantageously be implemented t ·; ·, By using software stored in the memory element of the radio access network control unit. However, system 200 may also be implemented in a separate network element, such as a Macro Diversity Combiner (MDC). In solutions where the macrodiversity combining is performed by an MDC implemented as 30 separate network elements from the radio network controller, the functions of the system 200 can be partially implemented in the RNC and partly in the MDC. The MDC unit or the like; ': the function may also be implemented in the RNC, wherein the RNC performs macrodiversity combining and preferably comprises a system 200.

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9. OTHER ASPECTS

The invention can advantageously be used in third generation cellular systems, for example in the UMTS cellular telecommunications system. However, the invention can also be used in other cellular systems.

5 The name of a particular functional unit, such as a radio network controller, often varies from one cellular system to another. For example, in the GSM ice system, the functional unit corresponding to the radio network controller (RNC) is a Base Station Controller (BSC). Therefore, the term 'radio network controller' used in the appended claims is intended to cover all the corresponding functional units 10, regardless of the term used in each particular cellular telecommunications system. In addition, the names of various messages, such as ACTIVE SET UPDATE, are provided by way of example only, and the invention is not limited to messages using the names mentioned in this specification.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that many modifications to the invention may be made within the scope of its inventive concept. Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, it will be appreciated that many modifications and variations thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims (24)

1. Method for location management in cellular data communication systems supporting macro diversity communication, characterized in that priority groups are assigned to the group of cells active in macro diversity communication, and that the position of a mobile telephony is determined at least in part on the basis of said priority level. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that all cells used for the macro-diversity communication between the mobile telephone and the network are classified either as belonging to a group of serving cells or as not belonging to said group of serving cells. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that one of the cells in the group of serving cells is selected as the master cell. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that said wire is performed by the network. 5. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the network executes the selection of the master cell in response to a message received from the mobile telephony which does not contain any message about the master cell. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that said wire is carried out according to: ':. * a predetermined rule. Method according to claim 6, characterized in that the master cell is selected: ': *: the cell contained in the group of serving cells, which has belonged to the longest time.': *. the active joke. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that said wire is performed by a mobile telephony apparatus. »· · · · 9. A method according to claim 8, characterized in that the message about which cell is selected is communicated to the network with a message sent by the mobile phone. »·! i * * 19 Ί 08 605 Method according to claim 8, characterized in that - the mobile telephony requests location data from the network, - the mobile telephony receives answers to its requisition from the network, and the I-selection of the master cell is carried out at least in part on the basis of said answer. Method according to Claim 8, characterized in that said wire is carried out at least in part on the basis of data stored on the local telephone network in the mobile telephony apparatus. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the priority levels of cells of the active group are changed in response to relocation of the serving. 10 RNC. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the cells in the active group which were previously classified to belong to the group of serving cells which are responsive to the relocation of RNC are now classified as non-belonging to the group of serving cells, while the cells in the the active group, previously classified as the non-belonging group of serving cells, is now classified as belonging to the group of serving cells. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the mobile telephony classifies the cells of the active group as belonging to the group of serving cells listed in a message received from the network by the mobile telephony and, where it is stated that the serving RNC is relocated and that said mobile telephone classifies all other cells as non-belonging to the group of serving *:: cells. »« · * · The method of claim 2, which method is intended to be used in one. Cellular data communication system comprising a first network element for controlling circuit-switched connections, and a second, for controlling packet-switched connections for network element, characterized in that when the mobile telephone has an active connection to the first of these other network elements and not at all active connection to the second of these first and second network elements, is performed: · for the location update of said second of these first and second network elements, at least partly in response to the change in said group of serving cells. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that said location update is carried out at least partially in response to a change in all cells in the group of serving cells. 10860b Method according to claim 15, characterized in that said location updates are performed at least in part in response to removing the last of the cells belonging to said group of serving cells from the group of serving cells when the location update was performed the previous time. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps: - the mobile telephony requests location data from the network, - the mobile telephony receives response to the requisition from the network, and - the mobile telephony determines if it performs location update to the other one of the above mentioned. first and second network elements, and the decision of the mobile telephony is done in part on the basis of said answer. The method of claim 2, which method is intended to be used in a cellular data communication system comprising a first network element for controlling circuit-switched connections and a second network element for controlling packet-switched connections, characterized in that when the mobile telephony has an active connection to the first of these first and second network elements and not at all any active connection to the second of these first and second network elements, the location update for the first of these first and second network elements is performed at least in part in response to the change in said group of serving cells. A mobile telephony for use in a cellular data system comprising a cellular meter; said mobile telephone apparatus comprises means for arranging communication by means of the use of macro-diversity communications, in which the mobile telephone communicates with the cellular meter via several different cells, characterized in that the mobile telephone comprises means (320) for receiving such information, With which to compile a priority order for said cells, as well as means; (321) by which one selects a master cell at least in part on the basis of said; and the mobile telephony is arranged to receive information about the * * * serving cells. Method according to claim 20, characterized in that the mobile telephony also. '·. 30 comprises means (322) by which the information about the selected master cell is communicated to the network. •: ·: 22. System for application in a cellular data communication system, characteristic! This means that the system is arranged to receive a message from a mobile telephony sent in the specified master cell, and to inform the cellular system's core network that the selected master cell is the location of the mobile telephony. System according to claim 22, characterized in that the system resides in the radio-access network of the cellular data communication network (932,933, 934). System according to claim 23, characterized in that the system resides in the radio network controls (42) of said radio access network. * · · »· · 1 · · · · · · 1 · · · · · · · ♦ · · · · · · 1. I * · # • 1 · * »» »» * 1 »