Low power periodic and triggered location of a mobile device using control plane optimization

A user equipment (UE) in a wireless network capable of supporting periodic and triggered location, the UE comprising:

• at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network;
• at least one memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and the at least one memory and configured to:
• receive via the at least one wireless transceiver a request for a periodic or triggered location from a location server in the wireless network;
• send via the at least one wireless transceiver a response to the location server, the response confirming the periodic or triggered location;
• detect a periodic or triggering event;
• determine whether to report a trigger event using Control Plane (CP) Optimization;
• obtain event information, the event information comprising at least one of location measurements, a location estimate, a type of detected triggering event, or a combination thereof;
• obtain a signaling association with a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in the wireless network, wherein the signaling association does not include a signaling connection to a core network (CN) node;
• transmit via the at least one wireless transceiver a first message to the RAN node, wherein the first message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message and includes an initial Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message, wherein the initial NAS message contains a routing identifier identifying the location server and an event report message containing the event information, wherein the RAN node forwards the initial NAS message to the CN node, wherein the CN node forwards the event report message to the location server;
• and
• receive via the at least one wireless transceiver a second message from the RAN node, wherein the second message includes a NAS response message, wherein the NAS response message contains an event report acknowledgment message.

A user equipment (UE) in a wireless network capable of supporting periodic and triggered location, the UE comprising:

• means for receiving a request for a periodic or triggered location from a location server in the wireless network;
• means for sending a response to the location server, the response confirming the periodic or triggered location;
• means for detecting a periodic or triggering event;
• means for determining whether to report a trigger event using Control Plane (CP) Optimization;
• means for obtaining event information, the event information comprising at least one of location measurements, a location estimate, a type of detected triggering event, or a combination thereof;
• means for obtaining a signaling association with a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in the wireless network, wherein the signaling association does not include a signaling connection to a core network (CN) node;
• means for transmitting a first message to the RAN node, wherein the first message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message and includes an initial Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message, wherein the initial NAS message contains a routing identifier identifying the location server and an event report message containing the event information, wherein the RAN node forwards the initial NAS message to the CN node, wherein the CN node forwards the event report message to the location server;
• and
• means for receiving a second message from the RAN node, wherein the second message includes a NAS response message, wherein the NAS response message contains an event report acknowledgment message.

A non-transitory storage medium including program code stored thereon, the program code is operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network capable of supporting periodic and triggered location, comprising:

• program code to receive a request for a periodic or triggered location from a location server in the wireless network;
• program code to send a response to the location server, the response confirming the periodic or triggered location;
• program code to detect a periodic or triggering event;
• program code to determine whether to report a trigger event using Control Plane (CP) Optimization;
• program code to obtain event information, the event information comprising at least one of location measurements, a location estimate, a type of detected triggering event, or a combination thereof;
• program code to obtain a signaling association with a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in the wireless network, wherein the signaling association does not include a signaling connection to a core network (CN) node;
• program code to transmit a first message to the RAN node, wherein the first message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message and includes an initial Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message, wherein the initial NAS message contains a routing identifier identifying the location server and an event report message containing the event information, wherein the RAN node forwards the initial NAS message to the CN node, wherein the CN node forwards the event report message to the location server;
• and
• program code to receive a second message from the RAN node, wherein the second message includes a NAS response message, wherein the NAS response message contains an event report acknowledgment message.