Relating to internet protocol (IP) location, privacy and presence

#This invention relates to improvements in determining user location and presence, particularly in respect of Internet Protocol (IP) environments and in respect of privacy issues.

#Telephone users today subscribe to voice services that are directly linked to and supplied by an access provider. This is the case whether the service is a wireline or a wireless service, so the information required to determine the location of a caller is all controlled by one entity, the service provider. IP telephony provides a separation between service and access provider, with the access provider knowing a user location but not which services are being used, and the service providing knowing which services are in use, but not knowing the location of the user. This can be a substantial problem.

#IP solutions also introduce a problem for users of location information, as they need to feel confident that the information being provided to them is accurate, particularly if the information is tied to billing or potentially life threatening situations.

#Reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the Location Session Protocol (LSP);

#FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the Location Determination Protocol (LDP);

#The User Privacy Presence Register (UPPR) has two distinct functions. The first is to provide privacy checking for a specific user against a specific service type, this functionality is achieved through the use of the Privacy Profile Register (PPR). The second function of the UPPR is to provide a mechanism that can map username or MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number) into a LocationKey and vice versa, this functionality is provided through the Presence Register (PR).

#The IP location privacy and presence architecture identifies 6 specific interfaces. The general functions of these interfaces are described in more detail below. Five of these interfaces are specific to this architecture, while the sixth, the Lpp interface identified for user privacy profile checking in the 3GPP/OMA standards is reused to support IP based users.

#The interfaces break down into 3 distinct groups. The first group defines communication between the Location Information Service (LIS) and the User Agent (UA), and subsequent location determination protocols. These are covered by the LIS Session Protocol (Lsp), and the Location Determination Protocol (Ldp) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The second group defines the communicating of presence information from the LIS to the UPPR-PR to the GMLC/LBA (Gateway Mobile Location Centre/Location Based Application) and is made up of the Location Presence Update protocol (Lpu) and the Location Presence Register protocol (Lpr). Location Privacy Protocol (Lpp) as shown in FIG. 3. The third group defines how to get a user's location and describes the Locate User Request protocol (Lur) from the GMLC/LBA to the LIS, and the subsequent privacy check from the LIS to the UPPR-PPR using the Location Privacy Protocol (Lpp) as shown in FIG. 4.