EXHIBIT 9

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US00797907OB2 

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,979,070 B2 

Hurtta (45) Date of Patent: *Jul. 12, 2011 

(54) MOBILE EQUIPMENT FOR SENDING AN 7,035,624 B2 4/2006 Hurtta 

ATTACH REQUEST TO A NETWORK 2. s: R: R388 R et 1 4 - I eyer et al. 

2004, OO14466 A1 1/2004 Jesse et al. 

(75) Inventor: Tuija Hurtta, Espoo (FI) 2006/0268.818 A1 11/2006 Chen et al. 

2007, 0079207 A1 4, 2007 Seidel et al. 

(73) Assignee: Nokia Corporation, Espoo (FI) 2007/0106924 A1 5, 2007 Seidel et al. 

2007/O168827 A1 7/2007 Lohr et al. 

(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 392,93.95 A. $39, E. f al. aWCSSO 

patent 1s ity adjusted under 35 2007/0223409 A1 9, 2007 Herrero 

U.S.C. 154(b) by 23 days. 2007/02757 28 A1 11/2007 Lohr et al. 

This patent is Subject to a terminal dis- FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 

claimer. DE 19742 681 A1 4, 1999 

(21) Appl. No.: 12/232,724 EP O971 550 A2 1/2000 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS 

(22) Filed: Sep. 23, 2008 3GPP 3GTS 23.060 V3.4.0 (Jul 2000), 3rd Generation Partnership 

(65) Prior Publication Data Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; 

US 2009/OO4257OA1 Feb. 12, 2009 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); Service description: Stage 2, e). s (Release 1999). 

O O International Search Report for Application No. PCT/EP00/10111 Related U.S. Application Data mailed Jul. 6, 2001. 

(60) Continuation of application No. 1 1/347,646, filed on - - - - Feb. 6, 2006, now Pat. No. 7,580,714, which is a Primary Examiner-William DCumming division of application No. 10/381.937, filed as (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Alston & Bird LLP 

application No. PCT/EP00/10111 on Oct. 13, 2000, 

now Pat. No. 7,035,621. (57) ABSTRACT 

The invention provides a method and device which may per (51) Int. Cl. form a combined attach and communication connection 

H0474/00 (2009.01) establishment procedure when attaching an equipment Such (52) U.S. C. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 45S/435.2 aS a mobile station tO a mobile communication network. An 

(58) Field of Classification Search. ... 455/.435.2 attach request sent form the equipment may initiate this com 

See application file for complete search history. bined attach and communication connection establishment 

process. In the Home Location Register, communication con 

(56) References Cited nection parameters are set as default values which may be 

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 

6,081,731 A 6, 2000 Boltz et al. 

6,249,252 B1 6/2001 Dupray 

6,272,332 B1 8/2001 Matsumoto et al. 

6,300,904 B1 10/2001 Dvorak et al. 

6,438,723 B1 8/2002 Kalliojarvi 

6,708,034 B1 3, 2004 Sen et al. 

7,035,621 B1 4/2006 Hurtta 

automatically selected, for instance when receiving a com 

bined attach and communication connection establishment 

request. The combined attachand communication connection 

establishment process reduces the signaling load in the net 

work and speeds up communication connection establish 

ment. 

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets 

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U.S. Patent Jul. 12, 2011 Sheet 1 of 4 US 7,979,070 B2 

- 

3 

- - 

Fig. 1 

Context 1 (Default) 

Context 3 

t 9 Fig. 3 

MS A TACHYPE 

PS + DEFAULT POPCONTACT. 

1O 11 

 

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U.S. Patent Jul. 12, 2011 Sheet 2 of 4 US 7,979,070 B2 

Fig. 4 

Attachment 

bin 

Attach and Defauf 

POPACtivation 

Request? 

S2 

Read Default PDP 

Context information 

from HLR 

S5 

Perform Attachment and 

POP Context Activation 

depending on read PDP 

Context information 

Perform normal 

Attachment only 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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U.S. Patent Jul. 12, 2011 Sheet 3 of 4 US 7,979,070 B2 

Fig. 5 

 

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U.S. Patent Jul. 12, 2011 Sheet 4 of 4 US 7,979,070 B2 

5. Respons to default PDP contextCs) activation 

 

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US 7,979,070 B2 

1. 

MOBILE EQUIPMENT FOR SENDING AN 

ATTACH REQUEST TO A NETWORK 

RELATED APPLICATIONS 

This is a continuation application of patent application Ser. 

No. 1 1/347,646, filed on Feb. 6, 2006, which is a divisional 

application of patent application Ser. No. 10/381,937, filed on 

Sep. 22, 2003, which is a U.S. National Stage patent applica tion based on PCT International patent Application PCT/ 

EP00/10111, filed Oct. 13, 2000. The disclosures of the prior applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 

The present invention is directed to a method and device for 

attaching a mobile equipment Such as a mobile station (MS) 

or any other arbitrary type of user equipment, to a wireless 

communication network so as to be able to originate or 

receive media Such as a phone call, or data or message trans 

mission. Further, the invention relates to a network element 

usable in Such a method or system. 

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 

When a user equipment is newly attached to a wireless 

communication network for receiving and/or originating 

calls, data transmissions or the like, an attachment process for 

attaching the user equipment to the wireless communication 

network is necessary. When a subscriber is then intending to 

originate or receive a message or a call, an additional com 

munication channel establishment process may be necessary. 

For instance, in a GSM system (Global System for Mobile 

Communications) such as a packet Switched service, for 

instance GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), or in a 

UMTS system (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Sys tem), the user equipment exchanges a signalling flow with its 

associated node for establishing a communication channel, 

for instance a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context or the like. 

This signalling leads to an additional load on the network and 

may additionally result in a certain brief delay before actually 

being able to start the transmission or reception. 

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 

Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to an 

apparatus configured to send or receive an attach request to a 

network, wherein the attach request is configured to trigger a 

create communication connection default procedure with a 

gateway device. The apparatus is further configured to sendor 

receive a radio bearer establishment request. The apparatus is 

also configured to generate or receive a bearer establishment 

response. 

In other implementations, another embodiment of the 

present invention relates to an apparatus configured to sendan 

attach request for attaching a mobile device to a network. 

Specifically, the attach request is configured to enable gen 

eration of a create default communication connection request for retrieving default data defining a packet data protocol in 

response to receiving the attachment request. Also, the attach 

request is further configured to enable activation of a packet 

data protocol context using the default data. 

In other embodiments of the present invention, an appara 

tus is configured to send an attach request for attaching a 

mobile device to a network. The attach request is configured 

to be received by a networkelement and to enable the network 

element to triggera create communication connection default 

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procedure with a gateway device in response to the attach 

request to generate a radio bearer establishment request, and 

establish a radio bearer. In this embodiment, the apparatus is 

further configured to transmit a bearer establishment 

response to the network element. 

In other embodiments of the present invention, an appara 

tus is configured to receive an attachment request for attach 

ing a mobile device. The apparatus is further configured to 

generate a create default communication connection request for retrieving default data defining a packet data protocol in 

response to receiving the attachment request. The apparatus is 

also configured to activate a packet data protocol context 

using the default data. 

In other embodiments of the present invention, an appara 

tus is configured receive an attach request for attaching a 

mobile device to a network. The apparatus is further config 

ured trigger a create communication connection default pro 

cedure with a gateway device in response to the attach 

request, generate a radio bearer establishment request, and 

establish a radio bearer. Also, the apparatus is configured to 

receive a bearer establishment response. 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 

FIG. 1 shows a basic layout of one embodiment of the 

invention being implemented as GPRS network; 

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the storage contents of a 

register of the wireless communication network; 

FIG. 3 shows part of an attach request message for com 

bined attach and PDP context activation; 

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing a combined attach and 

PDP context activation procedure; 

FIG.5 illustrates the signaling data flow during a combined 

attach and PDP context activation procedure; and. 

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment and illustrates the sig naling data flow during a PS attach and Subsequent default 

PDP context activation procedure. 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED 

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic layout of a part of a wireless 

communication network (for instance a PLMN) which here is 

implemented as a GPRS system. A mobile station (MS) 1 

communicates with a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 

2. The system comprises at least one Home Location Register 

(HLR)3, at least one Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 

4 and an Equipment Identification Register (EIR) 5. The parts 

may communicate with each other as indicated by the arrows 

shown in FIG.1. The system will normally contain a plurality 

of mobile stations or other user equipments 1 although only 

one mobile station is shown in FIG.1. Likewise, a plurality of 

Support nodes 2 is provided which Support the mobile stations 

or other user equipments located within the area covered by 

the Support node. This structure as well as the normal signal ing and information flow between the components of the 

wireless communication network is known and will therefore 

not be described in greater detail. 

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates part of the storage contents 

of a home location register 3. The register 3 stores, for each 

Subscriber, or each group of Subscribers, or at least for some 

of the Subscribers or groups, at least one communication 

connection (e.g. channel) information set which here is des 

ignated as PDP context information, one of which is set as 

default value and is automatically selected when not receiv 

ing any specific selecting request pointing to a different PDP 

context information. The register (HLR)3 includes subscrip 

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tion information and then information about the PDP contexts 

of the subscriber. One or many of the PDP contexts may be set as default. 

In the present embodiment, for each subscriber, or at least 

some of the subscribers, three different PDP context informa 

tion sets (for PDP context activation or creation, or the like) 6. 

7, 8 are respectively stored, wherein context information 1 

(reference numeral 6) is set as default value. The context 

information “Context 2, reference numeral 7, and “Context 

3, reference numeral 8, are deliberately selectable by a sub 

scriber when requested by the subscriber. The database of 

register 3 contains such triplets of information for each sub 

scriber or at least for some of the subscribers or a group of 

subscribers. Ofcourse, the number of alternative PDP context 

information sets may be varied according to design and need 

and may range from only one (default value only) to two, 

three or more selectively selectable information. 

Generally, before the mobile station 1 is able to send or 

receive information, it must first perform an attach proceed 

ings, for instance after Switching it on. In addition, in some 

services such as packet data Switching oriented networks, for 

instance GPRS or UMTS, an additional communication 

channel establishment procedure will normally be carried out 

which is called PDP context activation (or creation) in GPRS 

or UMTS. According to the present invention, the attach and 

POP context activation processes are combined. The mobile 

stations can therefore perform a combined attach and default 

PDP context activation which decreases signaling in the radio 

interface (air-interface). 

This combined attach and communication channel estab 

lishment procedure is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The default 

POP context or contexts is (are) activated according to the 

subscription-based information stored in the register 3, that is 

based on “Context 1” information, reference numeral 6. If 

requested by the subscription of one or more subscribers, 

multiple default PDP contexts are allowed. 

The quality of service (QoS) of the default PDP context is 

preferably such that the mobile station 1 is only charged if 

data is transferred or received on the default POP context, but 

no time-based charging is performed for the default PDP 

context alone. The quality of service of the default POP 

context will be decided based on the subscription and will be 

a default value unless otherwise prescribed. If a specific qual 

ity of service is desired, the subscriber will then have to select 

one of the different context information such as 7, or 8, 

provided same define an appropriate QoS (Quality of Ser 

vice). Subscribers mainly using the packet switched service (for 

instance GPRS or UMTS) for transferring voice, are allowed 

to define the QoS of the default POP context appropriately. 

FIG.3 shows part of an Attach request 9 which is sent from 

the mobile station 1 to the support node 2 for initiating the 

attach procedure, which is, in the present invention, a com 

bined attach and POP context activation request. The Attach 

request 9 comprises a data field 10 defining IMSI (Interna 

tional Mobile Subscriber Identifier) or, if available, P-TMSI 

and RAI (Routing Area Identity). The Attach Type' field 11 

of the Attach request 9 indicates which type of attach is to be 

performed which may basically be “GPRS attach only”, 

“GPRS attach while already IMSI attached”, “combined 

GPRS/IMSI attach' or, as indicated in FIG. 3, combined “PS 

(packet switched)+default POP context activation'. 

In case the attach request transmitted from the mobile 

station 1 specifies the attach type “PS+DEFAULTPDPCON 

TEXT ACTIVATION” as shown in FIG. 3, the system is 

informed on the desired combined attach and PDP context 

activation. The Support node 2 then not only performs a 

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“packet switched attach but is furthermore adapted so as to 

automatically initiate, when receiving this request and having 

the attachment effected, a default POP context activation 

without necessity for the mobile station 1 to send any addi 

tional command. 

The attach request 9 contains further fields such as “ORX 

parameters' which are not shown in FIG.3 and are in accor 

dance with the customary specification of attach requests, see 

the respective standards. The attach request 9 differs from 

these standards only in So far as it is now possible to indicate, 

in field 11, a combined attach and communication channel 

establishment process such as “attach and default POP con 

text activation'. 

FIG. 4 shows an attach process flow. In step S1, the mobile 

station 1 sends an Attach request to the Support node 2 which 

then checks, in step S2, the received Attach request So as to 

detect whether a normal attach such as a “packet switched 

attach is requested, or a combined attach and default POP 

context activation request is transmitted. This check is per 

formed by examining the data field 11 of the Attach request 9 

specifying the desired attach type. When combined attachand 

default POP activation request is received by the support node 

2. same is adapted to address the Home Location Register 3, 

and to read (or receive) the subscriber information including 

the default PDP context information stored therein. All the 

subscription information if transferred from the HLR to the 

SGSN. In step S4, the system then performs an attachment as 

well as one or many PDP context activations depending on the 

read default POP context information. 

If no combined attach and default POP activation request is 

detected in step S2, the process proceeds to step S5 and 

performs a normal attachment only according to the desig 

nated attach type. As part of steps S4, S5, the support node 2 

may also send an Attach Accept message to the mobile station 

1 for informing same on the effected attachment. The attach 

process then ends (step S6). 

FIG. 5 shows the combined attach and POP context acti 

Vation in greater detail. 

In step 1., the mobile station 1 initiates an attach and default 

POP context activation by sending an Attach Request as 

shown in FIG.3. The Attach Type parameter 11 indicates that 

combined attach and default POP context activation is 

required. In the present case, the Attach Request is sent 

because the mobile station 1 has switched on. In step 2., the 

new support node 2 (new SGSN) sends an Identification 

Request to the old support node (old SGSN) which responds 

with an Identification Response defining the IMSI of the 

mobile station 1. If the mobile station 1 should be unknown in 

both the old and new SGSN, the new support node sends an 

Identity Request to the mobile station 1 (step 3.) which trans 

mits an Identity Response indicating its IMSI. In step 4., an 

authentication may be performed. Further, in step 5., an 

equipment checking (“IMSI check; IMSI-International 

Equipment Identification’’) may be performed by addressing 

the Equipment Identification Register (EIR) 5. 

In step 6., the Support node 2 informs the Home Location 

Register 3 on the new location in case the Support node 

number has changed since the GPRS detach, or it Is the very first attach. The old Support node is requested to cancel the 

location which is acknowledged by sending back an Cancel 

Location Acknowledgment. 

Further, the Home Location Register 3 sends an Insert 

Subscriber Data to the new support node 2 which subscriber 

data includes information on the default PDP context(s). The 

new support node validates the MS’s presence in the new 

routing area, and sends back an Insert Subscriber Data 

Acknowledgement to the Home Location Register 3. Further 

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more, the Home Location Register 3 sends back, as part of 

step 6, an Update Location Acknowledgement message. 

In step 7..., RAB assignment procedure is performed for the 

default PDP context(s) according to the information received 

from the Home Location Register 3 in step 6. This is a pre 

ferred implementation of the invention. The procedure con 

sists in sending a RIB Assignment Request from the new 

Support node 2 to the radio access network RAN transmitting/ 

receiving the radio waves to/from the mobile station 1, setting 

up the radio bearer between the radio access network RAN 

and MS (by sending a Radio Bearer Setup and a Radio Bearer 

Setup Complete, and finally sending a RIB Assignment 

Response. 

In the next step 8, the new support node 2 sends a Create 

PDP Context Request to the gateway support node 4 so that 

the default PDP context(s) is (are) activated in the support 

node(s) 4 according to the information received from the 

Home Location Register 3 in step 6. In step 9, the support 

node 2 sends an Attach Accept message to the mobile station 

1 for acknowledging the attach and default PDP context acti 

Vation. The attached accept message may include information 

about the activated PDP context(s). The mobile station 1 may acknowledge the parameters sent by the Support node 2, by 

sending an Attach Complete message in step 10. However, 

step 10 may also be omitted. 

Steps 7 and 8 are performed N times, N representing the 

number of default POP contexts. 

According to the invention, the combined attach and 

default POP context activation is therefore performed by 

storing default POP context information in a register such as 

a Home Location Register, and by activating the default PDP 

context(s) according to the Subscriber-based information 

stored in the register. The quality of service (QoS) of the 

default PDP context(s) may be fixed but may also be decided 

based on the Subscription. 

A basic idea is to activate default POP context(s) according 

to the subscription information received from the HLR. As an 

alternative, the mobile station MS may send some parameters 

for the default POP context(s) and the HLR completes the 

missing parameters. As an example, APN (Access Point 

Name) may be sent from MS, and QoS from HLR. 

The PDP context activations) is (are) therefore automati 

cally performed based on the HLR subscription. This leads to 

a reduction of the signalling in the radio interface, without 

creating any limitations on the network and its use. Further 

more, it is not necessary, for PDP context activation, to send 

a QoS field and/or APN from the mobile station 1 to support 

node 2 or 3, because the Home Location Register has one or 

more special contexts which are marked as default contexts 

and are automatically selected. This possibility of setting 

default contexts in the Home Location Register has also 

advantages with regard to more advanced services such as 

UMTS services wherein the users are likely to have more than 

one subscribed context, which accordingly define different 

session handling parameters. 

FIG. 6 illustrates a further embodiment. 

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the default 

PDP context(s) are automatically activated at PS attach. In the 

embodiment of FIG. 6, the MS first performs a PS attach and 

then afterwards indicates that the default PDP context(s) 

should be activated. In both cases, the default PDP context 

information comes from the HLR. 

According to the embodiments, default contexts are pro 

vided also in cases where a normal procedure (attach being performed with a subsequent PDP context activation upon 

request) does not apply. 

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In the following, the steps shown in FIG. 6 will be 

described in more detail with reference to the step numbering 

of FIG. 6: 

Step 1. PS (Packet-Switched) attach is performed (e.g. as 

described in 3GPP TSG 23.060). 

Step 2. The MS sends a request to activate default PDP 

context(s) to the SGSN. 

Step 3. The SGSN initiates the activation of the default 

PDP context(s) as indicated in the subscription information 

received from the HLR at PS attach (step 1). The radio access 

bearer establishment procedure may be performed. 

Step 4. The SGSN sends the Create PDP Context Request 

message to the GGSN for each default POP context. The 

GGSN creates the POP context and acknowledges by sending 

the Create PDP Context Response message to the SGSN. 

Step 5. The SGSN acknowledges the activation of the 

default PDP context(s) by sending a response to the MS. 

The response may include information about the activated 

POP context(s). 

Although specific embodiments have been described 

above, the invention is also applicable with regard to other 

types of communication networks such as fixed or circuit 

switched networks. 

What is claimed is: 

1. An apparatus, comprising: 

a user equipment, the user equipment being configured to: 

send an attach request to a network, wherein the attach 

request is configured to trigger a create communica 

tion connection default procedure with a gateway 

device, 

receive a radio bearer establishment request, and 

generate a bearer establishment response. 

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user 

equipment is a mobile station. 

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attach 

request comprises a data field specifying a desired type of 

attachment. 

4. An apparatus comprising: 

a Support node, the Support node being configured to: 

receive an attach request from a network, wherein the 

attach request is configured to trigger a create com 

munication connection default procedure with a gate 

way device, 

send a radio bearer establishment request, and 

receive a bearer establishment response. 5. An apparatus, comprising: 

a user equipment, the user equipment being configured to: 

send an attach request to attach the user equipment to a 

network, 

wherein the attach request is configured to enable gen 

eration of a create default communication connection 

request to retrieve default data defining a packet data 

protocol, in response to receiving the attachment 

request and activation of a packet data protocol con 

text using the default data. 

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the user 

equipment configured to send the attach message includes 

being configured to send the attach message to a network 

element, the network element being a Support node. 

7. An apparatus comprising: 

a user equipment, the user equipment being configured to: 

send an attach request to attach the user equipment to a 

network, wherein the attach request is configured to 

be received by a network element and to enable the 

network element to trigger a create communication 

connection default procedure with a gateway device 

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in response to the attach request to generate a radio 

bearer establishment request, 

establish a radio bearer, and 

transmit a bearer establishment response to the network 

element. 

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the network 

element is a Support node. 

9. An apparatus comprising: 

a Support node, the Support node being configured to: 

receive an attachment request to attach a user equip 

ment, 

generate a create default communication connection 

request to retrieve default data defining a packet data 

protocol in response to receiving the attachment 

request, and 

5 

10 

8 

activate a packet data protocol context using the default 

data. 

10. An apparatus comprising: 

a Support node, the Support node being configured to: 

receive an attach request to attacha user equipment to a 

network, 

trigger a create communication connection default pro 

cedure with a gateway device in response to the attach 

request, 

generate a radio bearer establishment request, and 

establish a radio bearer, and to receive a bearer estab 

lishment response. 

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