Patent Description:
Voice over Wireless Fidelity (VoWiFi) is generally a WiFi based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. Where VoIP consists of the hardware and software that enable people to use the internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls, VoWIFI is the wireless version of this technology which is designed to work on wireless devices such as laptops, tablets, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), smartphones, etc..

Several cellular phone companies have already announced dual-mode cellular phones that will support seamless transactions from WiFi to cellular networks and from cellular to WiFi networks. As such, operators can extend voice services to smartphones, tablets, computers and other personal devices through WiFi calling for multi-devices. For example, with WiFi calling, consumers can use their smartphones, tablets and other personal Wi-Fi enabled devices to make regular phone calls using their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) based mobile phone number. This is beneficial to users that have poor residential cellular coverage, for example. The devices first connect via the WiFi access point in the users' homes and then connect automatically to the network operator provided voice service. Users can also make network operator voice calls at WiFi hotspots across the world. Users can enjoy voice and video calling (if supported by the specific device), and seamless handover of ongoing voice calls is enabled between Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiFi networks, if the network operator has launched Voice over LTE (VoLTE). As such, VoWIFI allows a UE to switch to WIFI to make voice calls instead of using the cellular network.

<CIT> seems to disclose a system to receive call setup information associated with a call to be received by a terminating device via a particular untrusted wireless local area network (WLAN).

<CIT> seems to disclose system and method for location reporting in an untrusted network environment using IKEv2 protocol which permits use of appropriate security encryption measures over the SWu interface. <CIT> discloses a system that may receive call setup information associated with a call to be received by a terminating device via a particular untrusted wireless local area network (WLAN). The system may determine location information, associated with the terminating device, based on receiving the call setup information. The location information may include information that identifies the particular untrusted WLAN to which the terminating device is connected. The system may provide the call setup information to the terminating device via the particular untrusted WLAN. The call setup information may be provided to the terminating device based on the location information associated with the terminating device and may be provided to cause a tunnel to be created. <CIT> discloses a method including retrieving by a user equipment (UE) an access point (AP) Media Access Control (MAC) address for an AP to which the UE is connected; reporting location information for the UE to an evolved Packet Data Gateway over an SWu interface using Internet Key Exchange version <NUM> (IKEv2) protocol, wherein the location information includes, at least in part, a UE location in GPS coordinates, a service set identifier, the retrieved AP MAC address and cell identity information for the UE; and populating a location database with the location information. <CIT> discloses a wireless network system including a plurality of wireless networks. The wireless network system includes a plurality of mobile devices coupled to the plurality of wireless networks, the plurality of mobile devices including at least a first mobile device and a second mobile device; and an information server coupled to each of the plurality of wireless networks, wherein the information server provides handover messages to the plurality of mobile devices to assist the mobile devices in performing a handover from one of the wireless networks to another one of the wireless networks, wherein the first mobile device negotiates information sharing rules with the information server, and wherein the first mobile device provides, to the second mobile device, shared information according to the information sharing rules.

The invention is disclosed according to the independent claims. The subject matter disclosed below in the description and going beyond the scope of the claims should be considered as examples and not embodiments even if words like "embodiment" or "invention" are used in connection thereto. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for providing a location of a first User Equipment (UE) in a Voice over Wireless Fidelity (VoWIFI) call. The method comprises: sending a location request to an access point (AP), to which the first UE is attached to; receiving the location of the first UE from the AP, in response to the request; and sending the received location to a network node when establishing the VoWIFI call.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a first User Equipment (UE) for providing location in a Voice over Wireless Fidelity (VoWIFI) call. The first UE comprises a processing circuitry adapted to cause the first UE to: send a location request to an access point (AP) to which the first UE is attached to; receive the location for the first UE from the AP, in response to the request; and send the received location to a network node when establishing the VoWIFI call.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for providing a location to a first User Equipment (UE) for use in a Voice over Wireless Fidelity (VoWIFI) call. The method comprises: receiving a location request from the first UE; determining the location of the first UE, in response to the received request; and sending the determined location to the first UE, for use when establishing the VoWIFI call.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a network node for providing location to a first User Equipment (UE), for use in a VoWIFI call. The network node comprises a processing circuitry adapted to: receive a location request from the first UE; determine the location of the first UE, in response to the received request; and send the determined location to the first UE, for use when establishing a VoWIFI call.

Furthermore, the embodiments of the invention are those defined by the claims. Moreover, examples and embodiments, which are not covered by the claims are presented not as embodiments of the invention, but as background art or examples useful for understanding the invention.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:.

Reference may be made below to specific elements, numbered in accordance with the attached figures. The discussion below should be taken to be exemplary in nature, and not as limiting of the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined in the claims, and should not be considered as limited by the implementation details described below, which as one skilled in the art will appreciate, can be modified by replacing elements with equivalent functional elements.

As mentioned hereinabove, in current VoWiFi calls, the UE location is not provided to the network. This poses a problem when a UE is placing an emergency (<NUM>) call, for example. Any emergency call needs to provide the location of the calling UE. Currently, network operators ask their VoWIFI subscribers to update their address if they want to use the VoWIFI calls, by providing their home address. Since the UE can connect to any available WIFI Access Point (AP) to place VoWIFI calls, continuous update of the home address (for each AP) is not an acceptable solution for providing the UE location in case of an emergency call, for example.

Besides <NUM> emergency calls, the UE location information can be used for other applications such as: charging, communicating advertisements, traffic gating and policy control.

It should be noted that a UE can be a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a communication device, a terminal device, or any devices capable of being connected wirelessly.

Generally stated, embodiments of this disclosure allow a UE, that does not know its location, to provide a location of the UE to the network when establishing a VoWIFI call. To do so, as the UE attaches to an AP, it sends a request to the AP for location. In response to the request, the AP determines a UE location and then sends the determined location to the UE. Once the UE receives the location, it can provide the location to the network when establishing the VoWIFI call.

<FIG> illustrates a communication network architecture <NUM> for providing VoWIFI calls.

The communication network architecture <NUM> comprises two networks, a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) <NUM> and a non 3GPP network <NUM>.

The HPLMN <NUM> is the operator's cellular network, for example. It could be a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network. It could be also a <NUM>th Generation (<NUM>) network. Those networks are known in the art and are defined by the <NUM>rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, as shown in <FIG>, the HPLMN <NUM> comprises a 3GPP access <NUM> for providing UEs <NUM> access to the core network <NUM> of the HPLMN <NUM>. The 3GPP access <NUM> is connected to a HSS <NUM> and a Serving Gateway <NUM>. The HSS <NUM> is a database for storing profiles of the users. The Serving Gateway <NUM> routes and forwards user data packets. The serving gateway <NUM> is connected to a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway <NUM> which provides connectivity from the UEs <NUM> to an external packet data network, such as internet. As such, the PDN gateway <NUM> is connected to an operator's IP services network <NUM>, which provides Internet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services, etc. An evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) <NUM> is connected to the PDN gateway <NUM> and is connected to a 3GPP AAA server <NUM>. The ePDG <NUM> secures the data transmission with a UE <NUM> connected to the core network over an untrusted non-3GPP access, such as <NUM>. The Authentication Authorization Accounting (AAA) server <NUM> provides authentication and identification functions to authenticate and identify UEs <NUM>. Skilled persons in the art may appreciate that the different elements of the communication network <NUM> are known in the art and that the communication network <NUM> may have other functionalities as those described above.

The core network <NUM> can be an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which comprises, for example, the serving gateway <NUM>, the PDN gateway <NUM>, the ePDG <NUM> and the HSS <NUM>.

The 3GPP access <NUM> refers to access technologies specified by the 3GPP. They include GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, HSPA, LTE and LTE Advanced and <NUM>.

The Non-3GPP network <NUM> comprises a trusted Non-3GPP IP access <NUM> and an Untrusted Non-3GPP IP access <NUM>, which are not specified in the 3GPP.

The UEs <NUM> can access the cellular network <NUM> through a trusted or non-trusted non-3GPP IP access (<NUM> or <NUM>), with different security mechanisms.

For example, for the trusted access <NUM>, the network operator considers it trustable from a security standpoint, for example, a cdma2000 network is considered to be trustable. As such, trusted non-3GPP accesses can interface directly with the network.

For the non-trusted access <NUM>, the network operator doesn't consider it trustable from a security stand point, for example, a connection over a public WiFi hotspot. Untrusted non-3GPP accesses are connected to the network <NUM> via the ePDG <NUM>, which provides additional security mechanisms, such as IPsec tunneling. It is up to the network operator to decide whether a non-3GPP access technology is trusted or untrusted.

Now, turning to <FIG>, a flowchart of a method <NUM> for providing a location to a first UE, for use in a VoWIFI call, will be described. The method can be carried out in an access point (AP), for example. Also, it is assumed that the first UE does not have or does not know its location. The first UE can be a tablet, for example, where the tablet does not have a GPS integrated therein or a SIM card, which allows UEs to be serviced by a cellular network, for example. Furthermore, it can be assumed that the user of the tablet is, for example, in a coffee shop, where other users are present as well. Some of the other users may have smartphones (referred to as second UEs, for example) including GPS and/or a SIM card allowing them to be connected to the cellular network.

Method <NUM> starts with block <NUM>, where method <NUM> receives a location request from the first UE. For example, the first UE can send a request for location to the AP to which it is connected.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> determines a location, in response to the received request.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> sends the determined location to the first UE, for use when establishing a VoWIFI call.

In some embodiments, the determination of the location comprises first learning a location from a second UE located in the same area as the first UE, storing the location in a local memory and retrieving it when the location request is received. For example, the AP (that represents the non-trusted access <NUM>) may receive locations of UEs that know their locations (referred to as second UEs), so that it can share these locations with UEs that do not know their locations (referred to as first UEs), the first and second UEs being located within a same area, for example, in the coffee shop.

The second UEs can have knowledge of their location through the use a GPS, for example. If the second UE <NUM> has a GPS integrated therein, the second UE <NUM> can obtain its location through the GPS and then stores this information locally in the second UE. Once the second UE <NUM> attaches to and authenticates with the nearby/detected AP (of the coffee shop), the second UE can send its location to the AP. Then, the AP can share this location with the first UE.

However, some second UEs may not have an integrated GPS, but they may have a connection to the cellular network. As such, they can use the cellular network <NUM> for obtaining their location. This case is described with reference to <FIG>.

In this case, it is assumed that the second UE <NUM> has a SIM card, which allows it to be serviced by the cellular network <NUM>. The operations illustrated in <FIG> are triggered by a handover of the second UE <NUM> to the WIFI network from the cellular network. The operations can be done in parallel with the handover process. The handover process from the cellular network (such as LTE) and the WIFI network is well-known in the art and as such will not be described further.

After the second UE <NUM> detects a handover from the cellular network to the WIFI network, the second UE <NUM> sends a message to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) <NUM>, to request for the location of the second UE, in step <NUM>. In other words, the handover triggers the second UE to send the request message. The request message can be a "uplink generic Non-Access Stratum (NAS) transport" message, for example. Of course, other messages could be used as well to convey the request for location. It should be noted that the MME <NUM> is a control-node for the LTE access network. For example, it is responsible for authenticating the users, by interacting with the HSS <NUM> of <FIG>.

In step <NUM>, the MME <NUM> sends a location request to the Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC)/ Serving Mobile Location Centre (SMLC) <NUM>.

Once the GMLC/SMLC <NUM> receives the location request, it initiates a communication with the eNodeB (eNB) <NUM> and UE <NUM>, using the Location Positioning Protocol (LPP), for example, in step <NUM>. It can request for information, such as the strength of the signals, the beam angles, the time of arrival, etc..

Based on the received answers, the GMLC/SMLC <NUM> determines or calculates a position or location of the second UE. It should be appreciated that the determination of the location of the second UE based on the received answers is well-known in the art. Then, in step <NUM>, the GMLC/SMLC <NUM> sends the determined location to the MME <NUM> in a response message.

In step <NUM>, the MME <NUM> sends a message, called "downlink generic NAS transport", which includes the location of the second UE, to the second UE <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, once the second UE <NUM> receives the location, it stores it locally in its memory.

Once the second UE <NUM> has handed over to the WIFI network, it attaches to the nearby/detected AP. For example, after the second UE <NUM> successfully authenticates with the AP, the second UE <NUM> sends its location, that it acquired through the cellular network as shown in <FIG>, to the AP. Once the AP receives the location, it stores it locally in its memory.

In view of the exemplary signal flow <NUM> for providing a UE location, a flowchart for a generalized method <NUM> is illustrated in <FIG>.

Method <NUM> of <FIG> allows for obtaining the UE location, when a handover of a UE from the cellular network to the WIFI network happens. It is assumed that the UE has a SIM card and is a subscriber of the cellular network.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> sends a request to the cellular network for a location of the UE, in response to detecting a handover from the cellular network to a WIFI network. For example, the UE <NUM> sends the request to a network node in the cellular network, such as the MME <NUM>.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> receives the UE location, in response to the request. For example, the UE <NUM> receives the last/latest location of the UE registered by the cellular network. The location could be: a Cell Global Identification (CGI), an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access CGI (eCGI), or a geographical location, for example.

In block <NUM>, the UE <NUM> sends the received location to the AP, when connecting to the AP, so that the AP can share the location with other UEs that do not know their location. Once the AP receives the location, it stores it locally, in one or more of its memories, or in an associated AAA server, for example.

Now, turning back to <FIG>, after the AP receives the location request from the first UE, it can retrieve the stored location given by the second UE and send that location to the first UE for use in VoWIFI calls.

In more detail, <FIG> illustrates a signal flow <NUM> of the location learning process by the AP in the WIFI network, according to an embodiment.

In step <NUM>, the authentication between the second UE and the associated/detected AP is successful. Authentication messages exchanged between the second UE and the AP are well-known in the art and thus will not be described.

In step <NUM>, the second UE, that has acquired its location, either through GPS or the cellular network, sends a message to the AP. The message can be a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) management frame of the IEEE <NUM> protocol, for example. This management frame has a field called "Tag parameter: Vendor Specific (<NUM>)". The tag parameter can incorporate a new Information Element (IE) in which the UE location can be inserted. IEs are a device's way to transfer descriptive information about itself inside management frames. There are usually several IEs inside each such frame, for example.

It should be appreciated that messages other than the management frames can be used to convey the second UE's location to the AP. Also, when using the management frames, fields other than the tag parameter can be used to carry the second UE's location.

In step <NUM>, once the AP receives the message, it retrieves the second UE's location and stores it locally in a memory, in the form of a table, for example. The AP can be also associated with an Authentication Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server. In such a case, the location from the second UE can be stored in the AAA server associated with the AP. For example, the AP can use the RADIUS protocol to send the location to the AAA server. Then, the AAA server binds/correlates the received location with the AP, using its identity, for example.

In step <NUM>, the AP or the AAA server sends a message to the second UE to confirm and acknowledge the reception of the location.

A plurality of second UEs can share their location with the AP using steps <NUM> to <NUM>. For each second UE, the corresponding location is stored in the AP or its associated AAA server.

Once the AP has learned the location of UEs connected to itself, it can start sharing such information with UEs that do not know their location.

More specifically, <FIG> illustrates a signal flow for providing a location to a first UE by sharing a location of a second UE, as learned in <FIG>, for example. It is assumed that the first UE does not have a GPS or a SIM card but when it connects to the WIFI network via an AP, it wishes to make a VoWIFI call. For example, the first UE can be a tablet that has WIFI connection and as such can connect to the nearby AP. The nearby AP is the same as the AP described above. For example, the first UE is at the same coffee shop as the second UEs that provided their location to the AP.

Once the authentication is successful (step <NUM>) between the first UE and the AP, the first UE <NUM> sends a message to the AP (step <NUM>). The message comprises a request for location. For example, the request comprises an indication that the first UE <NUM> does not know or have its location. The message can be a LAN management frame in which the "Tag parameter: Vendor Specific" field includes the value of 0x0. This value indicates a lack of location information from the first UE, i.e. the first UE is not aware of its own location. It should be appreciated by skilled persons in the art that other messages, fields and values can be used by the first UE to indicate the lack of location information.

In step <NUM>, in response to the received message, the AP determines a UE location from all the locations received from the second UEs. For example, the AP selects the location that is received from the highest number of second UEs at the coffee shop. However, there may be some factors to consider in the determination of the location, for example, the age of the provided location. In other words, the most recently received locations may have higher weights in determining the location to be sent to the first UE, than locations received some time ago. Also, in the case that the received locations are different from each other, it is possible to consider only the common part of the different locations.

In step <NUM>, the AP sends the determined location to the first UE.

Once the first UE receives the location, it sends an acknowledgement to the AP, in step <NUM>.

As it is connected to the WIFI network, the first UE is enabled to make a VoWIFI call with the cellular network through a network node, such as ePDG <NUM>. When placing the call, the first UE can include the location that it received from the AP.

It should be noted that it is assumed that the AP has received at least one location from a second UE before it could share that location with the first UE. However, in case no location was received from any second UE, the AP could use its own location for sharing it with the first UE, if its location is available. The available location of the AP is usually entered manually during the AP setup. Therefore, when the AP is moved physically to another place, its new location may not be updated.

Now turning to <FIG>, another way for determining the location of the first UE will be described, according to an embodiment.

In step <NUM>, the authentication between the first UE and the AP is successful.

In step <NUM>, the first UE sends a location request to the AP once it is connected to the AP. The location request can be included in the header options for an IPv4 data packet or in the extended header option for an IPv6 data packet.

Upon receipt of the location request, in step <NUM> the AP broadcasts, or forwards the location request in its domain, i.e. to all UEs connected thereto.

In response to the broadcast message, the UEs that know their location (i.e. the second UEs) send a location answer with their locations to the AP, in step <NUM>. Indeed, any of the second UEs that is aware of its location, through GPS or cellular network, for example, can reply back to the broadcast message with its location. The second UE can send its location to the AP in a data packet. If it is an IPv4 data packet, the location is included in the header options of the data packet. If it is an IPv6 data packet, the location is included in the extended header option of the data packet.

In step <NUM>, the AP sends the location received from the second UE to the first UE. When a plurality of locations are received from a plurality of second UEs, the AP can select the location that has been received/shared by the highest number of second UEs. Of course, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that other metrics/factors can be used to select the most popular or probable location.

<FIG> shows a signal flow <NUM> for providing a UE location to the network when establishing a VoWIFI call, according to an embodiment.

In step <NUM>, the connection between a UE and the AP is established, through an authentication process, for accessing the WIFI network for example. This is well-known in the art and thus will not be described.

In step <NUM>, the UE <NUM> has obtained/acquired its location, either through the cellular network, as shown in <FIG>, through the GPS or through the AP as shown in <FIG>. The location is stored in a memory of the UE <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, the UE <NUM> starts the process of creating a session into the EPC network, such as with the EPC <NUM>. This includes UE attachment in the EPC network. Once the UE is attached, UE registration in the IMS network will be performed, for example.

More specifically, in step <NUM>, the UE <NUM> communicates with the ePDG <NUM> by sending an IKE2 AUTH_REQ message. The UE location is included in this message. The IKE2 AUTH_REQ message is part of the IKE protocol that is used for communications between the UE and the ePDG <NUM>. The UE location can be included in other types of messages, as will be appreciated by an ordinary person skilled in the art.

In step <NUM>, upon receipt of the IKE2 AUTH_REQ message, the ePDG <NUM> sends a create session request to the EPC <NUM>, the create session request comprising the location.

After the EPC <NUM> receives the create session request, it is in possession of the UE's location. The location can be shared with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network as well.

As can be seen in <FIG>, the UE location is available at the UE, the ePDG <NUM> and the EPC <NUM> where it can be used, for emergency calls or other applications such as advertisements, policy control based location, location based services, etc..

Now turning to <FIG>, a method for providing a location to a first UE for a VoWIFI call will be described, according to one embodiment. It is assumed that the first UE ignores its location and has successfully attached to or authenticated with the nearby AP.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> sends a location request to the access point (AP) to which the first UE is attached to.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> receives a location from the AP, in response to the request.

In block <NUM>, method <NUM> sends the received location to a network node when establishing the VoWIFI call. The network node is the ePDG <NUM> of <FIG>, for example.

The received location has been shared by a second UE with the AP, the second UE being previously or currently attached to the AP and having knowledge of its location.

The second UE may have a GPS integrated therein and thus the received location is provided by the GPS.

Alternatively, the second UE has a SIM card and is a subscriber of a cellular network. In this case, the received location is provided by the cellular network, during a handover from the cellular network to the WIFI network.

Furthermore, the received location can be determined from a plurality of locations shared by a plurality of second UEs with the AP. In this case, the received location is the location shared by the highest number of second UEs (at the coffee shop, for example).

The received location can be included in a session activation message when it is sent to the network node, e.g. ePDG <NUM>. The session activation message is used for creating a session in the ePC network, which includes attachment in the EPC network. Once the session is created, the UE will have an IP address assigned by the EPC. The IP address can be used by the UE to browse the internet or to make VoWIFI calls.

Furthermore, when the AP receives the location request, it can broadcast the request in its domain, to all the UEs (referred to as second UEs) that are connected thereto. The second UEs that have knowledge of their location (through GPS or cellular network), will send their location to the AP, in response to the broadcast message. Once the AP receives the location from the second UEs, it sends it to the first UE, in response to the received location request.

The received location can be a CGI, an eCGI or a geographical location. Also, it should be noted that the location received by the first UE may comprise any information associated with the location.

<FIG> illustrates a device <NUM>, for providing UE location for a VoWIFI call, according to one embodiment. The device can be the UE <NUM>, for example.

The device <NUM> has a processing circuitry <NUM> connected to one or more communication interfaces <NUM>.

The communication interface(s) <NUM> are configured to communicate with other network nodes or network elements in the cellular network and/or in the WIFI network.

The processing circuitry <NUM> comprises a processor <NUM> and a memory <NUM> connected thereto. The memory <NUM> may contain instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device <NUM> to perform method <NUM>, for example. As such, the processor <NUM> is configured to carry out method <NUM>, as described above.

Also, the memory <NUM> can store the location received from the AP. The memory <NUM> may include one or more of volatile and non-volatile memories, such as Random Access Memory ("RAM"), Read Only Memory ("ROM"), a solid state disk ("SSD"), Flash, Phase Change Memory ("PCM"), or other types of data storage.

Furthermore, a computer program comprising non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, e.g. <NUM>, of a computing device, <NUM>, cause the computing device <NUM> to carry out method <NUM> is provided. The instructions may be stored in the memory <NUM>, for example.

It should be appreciated that the processing circuitry <NUM>, when configured with appropriate program code, may be understood to comprise several functional "modules," where each module comprises program code for carrying out the corresponding function, when executed by an appropriate processor.

Thus, for example, <FIG> illustrates a computing device <NUM> adapted to carry out method <NUM>, may be understood to comprise a first sending module <NUM>, a receiving module <NUM>, and a second sending module <NUM>, according to another embodiment.

The first sending module <NUM> is configured to send a location request to an access point to which the UE is attached to.

The receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a location from the AP, in response to the request.

The second sending module <NUM> is configured to send the received location to a network node when establishing the VoWIFI call.

Now, turning to <FIG>, a network node <NUM>, for providing UE location information for a VoWIFI call, according to one embodiment, will be described. The network node <NUM> can be an access point, for example.

The network node <NUM> has a processing circuitry <NUM> connected to one or more communication interfaces <NUM>.

The communication interface(s) <NUM> are configured to communicate with other network nodes or network elements in the WIFI network and with UEs.

The processing circuitry <NUM> comprises a processor <NUM> and a memory <NUM> connected thereto. The memory <NUM> may contain instructions that, when executed, cause the network node <NUM> to perform method <NUM>, for example. As such, the processor <NUM> is configured to carry out method <NUM>, as described above.

Also, the memory <NUM> can store the location information received from the one or more first UEs. The memory <NUM> may include one or more of volatile and non-volatile memories, such as Random Access Memory ("RAM"), Read Only Memory ("ROM"), a solid state disk ("SSD"), Flash, Phase Change Memory ("PCM"), or other types of data storage. The memory <NUM> may be internal or distributed memory.

Furthermore, a computer program comprising non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, e.g. <NUM>, of a network node, such as <NUM>, cause the network node <NUM> to carry out method <NUM> is provided. The instructions may be stored in the memory <NUM>, for example.

Thus, for example, <FIG> illustrates a network node <NUM> adapted to carry out method <NUM>, may be understood to comprise a receiving module <NUM>, a determining module <NUM>, and a sending module <NUM>, according to another embodiment.

The receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a location request from the first UE.

The determining module <NUM> is configured to determine the location of the first UE, in response to the received location request.

The sending module <NUM> is configured to send the determined location to the first UE, for use when establishing the VoWIFI call.

Embodiments may be represented as a software product stored in a machine-readable medium (such as the non-transitory machine readable storage media also referred to as a computer-readable medium, a processor-readable medium, or a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein). The non-transitory machine-readable medium may be any suitable tangible medium including a magnetic, optical, or electrical storage medium including a diskette, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc read only memory (DVD-ROM) memory device (volatile or non-volatile) such as hard drive or solid state drive, or similar storage mechanism. The machine-readable medium may contain various sets of instructions, code sequences, configuration information, or other data, which, when executed, cause a processor to perform steps in a method according to an embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other instructions and operations necessary to implement the described embodiments may also be stored on the machine-readable medium. Software running from the machine-readable medium may interface with circuitry to perform the described tasks.

Claim 1:
A method for providing a location of a first User Equipment (<NUM>), UE, in a Voice over Wireless Fidelity, VoWIFI, call, the method being carried out by the first UE (<NUM>) and comprising:
sending (<NUM>) a location request to an access point (<NUM>), AP, to which the first UE (<NUM>) is attached to;
receiving (<NUM>) the location of the first UE (<NUM>) from the AP (<NUM>), in response to the request; and
sending (<NUM>) the received location to a network node when establishing the VoWIFI call,
wherein the received location has been shared by a second UE with the AP, the second UE being previously or currently attached to the AP and having knowledge of its location,
wherein the location shared by the second UE is provided by one of a Global Positioning System, GPS, integrated in the second UE or by a cellular network of which the second UE is a subscriber,
wherein the location received from the AP is determined from a plurality of locations shared by a plurality of second UEs with the AP, the plurality of second UEs having knowledge of their locations, wherein the determined location is the location received by a highest number of second UEs, and
wherein the received location is shared with the AP by the plurality of second UEs attached to the AP, in response to a broadcast message from the AP, the broadcast message requesting for location information.