Patent ID: 7215943

Claim:
A method for protecting the identity of a mobile wireless terminal during attachment to a wireless network, comprising the steps of: receiving in the network a request for access from a mobile wireless terminal previously registered with the network; querying at least one Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) in the wireless network to recognize the mobile wireless terminal in accordance with a temporary identity contained in the access request, but if no Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) recognizes the mobile wireless terminal, then launching a query from the one Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) to a register in the wireless network storing identity information of previously registered mobile wireless terminals to identify the mobile wireless terminal from its temporary identity; and sending an identification response in the form of at least permanent identity information from the register to the at least one Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) to identify the mobile wireless terminal.