Patent ID: 8565433

Claim:
A method for managing an air interface key in a High Speed Packet Access+ (HSPA+) architecture, comprising: a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node+ (SGSN+) or Mobile Switching Center/Visitor Location Register+ (MSC/VLR+) generating an intermediate key K ASMEU according to a legacy ciphering key CK and a legacy integrity key IK; the SGSN+ or MSC/VLR+ transmitting to a Radio Network Controller+ (RNC+) a first key distribution message carrying the intermediate key K ASMEU or carrying a ciphering key CK U and/or an integrity key IK U ; wherein, when the intermediate key K ASMEU is carried in the first key distribution message, the method further comprising: the RNC+ generating the ciphering key CK U and/or the integrity key IK U according to the intermediate key K ASMEU ; when the ciphering key CK U and/or the integrity key IK U is carried in the first key distribution message, the method further comprising: the SGSN+ or MSC/VLR+ generating the ciphering key CK U and/or the integrity key IK U according to the intermediate key K ASMEU before transmitting the first key distribution message to the RNC+.