Method, apparatuses and computer program product for assigning a unique location area code in a network comprising small cells served by home node B's underlying a macrocell

摘要

In a network comprising a cluster of small cells 100-111 underlying a macrocell 112, each small cell served by its own Home Node B 100, 101 is assigned a unique “on the air” Location Area Code so that as a User Equipment 113 moves from the coverage area of one Home Node B to another it will initiate a Location Update. Each time a Location Update is initiated, this triggers a location presence notification message to a presence server 206. The Core Network 203 is unaware of the “on the air” Location Area Codes and so does not need to be informed of User Equipment movement between Home Node B's. The Home Node B network is arranged to handle the registration procedure locally, as from the Core Network perspective, the Location Area Code has not changed. Instead, the Core Network sees a Iu LAC that is shared amongst the several Home Node B's operating through a single Home Node B Gateway. Hence the arrangement offers fine granularity of location presence detection with no additional Core Network load.