Periodically changing small cell location area codes to assist location presence services

摘要

Periodically assigning new, unique Location Area Codes to each cell of a network comprising femto-cells 100-111, permits user equipment, UE, to perform a re-registration attempt with a same cell after a short period of time has elapsed in cases where an initial attempt to register was rejected. The invention is particularly useful for location presence services as a location presence signal may be generated every time a UE 113 attempts to register on a cell 100-111 whether or not a previous attempt was successful. The UE identity, such as the International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI), is sent to a location presence server (206, figure 2) on receipt of a registration request. The area codes may be changed after expiry of a configurable pre-determined time interval or after a variable time interval determined on system usage. The invention permits an Access Point (femtocells 100-111) to act as a collector of User Equipments IMSIs for location presence services even if the Access Point does not actually provide a service for that particular User Equipment.