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Location Based Services (LBS)

The BroadForward Location Based Services solution (BroadForward LBS) consists of the Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), the Location Retrieval Function (LRF) and the Routing Determination Function (RDF). The productized software solution enables flexible integration for Location Clients (LCS) such as emergency services, law enforcement, regulatory/legislative and enterprise clients. It provides operators with a unified access point to retrieve, store and maintain location information, based on Cell ID, Geodetic location data (e.g. GPS location) and Civic location information provided by the MSC, SGSN, MME,HSS/HLR, UDM and AMF.

Single software solution for GMLC, LRF and RDF

The Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC) is a control plane system that interfaces with emergency, regulatory and commercial LCS clients and the operator’s network to provide the location of a mobile device, required to support Location Based Services (LBS). The Location Retrieval Function (LRF) retrieves location information for users that have initiated an emergency session (i.e. an emergency call). The Routing Determination Function (RDF) provides the allocated outgoing address to the E-CSCF for routing the emergency request towards a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).

The BroadForward LBS solution supports all relevant interfaces for all mobile network generations and LCS client integration. For 2G/3G the MAP based 3GPP Lg and Lh interfaces are supported. For 4G the 3GPP Diameter SLg and SLh interfaces are supported. Within 5G GMLC the NF interfaces supported are towards the AMF (NLg) and UDM (NLh) using the Ngmlc_Location service. In 5G the consumer NF may be allowed to request the last known, on-going or future location data.

BroadForward GMLC-LRF-RDF Overview

For communication towards the Location Clients, the Le interface with a subset of the OMA Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) is supported. The OMA MLP protocol is an HTTP based protocol, making it easy to integrate with external IT based service clients. The Mi interface uses the SIP protocol to ‘steer’ the emergency call to the allocated PSAP.

Next Generation, software-designed LBS solution

BroadForward offers a unique solution for enabling Location Based Services in the mobile network. It provides a carrier grade, flexible device location storage and retrieval function in a single software design:

  • Productized solution for GMLC and LRF/RDF on a single platform
  • Multi-protocol support, including Diameter, SS7, HTTP/2, SIP redirect
  • Supporting all relevant interfaces for mobile network and client integration
  • Supporting required 5G security features (e.g. OAuth2 protocol, mTLS and UE’s privacy profile settings)
  • Completely GUI based configuration, provisioning and management – no need for scripting or development
  • No dependency on expensive database technologies
  • Central logging point (EDR-registration)
  • Carrier-grade, highly scalable, high available, geo-redundant solution
  • 100% software based, runs on standard off-the-shelf hardware or virtualized / hosted

Virtualized, cloud-based and containerized deployment

The BroadForward LBS provides unmatched flexibility with various deployment options, including bare metal, virtual machines, containers, and cloud environments, all while maintaining a low resource footprint. This 100% software-based, hardware-agnostic solution eliminates the need for specialized hardware or proprietary operating systems. Deploying the BroadForward LBS on a common platform facilitates the transition for operators and vendors from proprietary appliance systems to a standardized, hardware-agnostic, software-only infrastructure.

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