This chapter explains some of the new concepts that will appear with the 3G networks. The overview offered in this chapter is quite short, but as before, references to other sources are listed for those who want to study the subject more thoroughly. The list of new items is not by any means exhaustive, nor is it UMTS specific. Some of these items will also appear in the enhanced GSM networks, and some items such as location services (LCS) will appear in some other cellular networks as well. Note that the CN-related items are especially easy to implement in both the GSM and UMTS systems, because the CN will be the same in both cases.

Some of the technologies discussed here support applications that are explored in Chapter 14, together with their unique terminals if required; notably LCS and multimedia messaging service (MMS).

12.1 Location Services

Location services (LCS) is a common name for all services that make use of the knowledge of the (more or less) exact position of the mobile station. The location of the UE can be the offered service by itself, but it can also be used to provide certain value-added services, for which the UE's location is an important input parameter. A subscriber can, for example, request a list of nearby restaurants after arriving in a foreign town.

The applications that will be enabled by LCS are further discussed in Section 14.8.4.

LCS can be used by the operators, mobile phone subscribers, and third-party service...