Paging In A Wireless Network

What is this patent about?

’564 is related to the field of wireless communication systems, specifically addressing the problem of efficiently establishing a network-initiated connection with a mobile terminal (UE) that is in a sleep or idle mode. The background involves UEs periodically waking up to check for paging messages, and conventional methods require multiple signals and procedures that can be slow and resource-intensive.

The underlying idea behind ’564 is to streamline the network-initiated connection process by embedding resource allocation information directly within the initial paging signal. Instead of just indicating that a paging message exists, the network also provides the UE with a shared channel allocation and a temporary identifier, enabling faster access to the shared channel for subsequent communication.

The claims of ’564 focus on a UE and a network node (base station) configured to implement a streamlined paging procedure. The UE determines its paging occasion, monitors control channels for a paging identity, and, upon detection, recovers a shared channel allocation from the control channel. It then receives a shared channel, recovers the paging message, and transmits a random access signal. The network node transmits the control channel with the paging identity and shared channel allocation, transmits the shared channel with the paging message, and receives the random access signal.

In practice, the network node, upon receiving a paging request from the core network, determines the UE's paging occasion and transmits a control channel signal that includes both a paging identity and an allocation of shared channel resources. This signal is derived using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) . The UE, upon waking up and detecting its paging identity, immediately knows where to find the shared channel and can begin receiving the paging message without needing to wait for a separate resource allocation signal.

This approach differs from prior solutions by combining the paging indication and resource allocation into a single step. Instead of the UE first receiving a paging indicator and then having to request or wait for resource allocation, the UE receives both simultaneously. This reduces latency and overhead, allowing for a faster and more efficient network-initiated connection establishment, particularly beneficial for UEs in power-saving modes.