RU2526051C2 - Method and apparatus for enhanced paging - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics, communications.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to wireless communication. Described are methods of paging user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system. In one aspect, a cell sends a paging indictor to UE, monitors acknowledgement from the UE and sends a paging message to the UE if acknowledgment is received from the UE. The cell may receive channel quality information from the UE and may send the paging message via link adaptation and/or HARQ to improve performance. In another aspect, a cell sends a paging indicator over a shared control channel to UE and sends a paging message over a shared data channel to the UE. The paging indicator and paging message may be sent from multiple cells to the UE. Alternatively, the paging indicator may be sent from multiple cells to the UE, and the paging message may be sent from a single cell to the UE.

EFFECT: efficient UE paging.

21 cl, 20 dwg

Description

This application claims priority over US Patent Application Serial Number 60/795675, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Enhanced Paging," registered April 28, 2006, and US Patent Application Serial Number 60/863217, entitled "Composed Message Authentication Code ", registered on October 27, 2006, assigned to the assignee of this application and contained in this document by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in General, to communication, and more specifically, to techniques for paging subscriber devices (UE) in a wireless communication system.

State of the art

A UE in a wireless communication system (for example, a cell phone in a cellular system) may operate in one of several states, such as an active state and a low power state, at any given moment. In the active state, the UE can actively exchange data with one or more nodes B (or base stations), for example, for a voice call or a data call. In low power mode, the UE can turn off the power most of the time to save battery power, and wake up periodically to track paging messages sent to the UE. These paging messages may notify the UE of an incoming call or may provide other information.

A wireless communication system expands radio resources to support paging. For example, the system may send paging indicators on a paging indicator channel (PICH) to indicate whether paging messages are being sent to the UE. The system may send paging messages on a paging channel (PCH) to the UE. The UE can quickly receive paging indicators, determine if a paging message has been sent to the UE, and either process the PCH if the paging message is sent or immediately go into low power mode if the paging messages are not sent to the UE. PICH and PCH are service channels that are used for all UEs. Therefore, these overhead channels are typically sent at a sufficiently low bit rate and with sufficient transmit power, so that even the worst-case UEs with the worst channel state can reliably receive paging indicators and paging messages. Moreover, since the location of the UEs polled by the paging call may not be known, the system typically sends paging indicators and paging messages from all cells in the global network. Sending paging indicators and paging messages over service channels in a wide area network at low bit rate and / or high transmit power can consume significant radio resources.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for techniques to effectively interrogate UEs with paging calls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This document describes UE paging techniques in a wireless communication system. In one aspect, the cell sends a paging indicator and possibly UE identification information to the UE. The identification information of the UE identifies the UE as the specified recipient of the paging indicator and may contain all or part of the identifier of the UE that uniquely identifies the UE. The cell sends a paging message to the UE if a paging indicator confirmation is received from the UE. A cell may receive channel quality information from the UE and may send a paging message using link adaptation and / or hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) to improve performance.

In another aspect, a cell sends a paging indicator on a shared control channel to a UE and sends a paging message on a shared data channel to a UE. The paging indicator and paging message may be sent from several cells to the UE. Alternatively, the paging indicator may be sent from several cells to the UE, and the paging message may be sent from one cell to the UE.

Various aspects and features of the invention are described in more detail below.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication system.

Figure 2 illustrates the structure of the frame format.

3 illustrates a timeline for a UE in DRX operation mode.

Figure 4 illustrates the structure of the logical, transport, and physical channels of the downlink.

5 illustrates the structure of logical, transport, and physical uplink channels.

6 illustrates a paging procedure that uses shared channels for paging.

7 illustrates a paging procedure that sends a paging message from one cell.

8 illustrates a structure for implicitly sending a paging indicator.

9 illustrates a structure for recovering an implicit paging indicator.

10 illustrates a process performed by a hundredth in order to interrogate a UE with a paging call.

11 illustrates an apparatus for paging a UE.

12 illustrates a process performed by a UE in order to receive a paging call.

13 illustrates an apparatus for receiving paging.

14 illustrates another process performed by a hundredth in order to interrogate a UE by a paging.

15 illustrates another device for paging a UE.

16 illustrates a process performed by a network entity for paging.

17 illustrates an apparatus for paging.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process for sending an implicit paging indicator.

Fig. 19 illustrates a device for sending an implicit paging indicator.

20 illustrates a block diagram of a UE, a Node B, and a system controller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The paging techniques described herein can be used for various communication systems, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems ), orthogonal FDMA systems (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA systems (SC-FDMA), etc. The terms “systems” and “networks” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system can use radio technology such as Broadband CDMA (W-CDMA), cdma2000, etc. Cdma2000 covers IS-95, IS-2000 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may use a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). These various technologies, standards, and radio systems are known in the art. An OFDMA system uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and sends modulation symbols in the frequency domain over orthogonal subcarriers. The SC-FDMA system uses single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) and sends time-domain modulation symbols on orthogonal subcarriers. For simplicity, paging techniques are described below for a wireless communication system that uses Long Term Evolution (LTE), which is an emerging radio technology. However, paging techniques may also be used for various other wireless communication systems.

Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication system 100 with multiple nodes B 110. Node B is, in general, a fixed station that communicates with a UE, and may also be referred to as a base station, Advanced Node B (eNode B), access point etc. Each node B 110 provides communication coverage for a specific geographic area. The term "cell" may refer to a node B and / or its coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. To increase the throughput of the system, the coverage area of node B can be partitioned into several (for example, three) smaller zones. Each smaller area can be served by a corresponding base transceiver subsystem (BTS). The term "sector" may refer to the BTS and / or its coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. For a sectorized cell, BTSs for all sectors of that cell are typically co-located within node B of the cell.

UE 120 may be distributed throughout the system. The UE may be fixed or mobile, and may also be referred to as a mobile station, mobile device, terminal, access terminal, station, etc. The UE may be a cell phone, a personal digital device (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless device, a subscriber unit, and the like. The UE may communicate with one or more nodes B through downlink and uplink transmissions. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from nodes B to UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from UE to nodes B. In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows shows the exchange data between the node B and the UE in the active state. A single arrow broken line indicates a UE in a low power state and receiving paging messages and / or other information. The UE may be served by a specific Node B, which is referred to as a serving cell for the UE.

System controller 130 may connect to nodes B 110 and provide coordination and control for these nodes B. System controller 130 may be a single network entity or a set of network entities. System controller 130 may also be referred to as a radio network controller (RNC), a mobile switching center (MSC), etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates a frame format 200 for a system 100. A transmission timeline may be divided into radio frames. Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) and may have a predetermined duration, for example, 10 milliseconds (ms). Each radio frame can be segmented into several (N) subframes, for example, N = 20 or some other value. In general, radio frames and subframes may be of any duration and may also be referred to by some other term, for example, frames, time slots, etc.

3 illustrates a timeline 300 for a UE in a discrete reception (DRX) mode of operation. DRX mode may also be referred to as a paging mode with time slot allocation. In DRX mode, the UE is assigned paging periods, which are time periods in which the UE can receive paging. Each paging period may correspond to a specific radio frame, a specific subframe of a specific radio frame, etc. Paging periods may also be referred to as paging periods, paging frames, paging subframes, etc. The paging periods for the UE may be separated by a time slot referred to as a DRX cycle. The DRX cycle may be configurable for the UE. Paging periods for the UE may be determined based on parameters such as, for example, a UE-specific identifier (UE ID) for the UE.

The UE may wake up periodically before its paging periods to receive all paging messages sent to the UE. Paging messages are also referred to as paging messages, paging messages, etc. Paging messages are not sent to the UE outside of its paging periods. The UE, therefore, may transition to a low power mode between its paging periods if there are no other tasks to perform. The UE may turn off the power of as many circuits as possible in low power mode to save battery power.

System 100 may use logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels to support various services. The medium access control (MAC) layer can provide data services over logical channels. Different types of logical channels can be specified for different types of data services, and each type of logical channel can carry a different type of information. The MAC layer can convert logical channels to transport channels and can process (for example, encode and modulate) logical channel data to form MAC protocol data units (PDUs). The physical layer (PHY) can convert the transport channels into physical channels and can process (for example, channelize and scramble) the MAC PDU to generate output data for the physical channels.

Figure 4 illustrates the structure of the logical, transport and physical channels of the downlink (DL). In this structure, the logical channels of the downlink include:

- broadcast control channel (BCCH) - carries system control information,

- dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) - carries user information for a specific UE,

- dedicated control channel (DCCH) - carries control information for a specific UE,

- MBMS traffic channel (MTCH) - carries traffic data for multiple UEs, and

- MBMS control channel (MCCH) - carries scheduling and control information for MTCH, where MBMS means multimedia broadcast / multicast services.

Downlink transport channels include:

- broadcast channel (BCH) - carries part of the BCCH, and

- shared channel DL (DL-SDCH) - carries DCCH, DTCH, MCCH, MTCH and part BCCH.

Various transport channels for traffic and MBMS control may exist in the MBMS (MCH) channel.

The physical channels of the downlink include:

- common control channel (CCCH) - transfers the parameters of the system and cells to demodulate other physical channels and carry BCH,

- acknowledgment channel (ACKCH) - carries acknowledgment (ACK) / rejection (NAK) for UL-SDCH,

- DL Physical Shared Data Channel (DL-PSDCH) - carries DL-SDCH,

- DL shared control channel (SDCCH) - carries control information for the DL-PSDCH, and

- UL Shared Destination Channel (SUACH) - transfers UL PHY resource assignments.

PHY resources mean resources used for physical channels. PHY resources can be quantified by frequency (e.g., subcarriers), time (e.g., time intervals), code (e.g., sewer code), space (e.g., transmit antennas), transmit power, etc.

4 also illustrates the conversion of logical channels to transport channels and the conversion of transport channels to physical channels. Some of the transport and physical downlink channels are described in more detail below.

5 illustrates the structure of logical, transport, and physical uplink (UL) channels. In this structure, the uplink logical channels include DCCH and DTCH.

Uplink transport channels include:

- random access channel (RACH) - carries access requests and possibly other information, and

- UL Shared Data Channel (UL-SDCH) - Carries DCCH and DTCH.

Depending on the information carried by the RACH, the RACH can only be considered as a physical channel.

Uplink physical channels include:

- physical random access channel (PRACH) - carries RACH,

- Physical UL Shared Data Channel (UL-PSDCH) - Carries UL-SDCH,

- acknowledgment channel (ACKCH) - carries ACK / NAK for DL-SDCH, and

- Channel Quality Indicator Channel (CQICH) - carries the CQI for DL signal quality.

5 also illustrates the conversion of logical channels to transport channels and the conversion of transport channels to physical channels. Some of the transport and physical downlink channels are described in more detail below.

4 and 5 illustrate specific channel structures of the uplink and downlink, which are mentioned in the description below. In general, the system can support any number and type of logical, transport, and physical channels for each communication line, for example, more, less, and / or other channels other than those described above. Logical, transport, and physical channels can also be transformed in other ways.

The UE may register with the system and may be “anchored” in the serving cell when not in active communication mode. During registration, the UE is within the coverage of the served cell, as well as within the area of the search calls, which covers the serving cell and neighboring cells. Referring again to FIG. 1, the serving cell for UE 120x may be node B 110x, and the paging area of UE 120x may include seven cells delimited by a thick dashed line. Depending on its configuration, the UE may perform a cell update each time a UE moves to a new cell, or an update of a paging area each time a UE moves to a new paging area.

6 illustrates the structure of a paging procedure 600 that uses shared channels for paging. The UE may be fixed in a serving cell and may periodically wake up to track paging calls, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. At any given moment, the exact location of the UE may not be known. For example, the UE may have moved to a new cell while in a low power mode between paging periods. Thus, when the system has a paging call for the UE, the serving cell and other cells in the paging area of the UE can send a Paging ind indicator and possibly UE identification information (UE ID info) to the UE (step 612). The identification information of the UE identifies the UEs being interrogated by the paging call and may contain full or partial UE ID and / or other information. The UE ID may be a temporary radio network identifier (RNTI), an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI), a MAC ID, etc. RNTI is a unique UE ID for the UE in the system. The paging indicator and identification information of the UE may be sent via SDCCH, as described below. The serving cell and other cells in the paging area may also send a paging message on the DL-SDCH to the UE (step 614). Sending the paging indicator and paging message from all cells in the paging area of the UE increases the likelihood that the UE may receive the paging message when the location of the UE is not known with certainty.

Cells can send a paging indicator and a paging message in a manner that is known a priori, so that upon receiving a paging indicator, the UE knows where the paging message is sent via DL-SDCH and how to decode the paging message. For example, each paging indicator sent over the SDCCH may be associated with a paging message sent over the DL-SDCH using a predetermined modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and predefined PHY resources. In this case, control information may not be sent over the SDCCH for the paging message sent over the DL-SDCH. Alternatively, control information may be sent over the SDCCH to indicate where and / or how to retrieve the paging message on the DL-SDCH.

The UE receives the paging message from the DL-SDCH and can respond to the paging message by randomly accessing and sending a RACH transmission (block 616). RACH transmission may include acknowledgment of the paging message, channel quality information indicating downlink channel quality, uplink PHY resource request, etc. In general, any cell in the paging area of a UE may receive a RACH transmission depending on the current location of the UE. In one cell structure that receives a RACH transmission, the UE may respond and perform the processing described below. In another structure, the UE may direct the RACH transmission to a particular cell, for example, by using a signature or a base sequence corresponding to the selected cell. The selected cell should then perform the processing described below if it can successfully receive the RACH transmission. The following description assumes that the serving cell receives the RACH transmission.

The serving cell receives the RACH transmission and may respond by sending the destination on the SUACH (block 618). The SUACH transmission may include a MAC ID for the UE, synchronization adjustment to adjust the synchronization of the transmission of the UE, the allocation of PHY resources for ACKCH, CQICH and / or UL-SDCH, etc. A MAC ID may be assigned by the UE during the exchange after the initial paging, and may be used to identify the transmission on the DL-SDCH. The assignment of ACKCH and / or CQICH may also be implicit and not sent over SUACH. For example, PHY resources for ACKCHs may be implicit from DL-SDCH transmission. The UE may then send channel quality information on the CQICH and / or acknowledgment on the ACKCH (block 620).

For downlink transmission, the serving cell may send control information on the SDCCH (step 622) and may send data on the DL-SDCH (step 624) in the usual / standard way. The control information sent via the SDCCH may contain any type of information, such as, for example, the MAC ID of the target UE for transmitting data on DL-SDCH, MCS, resource assignment and transmission time interval (TTI) for data transmission, etc. Data transmission can be sent using a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ), link adaptation, etc. With HARQ, the transmitting device sends a transmission for the packet and can send one or more retransmissions, if necessary, until the packet is correctly decoded by the receiver or the maximum number of retransmissions is sent, or another termination condition has occurred. HARQ improves data transmission reliability. Link adaptation may include speed control, power control, etc. Speed control means choosing a modulation and coding scheme so that the packet can achieve the desired performance metric. An indicator can be quantified, for example, by a target probability of correct decoding after a target number of retransmissions using HARQ. Power control refers to controlling the transmit power so as to achieve the desired signal quality while reducing transmit power and interference. The serving cell may use the channel quality information received in step 620 to adapt the communication link and may select the MCS and / or transmit power level based on the received information.

In the structure shown in FIG. 6, paging is supported by a shared control channel and a shared data channel, which are shared by the UE and are also used for various types of data. For example, the DL-SDCH may carry user traffic data (DTCH) and user control information (DCCH) for specific UEs, broadcast data (MTCH) and broadcast control information (MCCH) for multiple UEs, etc. This structure eliminates the use of a separate paging indicator channel (PICH) and a separate paging channel (PCH) to support paging. The use of shared control channels and data for paging allows you to provide certain advantages, such as, for example, a simpler implementation in the UE and / or cells, improved use of PHY resources through multiplexing, and the absence of fixed additional auxiliary information (for example, for paging indicator channel used in W-CDMA and cdma2000), etc.

7 illustrates the structure of a paging procedure 700 that sends a paging message from a particular cell. The UE may be fixed in a serving cell and may periodically wake up to track paging calls. When the system has a paging call for the UE, the serving cell and other cells in the paging area of the UE send a paging indicator and possibly UE identification information via the SDCCH to the UE (block 712). The UE receives the paging indicator and can respond to the paging indicator by randomly accessing and sending a RACH transmission (block 714). RACH transmission may include acknowledgment of the paging indicator, channel quality information. RACH transmission may or may not include a request for uplink PHY resources on the UL-SDCH. The RACH transmission serves to acknowledge receipt of the paging indicator and provide the current location of the UE. In particular, the current location of the UE can be detected based on cells that receive RACH transmission. In general, any cell in the paging area may receive a RACH transmission, and a cell that receives a RACH transmission, or a cell selected by the UE, may respond to the UE. The following description assumes that the serving cell receives the RACH transmission.

The serving cell responds to the RACH transmission by sending the destination via SUACH (block 716). SUACH transmission may include the MAC ID of the UE, timing adjustment for the UE, assignment of PHY resources for ACKCH and / or CQICH, etc. The MAC ID sent in step 716 can be used as the UE ID in the active state. The UE ID in step 712 can be retrieved from the RNTI or IMSI and can be used as a UE ID in an inactive state. Assignment of ACKs and / or CQIs may also be implicit and not sent over SUACH. The UE may then send channel quality information on the CQICH (block 718). Step 718 may be omitted if channel quality information is sent on the RACH in step 714. The serving cell may use channel quality information to adapt the communication link and may select the MCS and / or transmit power level for transmission to the UE based on the received information. The serving cell sends control information on the SDCCH (step 720) and sends a paging message on the DL-SDCH to the UE (step 722). The serving cell may send a paging message in the same manner as other types of data sent over the DL-SDCH. The control information may indicate where and / or how the paging message is sent on the DL-SDCH. The UE may send channel quality information on the CQICH and / or ACKCH acknowledgment for the paging message (block 724). The serving cell may send one or more retransmissions for the paging message, if necessary, on the DL-SDCH until the paging message is correctly decoded by the UE (block 726).

The structure shown in FIG. 7 has various desired features. First, the paging is supported using shared data and control channels, similar to the structure shown in FIG. 6. Secondly, only a small amount of information (for example, only a paging indicator) is sent from all cells in the paging area of the UE, and a paging message is sent from one cell that can serve the UE. This can significantly reduce the amount of PHY resources used for search calls. Thirdly, a paging message can be sent efficiently using features that are available for regular data transmission, for example, HARQ and link adaptation. This further reduces the amount of PHY resources used to send a paging message. In particular, the paging message can be sent using the MCS and / or at a transmit power level that can be selected based on the channel status of the UE instead of the worst channel status for all UEs.

6 and 7 illustrate two specific structures for two paging procedures that use the transport and physical channels described above. Search call indicators and search call messages can also be sent in other ways and / or via other transport and physical channels. For example, in FIG. 6, a first paging message transmission may be sent on a DL-SDCH in parallel with a paging indicator on an SDCCH. One or more retransmissions of the paging message may then be sent if necessary. As another example, in FIG. 7, paging indicators may be sent on a paging indicator channel from all cells in the paging area, and paging messages may be sent on a shared channel from one cell. Other paging structures and paging procedures may also be implemented.

UEs can be tied to a paging period in various ways. In one structure, UEs are mapped to specific paging periods, for example, based on a hash of their UE IDs. Different UEs can be mapped in a pseudo-random fashion to different time slots on a transmission timeline. Each UE may wake up to the designated paging periods and monitor paging indicators. One or more SDCCHs may be used to send paging indicators. If SDCCHs are available, then the UEs can be mapped to different SDCCHs, for example, based on their UE IDs. In this case, the paging period for the UE may correspond to a specific SDCCH in a particular time interval. In general, UEs may be hashed into different SDCCHs in time and / or into different PHY resources within the same time. The goal of hashing is to have UEs with the same bit of the least significant bit (LSB) of the UE IDs that must be hashed into different SDCCHs so that the paging indicator can reach one UE or a small number of UEs at a given time.

The UE identification information may be sent using the paging indicator to identify the UE polled by the paging. In one structure, the identification information of the UE contains a complete UE ID, for example, a complete RNTI, etc. This structure allows each UE to determine without uncertainty whether a paging indicator is sent for that UE. This structure can be used for paging procedures shown in Fig.6 and 7.

In another structure, the identification information of the UE contains a partial UE ID, for example, a predetermined LSB number for the UE ID, for example RNTI. In general, any part of the UE and any number of bits can be used for a partial UE ID. LSBs may be more arbitrary than the most significant bits (MSBs), and may be used for partial UE IDs. The number of bits to use may be a fixed or configurable value and may depend on the number of bits available on the SDCCH for the identification information of the UE. This structure reduces the number of bits to send, for the identification information of the UE. UEs can be mapped to paging periods so that two UEs with the same partial UE ID are not mapped to the same paging period. In this case, all UEs that are associated with each paging period can be uniquely identified based on their partial UE IDs. This binding ensures that the partial UE ID sent in the paging period can uniquely identify the UE polled by the paging call. Binding the UE to the paging period can be performed in various ways. For example, a hash function may bind UEs to paging periods based on their UE IDs, but not allow two UEs with one partial UE ID to bind to one paging period. This structure can also be used for paging procedures shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Sending UE identification information along with paging indicators may provide certain advantages. For example, UEs can quickly detect whether or not paging messages are sent to them based on the identification information of the UEs and can go into low power mode immediately without having to decode the data channel for paging messages. For the structure shown in FIG. 7, only UEs polled by the paging call (instead of all UEs) should respond on the RACH. This reduces the amount of uplink overhead for paging.

Paging indicators can be sent in a variety of ways. In one structure, the paging indicator is explicitly sent through a given field. For example, a bit can be assigned in each paging period and can be set to either one (1) to indicate the indicator is sent, or zero (0) to indicate no indicator is sent. Each UE may detect whether a paging indicator is sent by checking this bit. In another structure, the paging indicator is explicitly sent via a specific index or value for a given field. For example, control information for each transmission on the DL-SDCH may include a field that carries the data type sent in the transmission. A particular index may be assigned to the paging call, and the field may be set equal to that index each time a paging message is sent. In yet another structure, the paging indicator is sent implicitly. This implicit paging indicator signaling can be performed in various ways.

FIG. 8 illustrates a structure 800 for implicitly sending a paging indicator. In this structure, the CRC control generator 810 receives control information for the DL-SDCH and generates a CRC value. A masking unit 812 masks (e.g., scrambles) a CRC value with a paging identifier and provides a masked CRC value. A paging identifier is a special sequence used for paging, and is known to cells and UEs. Control information and a masked CRC value are sent over the SDCCH. The paging indicator is implicitly sent via a masked CRC value.

FIG. 9 illustrates a structure for recovering an implicit paging indicator 900 for 900. The control information and the masked CRC value are received from the SDCCH. CRC generator 910 generates a CRC value based on the received control information and provides the generated CRC value. The unmasking unit 912 unmasks (for example, descrambles) the masked CRC value with the same paging identifier ID as that used by the cell, and provides the received CRC value. A comparison unit 914 compares the generated CRC value with the received CRC value and indicates that the paging indicator is sent if there is a match.

The implicit paging indicator may be sent in FIG. 6 by masking control information or a CRC value sent on the SDCCH for a paging message sent on the DL-SDCH. Each UE may unmask control information or a CRC value to determine whether a paging indicator has been sent. Other information may also be masked. In any case, additional PHY resources are not used to send an implicit paging indicator.

10 illustrates the structure of a process 1000 performed by a hundredth in order to interrogate a UE with a paging call. The cell sends a paging indicator to the UE (for example, via a shared control channel) (block 1012). A cell may send UE identification information with a paging indicator. The identification information of the UE may identify the UE as the specified recipient of the paging indicator and may contain all or part of the identifier of the UE that uniquely identifies the UE. The cell monitors (for example, a random access channel) an acknowledgment for the paging indicator from the UE (step 1014). A cell may detect that it is a cell designed to serve the UE based on receipt of acknowledgment.

The cell sends a paging message to the UE (for example, on a shared data channel) if a paging indicator confirmation is received from the UE (step 1016). A cell may send an uplink resource assignment to a UE, which may use uplink resources to send feedback information for downlink transmission of a paging message. A cell may receive channel quality information from the UE and may use this information to send a paging message with link adaptation and / or HARQ. The cell may select a modulation and coding scheme and / or transmit power level based on the received channel quality information. The cell may send a page message in accordance with the selected modulation and coding scheme and / or the selected transmit power level in the UE. A cell may send a paging message transmission to the UE and may send a retransmission of the paging message if acknowledgment of the paging message is not received. The paging indicator may be sent from several cells to the UE, and the paging message may be sent from one cell to the UE.

11 illustrates an apparatus 1100 for paging a UE. The device 1100 includes means for sending a paging indicator to the UE (module 1112), means for monitoring the acknowledgment of receipt of the paging indicator from the UE (module 1114), and means for sending a paging message to the UE if a confirmation of receipt of the paging indicator is received from the UE (module 1116). Modules 1112-1116 may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory devices, etc. or any combination of the above.

12 illustrates the structure of a process 1200 performed by a UE in order to receive a paging call. The UE receives a paging indicator for the UE, for example, on a shared control channel (block 1212). The UE may receive the identification information of the UE (for example, a full or partial UE ID) with a paging indicator, and may detect that the paging indicator is for the UE based on the identification information of the UE. The UE sends an acknowledgment of the paging indicator, for example, on a random access channel (block 1214). The UE then receives a paging message for the UE, for example, on a shared data channel (block 1216). The UE may send channel quality information and may process the paging message in accordance with a modulation and coding scheme selected based on channel quality information. The UE may also receive a transmission and possibly one or more retransmissions for a paging message.

13 illustrates an apparatus 1300 for receiving a paging call. Apparatus 1300 includes means for receiving a paging indicator for a UE (module 1312), means for sending acknowledgment of receipt of a paging indicator (module 1314), and means for receiving a paging message for a UE (module 1316). Modules 1312-1316 may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory devices, etc. or any combination of the above.

FIG. 14 illustrates the structure of a process 1400 performed by a hundredth in order to interrogate a UE by a paging. The cell sends a paging indicator over the shared control channel to the UE (block 1412). The cell sends a paging message on the shared data channel to the UE (block 1414). A cell may send UE identification information with a paging indicator to identify the UE as a given recipient of a paging indicator. The shared control channel may carry control information for the shared data channel. A shared data channel may carry data for different UEs and / or different types of data. The paging indicator and paging message may be sent from several cells to the UE, for example, as shown in FIG. 6. Alternatively, the paging indicator may be sent from several cells to the UE, and the paging message may be sent from one cell to the UE, for example, as shown in FIG.

15 illustrates an apparatus 1500 for paging a UE. Apparatus 1500 includes means for sending a paging indicator on a shared control channel to a UE (module 1512) and means for sending a paging message on a shared control channel to a UE (module 1514). Modules 1512 and 1514 may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory devices, etc. or any combination of the above.

FIG. 16 illustrates the structure of a process 1600 performed by a hundredth and / or system controller for paging. Each UE is associated with (1) a UE ID that uniquely identifies the UE, and (2) a partial UE ID that is derived based on the UE ID. The UE IDs may be MAC IDs or some other UE-specific IDs. UEs are mapped to paging periods based on their UE IDs so that UEs with the same partial UE ID are mapped to different paging periods (block 1612). The paging indicator and the partial UE ID for the recipient UE are sent in the paging period for the recipient UE (block 1614). A partial UE ID for a recipient UE may be determined based on a predetermined number of LSBs in the UE ID for the recipient UE.

17 illustrates an apparatus 1700 for paging. The device 1700 includes a means for associating the UE with paging periods based on their UE IDs so that UEs with one partial UE ID are mapped to different paging periods (module 1712), and means for sending a paging indicator and partial UE ID for the UE- the recipient in the search period for the UE-recipient (module 1714). Modules 1712 and 1714 may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory devices, etc. or any combination of the above.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process 1800 for sending an implicit paging indicator. The cell masks information with a paging identifier to obtain masked information (block 1812). Next, the cell sends masked information to transmit the information and implicitly transmit the paging indicator (block 1814). Information that may be masked may be control information sent over a shared data channel, or some other type of information. A cell can mask and send information by generating a CRC value that is used as information to be masked, masking the CRC value with a paging identifier to generate a masked CRC value, and sending the masked CRC value.

FIG. 19 illustrates a device 1900 for sending an implicit paging indicator. Apparatus 1900 includes information masking means with a paging identifier to obtain masked information (block 1912), and masked information sending means to transmit information and implicitly transmit a paging indicator (module 1914). Modules 1912 and 1914 may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory devices, etc. or any combination of the above.

FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram of the structure of one UE 120, one node B 110, and the system controller 130 of FIG. 1. In the direction of transmission, data and service signals that must be sent by UE 120 are processed (for example, formatted, encoded and interleaved) by encoder 2012 and further processed (for example, modulated, channelized and scrambled) through a modulator (Mod) 2014, to generate output chips. The transmitting device (TMTR) 2022 leads to the required parameters (for example, converts to analog form, filters, amplifies and converts with increasing frequency) the output elementary signals and generates an uplink signal, which is transmitted through the antenna 2024. In the direction of reception, downlink signals communications transmitted through node B 110, as well as other nodes B, are received by antenna 2024. A receiver (RCVR) 2026 leads to the desired parameters (for example, filters, amplifies, down-converts and digitizes) Calls) the received signal from the antenna 2024 and provides samples. Demodulator (DEMOD) 2016 processes (for example, descrambles, channels, and demodulates) samples and provides symbol estimates. Decoder 2018 additionally processes (for example, interleaves and decodes back) symbol estimates and provides decoded data. Encoder 2012, modulator 2014, demodulator 2016, and decoder 2018 may be implemented by modem processor 2010. These blocks perform processing in accordance with the radio technology used by the wireless communication system.

The controller / processor 2030 controls the operation of various units in the UE 120. The controller / processor 2030 may execute the process 1200 in FIG. 12 and / or other processes to receive paging calls. A storage device 2032 stores program codes and data for the UE 120.

Node B 110 includes a transceiver 2038, a processor / controller 2040, a memory device (Mem) 2042, and a communication unit 2044 (Comm). The transceiver 2038 provides radio communications with the UE 120 and other UEs. The processor / controller 2040 performs various functions for communication and paging of the UE and may implement the process 1000 in FIG. 10, the process 1400 in FIG. 14, process 1600 in FIG. 16, process 1800 in FIG. 18 and / or other processes. A storage device 2042 stores program codes and data for a node B 110. A communication unit 2044 simplifies communication with a system controller 130.

System controller 130 includes a processor / controller 2050, memory 2052, and communication unit 2054. The processor / controller 2050 performs various functions to support communication and paging for the UE, for example, determining which cells are in the paging area of the UE 120, and sending paging indicators and paging messages to these cells. The processor / controller 2050 may implement the process 1600 in FIG. 16 and / or other processes. A storage device 2052 stores program codes and data for the system controller 130. The communication unit 2054 facilitates communication with the node B 110.

The search call techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. When implemented in hardware, the processing modules used to support paging in the UE, the Node B, or the system controller can be implemented in one or more specialized integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPD), programmable logic devices (PLD), user-programmable matrix LSI (FPGA), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic modules, pre Assigning to perform the operations described herein function, or a combination thereof.

When implemented in firmware and / or software, paging techniques may be implemented using modules (eg, procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Firmware and / or program codes can be stored in a storage device (for example, in a storage device 2032, 2042 or 2052 in FIG. 20) and executed by a processor (for example, a processor 2030, 2040 or 2050). The storage device may be implemented in the processor or externally with respect to the processor.

The preceding description of the invention is provided in order to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to the invention should be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles described herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not intended to be limited by the examples described herein, but should satisfy the broadest possible scope consistent with the principles and new features disclosed herein.

Claims (21)

1. A device for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
at least one processor configured to send a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel to a subscriber unit (UE), receive channel quality information from the UE, select a modulation and coding scheme, or transmit power to based on the received channel quality information and send a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging channel in the UE when an acknowledgment is received the paging speaker is received from the UE using the selected modulation and coding scheme or the selected transmit power; and
a storage device connected to at least one processor. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the paging indicator is sent from several cells to the UE and in which the paging message is sent from one cell to the UE. 3. The device according to claim 1, in which at least one processor is configured to track the acknowledgment from the UE to detect a specific cell to serve the UE, based on the receipt of acknowledgment. 4. The device according to claim 1, in which at least one processor is configured to receive acknowledgment from the UE via a random access channel. 5. The device according to claim 1, in which at least one processor is configured to send identification information to the UE with the indicator search call, and the identification information of the UE identifies the UE as a given recipient search indicator call. 6. The device according to claim 5, in which the identification information of the UE contains a part of the identifier of the UE, which uniquely identifies the UE. 7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send a paging message transmission to the UE and send a retransmission of the paging message if acknowledgment of the paging message is not received after the transmission. 8. The device according to claim 1, in which at least one processor is configured to send an uplink resource assignment to the UE, wherein the uplink resources are used by the UE in order to send feedback information for downlink transmission communication paging message. 9. A method for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of:
sending a paging indicator to a subscriber unit (UE); and
sending a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel in the UE;
receive channel quality information from the UE;
selecting a modulation and coding scheme or transmit power based on the received channel quality information, and
send a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging channel in the UE when the acknowledgment of the paging indicator is received from the UE using the selected modulation and coding scheme or transmit power. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein sending the paging message contains the steps of sending the paging message to the UE and sending the retransmission of the paging message if acknowledgment of the paging message is not received after the transmission. 11. The method according to claim 9, also containing a stage in which:
sending identification information to the UE with a paging indicator, the identification information of the UE containing a part of the identifier of the UE that uniquely identifies the UE. 12. A device for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
means for sending a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel to a subscriber unit (UE);
means for receiving channel quality information from the UE;
means for selecting a modulation and coding scheme or transmission power based on the received channel quality information; and
means for sending a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging channel in the UE when a paging indicator confirmation is received from the UE using the selected modulation and coding scheme or transmit power. 13. The device according to item 12, in which the means for sending a message retrieval call contains:
means for sending a paging message transmission to the UE, and
means for sending retransmission of the paging message if acknowledgment of the paging message is not received after transmission. 14. The device according to item 12, also containing:
means for sending identification information to the UE with a paging indicator, wherein the identification information of the UE comprises a part of the UE identifier that uniquely identifies the UE. 15. A device for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
at least one processor configured to receive a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from a paging indicator channel for a subscriber unit (UE), send channel quality information, send acknowledgment of a paging indicator, receive a paging message by a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel for the UE; and process the paging message in accordance with a modulation and coding scheme selected based on channel quality information; and
a storage device connected to at least one processor. 16. The device according to clause 15, in which at least one processor is configured to receive identification information of the UE with the indicator search call and detect that the indicator search call is intended for the UE, based on the identification information of the UE. 17. The device according to clause 15, in which at least one processor is configured to receive the transmission of the message retrieval call, to receive acknowledgment of receipt of the message retrieval call, if decoded correctly, and to receive retransmission of the message retrieval call, if the acknowledgment of receipt of the retrieval message Call not sent. 18. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
code for sending a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel to a user equipment (UE);
code for receiving channel quality information from the UE;
code for selecting a modulation and coding scheme or transmit power based on received channel quality information; and
code for sending a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging channel in the UE when a paging indicator confirmation is received from the UE using the selected modulation and coding scheme or transmit power. 19. A method for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of:
receiving a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel for a user equipment (UE);
send channel quality information;
send acknowledgment of the search call indicator; and
receiving a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel for the UE; and
processing the paging message in accordance with a modulation and coding scheme selected based on channel quality information. 20. A device for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
means for receiving a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from a paging indicator channel for a user equipment (UE);
means for sending channel quality information;
means for sending acknowledgment of the search call indicator;
means for receiving a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel for the UE; and
means for processing the paging message in accordance with a modulation and coding scheme selected based on channel quality information. 21. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for paging in a wireless communication system, comprising:
code for receiving a paging indicator on a shared control channel separate from a paging indicator channel for a user equipment (UE);
code for channel quality information;
code for sending acknowledgment of the search call indicator;
code for receiving a paging message on a shared control channel separate from the paging indicator channel for the UE; and
code for processing the paging message in accordance with a modulation and coding scheme selected based on channel quality information.

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