TW201509212A - Method for paging optimization - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for paging optimization in a core network node of a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes the core network node, an access network node and an user equipment, and the core network node keeps an active timer of the user equipment, the method comprises: the core network node receiving paging triggering indication; the core network node detecting the current state of the user equipment paged by the paging triggering indication; and the core network node sending a paging message and the remaining time of the active timer of the user equipment to the access network node when the user equipment is in idle state and the active timer of the user equipment kept by the core network node has been started. The method according to the present invention realizes an efficient utilization of the current communication resources to improve the success probability of the paging message sending. Furthermore, the remaining time of the active timer of the user equipment is sent to the access network node to ensure that the sequent paging sending can be optimized in the access network node.

Description

Method for paging optimization

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to a method for paging optimization in a core network node in a wireless communication network or in an access network node.

A machine-type communication service for the Rel.12 version establishes a parent class workgroup in SA2 called "machine class and other mobile data application communication enhancements". A total of four blocks are included in the working group, and a new type of ECM (EPS Connection) for user equipment is defined in a block called "UEPCOP: User Equipment Power Consumption Optimization". Management: Evolved Packet System Connection Management) model. The basic idea is to limit the reachable time when it is inactive for a long time. The reachable time of the paging for the user equipment is only limited to the time of the activity timer when the user equipment enters the idle state from the connected state.

In particular, Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an ECM state machine model in a user equipment. As shown in FIG. 1 , the ECM model in the user equipment, that is, the ECM state machine has three states, namely, an ECM connection state and an ECM. Idle state and ECM sleep state. When the user equipment is in the connected state, if the corresponding RRC connection is released, the ECM state machine enters the ECM idle state at this time, and the activity timer in the ECM state machine is started, and the countdown starts, if the activity timer is The scheduled time has elapsed, that is, the activity timer expires, at which time the ECM state machine will enter a sleep state; when the ECM state machine is in a sleep state, and the periodic tracking area update expires or a caller communication needs to be initiated, The ECM state machine will again re-enter the idle state, and if an RRC connection is established thereafter, the ECM state machine will return to the connected state again, thus working cyclically.

The ECM model enables machine-type user equipment to better save energy because it can be dormant when not in use, however, the cost of doing so is that sometimes the user equipment will be unreachable, such as when the user equipment is in a dormant state. At the time, it will not respond as it should to the page addressed to it. From the perspective of the core network node, as long as the user equipment goes to sleep, paging will not work. For applications that are not sensitive to latency, such as software updates or configuration information updates, the user equipment does not respond to the page without any major problems, but for applications such as instant triggers that require upstream reporting, this It is unacceptable. In the existing standard, the retransmission of the paging of the Evolved Packet System using the User Equipment Identity S-TMSI is controlled by the T3413 timer if the core network node does not receive the previous paging within the time specified by the timer. The response is resent when the timer expires.

From the point of view of the access network node such as the base station, it should be in the slave core network. After receiving the paging message, the node selects an appropriate paging occasion (PO: Paging Occasion) to transmit the paging message. However, if the user equipment to be paged is in a dormant state, then the access network node does not need to distribute the paging message at this time, as this will be doomed to fail.

Therefore, when a state machine model with a dormant state is introduced in the user equipment, it will cause adverse effects on the existing communication network while bringing the power consumption of the machine type user equipment, for example, it causes a paging failure rate. Improve and so on. Therefore, when the user equipment enters the dormant state, paging or paging retransmission should be avoided to the user equipment at this time; further, the access network node should also be before the state machine in the user equipment enters the dormant state, that is, Selecting the appropriate paging occasion to send the page before the activity timer expires. Otherwise, even if the access network node sends a page to the user equipment, such paging is destined to be unsuccessful, which will result in waste of communication resources. .

According to the above understanding of the prior art and the existing technical problems, if a method for optimizing the paging schedule in the access network node and the core network node of the wireless communication network and reasonably selecting the transmission timing of the paging can be proposed, That would be very helpful.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a method for paging optimization in a core network node in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes a core network node, an access network node, and a user And storing, in the core network node, an activity timer of the user equipment, where the method includes: A: the core network node receives a trigger page indication; B: the core network node detects a current state of the user equipment paged by the trigger page indication; and C: when the user equipment is in an idle state and When the activity timer stored by the core network node is started, the core network node sends the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment to the access network node.

The method according to the present invention causes the core network node to send the paging message and the user equipment only when the user equipment is in an idle state and the activity timer of the user equipment is activated. The remaining time of the activity timer is sent to the access network node, thereby realizing the effective utilization of the existing communication resources, improving the success rate of the paging message transmission; in addition, the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment Sending to the access network node also ensures subsequent transmission of the optimized paging in the access network node.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the step C further includes: - if the user equipment is in a dormant state, the core network node does not send the paging message to the access network node. In this way, the transmission of the paging message when the user equipment is in the dormant state is avoided, and the utilization of the wireless communication resource is improved.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the wireless communication network further includes a gateway, and in the step A, the core network node receives the triggered paging indication from the gateway. Those with ordinary knowledge in the field should It is understood that the gateway here includes both the SGW and the GGSN.

In an embodiment of the invention, the core network node is a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN).

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the access network node is a base station (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC).

Optionally, in an embodiment according to the present invention, the core network node has a first state machine synchronized with an evolved packet system connection management state machine having a dormant state in the user equipment. In this manner, the core network node can quickly learn the current state of the user equipment that is being paged, thereby facilitating paging optimization.

Additionally, when the first state machine enters an idle state from a connected state, an activity timer in the first state machine is started, and when the activity timer expires, the first state machine enters a sleep state And enter an idle state when the first state machine is in the sleep state and receives a request message from the user equipment.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the request message includes a Tracking Area Updating (TAU) request message, a Routing Area Updating (RAU) request message, a Service Request message, or an extension. Service Request Message (Extended Service Request).

Optionally, in an embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the core network a sleep state indicator in the node indicating a current state of the user equipment, wherein the sleep state indicator is stored in a user equipment context stored by the core network node, and

- when the activity timer of the user equipment stored by the core network node expires, the sleep status indicator is placed into a bit to indicate that the user equipment is in a sleep state;

- when the core network node receives a request message from the user equipment, the sleep status indicator is reset to indicate that the user equipment is in a non-sleep state.

Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the request message referred to herein also includes a Tracking Area Updating (TAU) request message, a Routing Area Updating (RAU) request message, and a Service Request (Service Request). Message or extended Service Request message.

Furthermore, a second aspect of the present invention provides a method for paging optimization in an access network node in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes a core network node, an access network The node and the user equipment and the activity timer of the user equipment are stored in the core network node, and the method includes: P: receiving, by the access network node, a paging message and a remaining time of an activity timer of the user equipment from the core network node; Q: The access network node detects whether there is an available paging occasion within the remaining time, and if so, transmits the paging message to the user equipment by using the available paging occasion.

In an embodiment in accordance with the present invention, in the step Q, when the access network node detects that there is no available paging occasion within the remaining time, the access network node to the core The network node sends a failure indication.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the failure indication is configured to indicate that the user equipment is unreachable or to indicate that the paging procedure has failed.

Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the Detailed Description of the Description.

1 shows a schematic diagram 100 of an ECM state machine model in a user equipment; FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram 200 of one embodiment of a method for user paging optimization in a core network node in accordance with the present invention; 3 shows a schematic diagram 300 of an ECM state machine model in an MME; FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram 400 of a PMM state machine model in an SGSN; FIG. 5 shows a user in an access network node in accordance with the present invention. Flowchart 500 of one embodiment of a method of paging optimization; FIG. 6 is a flow chart 600 showing another embodiment of a method for user paging optimization in a core network node in accordance with the present invention; Figure 7 shows a system flow diagram of one embodiment of a successful page transmission. 700; and Figure 8 shows a system flow diagram 800 of one embodiment of a page transmission failure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar drawing symbols indicate the same or similar devices (module) or steps.

In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments that follow, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of the invention. The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, specific embodiments The exemplary embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive of all embodiments in accordance with the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an ECM state machine model in a user equipment. Since the figure has been described in the background art, it will not be described herein.

In the present invention, in order to improve the success rate of paging transmission and effectively utilize limited wireless communication resources, a method for paging optimization in a core network node in a wireless communication network is proposed, wherein The wireless communication network includes a core network node, an access network node, and a user equipment, and an activity timer of the user equipment is stored at the core network node. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the following steps: First, in step 210, a core network node receives a trigger paging indication; Then, in step 220, the core network node detects the current state of the user equipment paged by the trigger page indication; finally, in step 230, when the user equipment is in the idle state and the activity of the user equipment stored by the core network node is timed When the device is started, the core network node sends the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment to the access network node. Additionally or alternatively, in step 230, if the user equipment is in a dormant state, the core network node does not send a paging message to the access network node. In this way, the transmission of the paging message when the user equipment is in the dormant state is avoided, and the utilization of the wireless communication resource is improved.

Additionally, the wireless communication network also includes a gateway, and in step 210, the core network node receives the triggered paging indication from the gateway. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the gateway herein includes both SGW and GGSN.

Optionally, the core network node is a mobility management entity or a serving GPRS support node. The access network node is a base station, a wireless network controller, or a base station controller.

In order to implement the method illustrated in FIG. 2, in the step 220, the present invention is proposed to be implemented in two ways, specifically a state machine method and a sleep state indicator method, respectively. In order to facilitate the description of the above two modes, two possible state machines are first described below with the aid of FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively.

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an ECM state machine model in the MME. Here, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the MME is only one example of a core network node, which does not limit the scope of protection of the present invention. system. As can be seen from the figure, as shown in FIG. 2, the ECM model in the MME, that is, the ECM state machine has three states, namely an ECM connection state, an ECM idle state, and an ECM sleep state. When the MME is in the connected state, if the corresponding S1 connection has been released, the ECM state machine enters the ECM idle state at this time, and the activity timer in the ECM state machine will be started, and the countdown starts, if the activity timer is The scheduled time has elapsed, that is, the activity timer has expired, and the ECM state machine will enter a sleep state; when the ECM state machine is in a sleep state, the MME receives the tracking area update request message and the service request from the user equipment at this time. When the message or the extended service request message is sent, the ECM state machine will re-enter the idle state. If the S1 connection has been established, the ECM state machine will return to the connected state again, thus working cyclically.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a PMM state machine model in an SGSN. Here, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the SGSN is only one example of a core network node, which does not limit the scope of protection of the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, as shown in FIG. 3, the PMM (Packet Mobility Management) model in the SGSN, that is, the PMM state machine has three states, namely, a PMM connection state, a PMM idle state, and a PMM sleep. status. When the SGSN is in the connected state, if the corresponding Iu connection has been released, the PMM state machine enters the PMM idle state, and the activity timer in the PMM state machine is started, and the countdown starts, if the activity timer is The scheduled time has elapsed, that is, the activity timer has expired, and the PMM state machine will enter a sleep state; when the PMM state machine is in a sleep state, at this time When the SGSN receives the routing area update request message, the service request message, or the extended service request message from the user equipment, the PMM state machine will re-enter the idle state, and if the Iu connection is established, the PMM state machine will return again. The connection state, thus working cyclically.

Specifically, in actual operation, the core network node has a first state machine synchronized with the evolved packet system connection management state machine having a dormant state in the user equipment. In this manner, the core network node can quickly learn the current state of the user equipment that is required to be paged, thereby facilitating paging optimization. Wherein, when the first state machine enters the idle state from the connected state, the activity timer in the first state machine is started, and when the activity timer expires, the first state machine enters a sleep state; when the first state machine is in the The idle state is entered when the sleep state is received and a request message from the user equipment is received. The request message includes a tracking area update request message, a routing area update request message, a service request message, or an extended service request message.

In addition to the state machine method described above, it is also possible to implement the above method step 220 by replacing the state machine with a sleep state indicator, in particular, having a sleep state indicator indicating the current state of the user equipment in the core network node, The sleep state indicator is stored in a user equipment context stored by the core network node, and - when an activity timer of the user equipment stored by the core network node expires, a sleep state indicator is placed in a bit, To indicate that the user equipment is in a sleep state; - when the core network node receives the request message from the user equipment, sleep The status indicator is reset to indicate that the user equipment is in a non-sleep state.

The method according to the present invention causes the core network node to send the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment to the core network node only when the user equipment is in an idle state and the activity timer of the user equipment is activated. The access network node, the remaining time is the time from the current system time until the activity timer expires, thereby realizing the effective utilization of the existing communication resources, improving the success rate of the paging message transmission; The transmission of the remaining time of the device's activity timer to the access network node also ensures subsequent transmission of the optimized paging in the access network node.

In order to cooperate with the above-mentioned core network node, a method of assisting paging optimization must also be implemented in the access network node accordingly. The present invention proposes a method for paging optimization in an access network node in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network comprises a core network node, an access network node and user equipment and is in the core network The activity timer of the user equipment is stored in the node. As shown in FIG. 5, the method includes the following steps. First, in step 510, the access network node receives the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment from the core network node; then, in step 520, save The fetch node detects whether there is an available paging occasion for the remaining time, and if so, uses the available paging occasion to send a paging message to the user equipment.

Additionally or alternatively, in step 520, the access network node sends a failure indication to the core network node when the access network node detects that there is no available paging occasion for the remaining time. Additionally, the failure indication is configured to indicate that the user equipment is unreachable or to indicate that the paging procedure has failed.

6 shows a flow diagram 600 of another embodiment of a method for user paging optimization in a core network node in accordance with the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, first, at the beginning of the method, the core network node receives a trigger paging indication from the gateway, and then, the core network node determines whether the activity timer has expired, and if it has expired, the method directly ends. Otherwise, the paging message will be sent to the access network node and the remaining time of the activity timer, which is the time remaining from the current system time until the activity timer expires.

Figure 7 shows a system flow diagram of one embodiment of a successful page transmission. As can be seen from the figure, first, the MME receives a trigger paging indication from the SGW. In this embodiment, it is a downlink data notification, and the MME will detect whether the activity timer on it has expired, and if it has expired, do not make any Operation, that is, the paging message is not sent to the access network node; otherwise, the paging message is sent together with the remaining time of the activity timer to an access network node such as a base station; next, the access network node When there is a paging occasion available within the corresponding remaining time, the paging message is sent to the responding user equipment by using the corresponding paging occasion, that is, the paging message is successfully transmitted.

While FIG. 8 shows a system flow diagram of one embodiment of a page transmission failure. As can be seen from the figure, the previous method steps are the same. In this embodiment, the gateway is not the SGW but the GGSN; the core network node is not the MME but the SGSN; and the access network node It is not a base station, but an RNC, which is replaceable for those of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the RNC does not have a corresponding paging opportunity available during the remaining time, and the paging will not be sent to the user equipment. The message, that is, the paging message failed to be sent. Optionally, the access network node RNC can send a failure indication to the core network node SGSN, where the failure indication indicates that the corresponding user equipment is unreachable or no paging occasion is available, thereby causing the failure of the paging message transmission.

The above-described methods for paging optimization in the core network node and in the access network node can be applied to both the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system and the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

The method according to the present invention realizes effective utilization of existing communication resources, improves the success rate of paging message transmission, and further transmits the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment to the access network node. It is ensured that the subsequent transmission of the paging can be optimized in the access network node.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above-described exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not limiting in any way. In addition, it is obvious that the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements and steps, and the word "a" does not exclude the plural. Multiple elements recited in the device claim can also be implemented by one element. The first, second, etc. words are used to denote names and do not denote any particular order.

Claims (12)

A method for paging optimization in a core network node in a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network includes a core network node, an access network node, and a user equipment and is stored in the core network node An activity timer of the user equipment, the method comprising: A: the core network node receives a trigger paging indication; B: the core network node detects a current state of the user equipment that is paged by the triggered paging indication; and C: When the user equipment is in an idle state and the activity timer of the user equipment stored by the core network node has been started, the core network node sends the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment to the save Take the network node. The method of claim 1, wherein the step C further comprises: - if the user equipment is in a dormant state, the core network node does not send the paging message to the access network node . The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication network further comprises a gateway, and in the step A, the core network node receives the triggered paging indication from the gateway. The method of claim 1, wherein the core network node is a mobility management entity or a serving GPRS support node. The method of claim 1, wherein the access network node is a base station, a radio network controller, or a base station controller. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the core network node has a first state machine synchronized with an evolved packet system connection management state machine having a dormant state in the user equipment. The method of claim 6, wherein, when the first state machine enters an idle state from a connected state, an activity timer in the first state machine is started, when the activity timer expires, The first state machine enters a sleep state; - enters an idle state when the first state machine is in the sleep state and receives a request message from the user equipment. The method of claim 7, wherein the request message comprises a tracking area update request message, a routing area update request message, a service request message, or an extended service request message. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the core network node has a sleep state indicator indicating a current state of the user equipment, wherein the sleep state indicator is stored in the core The user equipment context stored by the network node, and - when the activity timer of the user equipment stored by the core network node expires, the sleep status indicator is placed into a bit to indicate that the user equipment is in a sleep state; - When the core network node receives the request message from the user equipment, the sleep status indicator is reset to indicate that the user equipment is in a non-sleep state. A method for paging in an access network node in a wireless communication network The method for optimizing, wherein the wireless communication network comprises a core network node, an access network node and a user equipment, and an activity timer of the user equipment is stored in the core network node, the method comprising: P: storing the Receiving, by the network node, the paging message and the remaining time of the activity timer of the user equipment; Q: the access network node detects whether there is an available paging occasion in the remaining time, and if so, utilizes The available paging occasion sends the paging message to the user equipment. The method of claim 10, wherein, in the step Q, when the access network node detects that there is no available paging occasion within the remaining time, the access network node to the core network The node sends a failure indication. The method of claim 11, wherein the failure indication is configured to indicate that the user equipment is unreachable or to indicate that the paging procedure has failed.