WO2016119206A1

WO2016119206A1 - Paging repeat pattern detection and skipping

Info

Publication number: WO2016119206A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/071931
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chao JIN; Qiang Shen; Insung Kang; Yong Xie; Shiau-He Tsai; Jinxing WANG
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2015-01-30
Filing date: 2015-01-30
Publication date: 2016-08-04

Abstract

The disclosure provides for detecting paging messages. A first user equipment (UE) may determine that a first paging indicator received by the first UE during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. The first UE may determine that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The paging efficiency condition may be based on a false alarm rate or channel conditions. The first UE may skip decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator during a consecutive DRX cycle. In an aspect, the first UE may also determine a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the first UE. The first UE may skip decoding of the paging channel during a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the paging pattern.

Description

PAGING REPEAT PATTERN DETECTION AND SKIPPING

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to paging in wireless networks.

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. The networks may be multiple access networks capable of supporting communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. An example of such a network is a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) . UTRAN is the Radio Access Network (RAN) that is part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS) , a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology promulgated by the “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP) . UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , currently uses various standards including Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High Speed Downlink Packet Data (HSDPA) , Time Division–Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA) , and Time Division–Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) . By way of example, China is pursuing TD-SCDMA as the underlying air interface in the UTRAN architecture with the existing GSM infrastructures for the core network.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in UMTS technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

A wireless device or user equipment (UE) may periodically monitor a paging indication channel (PICH) to determine whether a network is attempting to contact the UE, for example, to set up an incoming call. The PICH may be organized into several paging groups. When the PICH indicates a page for a paging group, each of the UEs in the group may decode a paging channel to determine whether the UE is being paged. Decoding the paging channel may consume resources and may be unnecessary when the paging message is for another UE in the paging group.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The disclosure provides for controlling reception of paging messages. A user equipment (UE) may determine that a first paging indicator received by the UE during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the UE. The UE may determine that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The paging efficiency condition may be based on a false alarm rate or channel conditions. The UE may skip decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator during a consecutive DRX cycle. In an aspect, the UE may also determine a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the UE. The UE may skip decoding of the paging channel during a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the paging pattern.

In an aspect, the disclosure provides a method of detecting paging messages. The method may include determining that a first paging indicator received by a first UE during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. The method may further include determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The method may also include skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides an apparatus for detecting paging messages. The apparatus may include a page indication component configured to determine that a first paging indicator received by a first UE during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. The apparatus may further include a paging efficiency component configured to determine that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The apparatus may also include a page skipping component configured to skip decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides another apparatus for detecting paging messages. The apparatus may include means for determining that a first paging indicator received by a UE during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. The apparatus may also include means for determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The apparatus may also include means for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a computer readable medium storing computer executable code for controlling reception of paging messages. The computer readable medium may include code for determining that a first paging indicator received by a UE during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. The computer readable medium may also include code for determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. The computer readable medium may also include code for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition. In an aspect, the computer readable medium may be a non-transitory computer readable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a wireless device in communication with a radio network.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart conceptually illustrating an example of a method of monitoring a paging channel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart conceptually illustrating an example of another method of monitoring a paging channel.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart conceptually illustrating an example of a method of determining a pattern of incorrect paging indicators.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a channel structure in a telecommunications system.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of paging channel structure.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a telecommunications system.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an access network.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a NodeB in communication with a UE in a telecommunications system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the sole configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

A wireless device, for example, a user equipment (UE) , may enter an idle mode when not actively engaged in a call. In the idle mode, the UE may periodically wake up according to a discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle to monitor a paging indication channel (PICH) . The UE may decode a paging channel based on the PICH.

In a time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) system, for example, the paging indication channel (PICH) may occur for a paging group during the “on” (e.g. , wake up) period of the DRX cycle. If the UE detects the PICH, the UE may then continue to remain woken up, or wake up again later in the DRX cycle, and decode the paging channel during the off period of the DRX cycle. Waking up to decode the paging channel may consume UE resources such as, for example, battery power.

The PICH may indicate a page to a paging group. In an aspect, a network may repeat paging messages in order to increase the chances that the desired UE (s) will be able to correctly decode the paging message. For example, a network may repeat a paging message for 2, 3, or more consecutive DRX cycles. If a UE decodes the paging channel the first time a message is broadcast and determines that the message is not for the UE, the repeated messages may also not be for the UE.

The present disclosure provides for skipping decoding of the paging channel during one or more consecutive DRX cycles after determining that a paging message is not for the UE. For example, the UE may remain in the idle mode and conserve battery power despite the PICH indicating a paging message. The decision to skip decoding of the paging channel may be based on paging efficiency conditions, such as a false alarm rate and channel quality. The number of DRX cycles to skip decoding may be based on a paging pattern of the network, which may be determined by the UE.

Referring to FIG. 1, in an aspect, a wireless communications system 100 includes a UE 110 having a paging component 130 configured to control reception of paging messages at the UE 110. In an aspect, the term “component” as used herein may be one of the parts that make up a system, may be hardware or software, and may be divided into other components. For example, paging component 130 may include a processor configured to process downlink communications 108 to determine whether to receive a paging message. The UE 110 may also include a receiving component 120 controlled by the paging component 130 to receive downlink communications 108. The UE 110 may also include a transmitting component 150 controlled by paging component 130 for answering paging messages.

In an aspect, the wireless communications system 100 may also include one or more base stations 102, which may transmit downlink communications 108 using different codes. The downlink communications 108 may include multiple physical layer channels such as, for example, paging indicator channel (PICH) 112 and secondary common control physical channel (S-CCPCH) 114. The PICH 112 may indicate that a paging message will be available on the S-CCPCH for one or more UEs (

e.g. UE

110, 116, 118) of a paging group. S-CCPCH 114 may carry one or more paging messages transmitted by the base station 102. For example, a paging message may indicate an incoming call for a UE 110 or an update to system information of the base station 102. In an aspect, the term “paging channel” may refer to a transport channel carrying paging messages or a physical channel such as the S-CCPCH 114 that carries the transport channel. In an aspect, for example, a transport paging channel may be carried by a primary common control physical channel (P-CCPCH) . The base station 102 may be controlled by a radio network controller (RNC) 104 and provide access to the network 106.

UEs

116 and 118 may be similar to UE 110.

UEs

116, 118 may also receive the same downlink communications 108 for determining paging.

The receiving component 120 may receive wireless signals such as radio frequency signals transmitted by one or more base stations 102. In an aspect, the receiving component 120 may include one or more of a radio receiver and receive chain components and/or modules, or a transceiver. The receiving component 120 may receive radio frequency (RF) analog signals and sample the signals to provide digital samples. For example, in a TD-SCDMA system, the receiving component 120 may operate at a chip rate of 1.28 million chips per second (Mcps) . The receiving component 120 may obtain a sample for each chip position. In an aspect, the receiving component 120 may receive signals from multiple antennas. The receiving component 120 may obtain samples from each of the multiple antennas and then combine the samples to obtain a composite signal. In an aspect, the PICH 112 may decode to a binary value of 0 or 1. In an aspect, the S-CCPCH may use a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to ensure correct decoding. The receiving component 120 may determine that a paging message is received when the CRC passes.

The paging component 130 may include hardware or means for controlling reception of paging messages at the UE 110, as described herein. Further, in an aspect, the paging component 130 may include or be executable by a processor executing firmware or software for controlling reception of paging messages. For example, the paging component 130 may determine whether the UE 110 should receive and decode a paging channel based on reception of the PICH 112. The paging component 130 may include a page indication component for determining that the PICH 112 received during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the UE 110. The paging component 130 may also include a paging efficiency component for determining whether the UE 110 is in a paging efficiency condition, which may be based on a false alarm rate and channel quality as discussed herein. The paging component 130 may include a page skipping component for skipping decoding of the paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator on the PICH 112 during a consecutive DRX cycle. In an aspect, the paging component 130 may determine a paging pattern by monitoring paging messages for one or more UEs in a paging group of the UE 110. Accordingly, the number of DRX cycles where decoding is skipped may depend on the paging pattern.

The paging pattern component 132 may include hardware or means for determining a paging pattern of a base station 102. Further, in an aspect, the paging pattern component 132 may include or be executable by a processor executing firmware or software for determining a paging pattern of the base station 102. The paging pattern component 132 may be triggered to perform pattern detection when the UE 110 transitions to an idle state. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may perform pattern detection after a cell reselection or after ending an active call. The paging pattern component 132 may only determine the paging pattern based on channel quality, such as when channel conditions are good (e.g. as determined by channel quality component 142) . In an aspect, the paging pattern component 132 may receive decoded information for the PICH 112 and S-CCPCH 114 from the receiving component 120. The paging pattern component 132 may analyze paging messages to determine a number of repeated paging messages for one or more UEs in the same paging group as the UE 110. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may decode the paging message to determine one or more UE IDs carried in the paging message. The paging pattern component 132 may determine the paging group for each UE ID carried in the paging message. The paging pattern component 132 may then monitor subsequent paging messages during a monitoring interval for one or more UEs in the same paging group as the UE 110. In an aspect, the paging pattern component 132 may determine the number of consecutive DRX cycles where the paging message for a UE is repeated. In an aspect, the paging pattern component 132 may select the smallest number of repeated paging messages as the paging pattern for the UE 110.

The page indication component 134 may be configured to determine whether a paging indicator received by the UE 110 during a DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message for the UE 110. Further, in an aspect, the page indication component 134 may include or be executable by a processor executing firmware or software for determining whether a paging indicator received by the UE 110 during a DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message for the UE 110. In an aspect, the page indication component 134 may control the receiving component 120 to receive and decode the PICH 112 according to the DRX cycle. For example, the page indication component 134 may be configured to wake up the receiving component 120 once each DRX cycle. The DRX cycle may have a duration of, for example, 640 milliseconds (ms) , 1.28 seconds, 2.56 seconds, or another time period configured by the base station 102, RNC 104, or network 106. As discussed in further detail below, the page indication component 134 may wake up the receiving component 120 during a paging opportunity for the paging group of the UE 110. The page indication component 134 may determine a value of the decoded PICH during the paging opportunity. For example, a value of PICH ＝ 0 may indicate that no paging message will be available, while a value of PICH ＝ 1 may indicate that a paging message will be available. When a paging message is available, the page indication component 134 may control the receiving component 120 to receive and decode the paging channel, which may be carried by, for example, S-CCPCH 114, to obtain a paging message. The page indication component 134 may determine whether the decoded paging message includes a UE identifier (UE ID) such as, for example, an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) of the UE 110. If the paging message includes a UE ID of the UE 110, the page indication component 134 may indicate a page for the UE 110. If, however, the paging message does not include a UE ID of the UE 110, the page indication component 134 may indicate that the paging message is not for the UE 110. In an aspect, a paging message that the UE 110 decodes but does not include a UE ID of the UE 110 may be considered a false alarm.

The paging efficiency component 136 may include hardware of means for determining whether skipping decoding of a paging message may be efficient for the UE 110. Further, in an aspect, the paging efficiency component 136 may include or be executable by a processor executing firmware or software for determining whether skipping decoding of paging messages may be efficient for the UE 110. In order to accomplish this determination, the paging efficiency component 136 may evaluate one or more paging efficiency conditions, which may include but are not limited to a false alarm rate and channel quality as discussed herein. In an aspect, the paging efficiency component 136 may include a paging rate component 140, a channel quality component 142, and/or other components for determining specific paging efficiency conditions. The paging efficiency component 136 may allow skipping of decoding of the paging channel when one or more paging efficiency conditions are satisfied.

For example, the paging rate component 140 may be configured to determine whether skipping decoding of paging message is efficient based on a false alarm rate. In an aspect, the paging rate component 140 may track a false alarm rate of the PICH 112 based on indications determined by the page indication component 134. For example, the paging rate component 140 may compare a false alarm rate (PCH_FA) to a false alarm threshold (TH_PCH_FA) to determine whether skipping decoding of paging messages will be efficient. In an aspect, when the false alarm rate is high, it is likely that skipping decoding of paging messages will reduce the consumption of power necessary for decoding the false alarms without delaying reception of paging messages for the UE 110. On the other hand, if the false alarm rate is low, skipping decoding of paging messages may not significantly reduce power consumption. In an aspect, the paging rate component 140 may track the false alarm rate using a filter over each DRX cycle. For example, PCH_FA may be initialized to 0 upon transitioning to an idle mode and tracked using the following formula:

PCH_FA ＝ (1-β) *PCH_FA +β *PICH (1)

β may be a configurable weighting factor. Accordingly, when PICH ＝ 0, PCH_FA may decrease and when PICH ＝ 1 and the paging message is not for the UE 110, PCH_FA may increase. IF PICH ＝ 1 and the paging message is for the UE 110, the UE may transition out of idle mode to, for example, receive an incoming call. The paging rate component 140 may use other filters or weighted averages for tracking the false alarm rate. The paging rate component 140 may determine that skipping paging would be efficient when PCH_FA exceeds TH_PCH_FA.

Further, for example, the channel quality component 142 may be configured to determine whether skipping decoding of paging message is efficient based on a false alarm rate. In an aspect, it may be inefficient to skip decoding of paging messages when channel conditions are poor because the UE 110 may be unable to correctly decode a paging message the first time the paging message is transmitted. Accordingly, the UE 110 may decode the repeated paging messages. In an aspect, the channel quality component 142 may compare a channel quality measurement such as a signal to noise ratio (SNR) to a configurable threshold (TH_SNR) to determine whether skipping decoding of paging messages is likely to be efficient. Other measurements of channel quality may also be used.

The page skipping component 138 may include hardware of means for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the UE 110 during a consecutive DRX cycle. Further, in an aspect, the page skipping component 138 may include or be executable by a processor executing firmware or software for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the UE 110 during a consecutive DRX cycle. In an aspect, for example, the page skipping component 138 may control the receiving component 120 to power down instead of receiving and decoding the S-CCPCH 114 after a false alarm is detected. In an aspect, the page skipping component 138 may determine a number of consecutive DRX cycles to skip based on the paging pattern determined by paging pattern component 132. For example, the page skipping component 138 may skip one less than the number of DRX cycles in a paging pattern. Accordingly, the UE 110 may decode the first paging message in the pattern to determine that another UE is being paged, then skip the remaining DRX cycles in the pattern.

The transmitting component 150 may be configured to transmit data. The transmitting component 150 may include one or more of a transmitter and/or a transceiver. The transmitting component 150 may transmit information during uplink time slots. For example, the transmitting component 150 may transmit an answer to the paging message when the paging message includes a UE ID of the UE 110.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method 200 of monitoring a paging channel. Referring to FIG. 1, in an operational aspect, a UE 110 may perform various aspects of a method 200 for monitoring a paging channel. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the method is shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the method (and further methods related thereto) is/are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be appreciated that a method could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a method in accordance with one or more features described herein.

In block 202, the method 200 may include determining a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of a first UE. In an aspect, for example, the paging pattern component 132 may determine a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE 116 in a paging group of the first UE 110. The paging pattern component 133 may determine the paging pattern based on a monitoring interval. Further details are provided below with regard to FIG. 4.

In block 204, the method 200 may include determining that a first paging indicator received by the first UE during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE. In an aspect, for example, the page indication component 134 may determine that a first paging indicator received by the first UE 110 during a first DRX cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE 110. The page indication component 134 may determine whether the paging message includes a UE ID corresponding to the UE 110, e.g. , by comparing a known ID of first UE 110 to a UE ID received in the paging message to determine if they match. The paging message may, however, include a UE ID of another UE in the same paging group as the UE 110, such as, for example, UE 116.

In block 206, the method 200 may include determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition. In an aspect, for example, the paging efficiency component 136 may determine that the first UE 110 is in a paging efficiency condition. The paging efficiency condition may include or be based on one or more of a page rate condition, a channel quality condition, and/or other conditions that may indicate that skipping paging messages may be efficient. In an aspect, the paging efficiency condition may determine that skipping paging messages is likely to be efficient when a false alarm rate exceeds a first threshold and a channel quality exceeds a second threshold.

In block 208, the method 200 may include skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition. In an aspect, for example, the page skipping component 138 may skip decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE 110 during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition. For example, the page skipping component 138 may cause the receiving component 120 to skip decoding the paging channel by powering down the receiving component 120 during a second DRX cycle following the first DRX cycle.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating another method 300 of monitoring a paging channel, where method 300 may represent one particular use case of implementing the aspects of the present disclosure. As such, method 300 may represent a more detailed implementation of method 200 (FIG. 2) . For example, in an operational aspect, UE 110 (FIG. 1) may perform various aspects of method 300 for monitoring a paging channel. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the method is shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the method (and further methods related thereto) is/are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be appreciated that a method could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a method in accordance with one or more features described herein.

In block 302, method 300 may include receiving a PICH indicating a page for a UE. For example, in an aspect, the receiving component 120 may receive the PICH 112 during a paging opportunity for the paging group of the UE 110. The PICH 112 may have a value of 1, indicating that a paging message for a UE in the paging group will be available. For example, the paging message may be available on a paging channel carried by the S-CCPCH 114 during the current DRX cycle.

In block 304, method 300 may include decoding the PCH in response to receiving the PICH indicating a page for the UE. For example, in an aspect, the page indication component 134 may wake up the receiving component 120 during the current DRX cycle to receive and decode the paging message based in the paging indication on PICH 112. In block 306, the method 300 may include determining whether the paging message identifies the UE 110. In an aspect, for example, page indication component 134 may determine whether the paging message identifies the UE 110. For example, the page indication component 134 may determine whether the paging message includes a UE ID of the UE 110. If the paging message identifies the UE 110, in block 308, the method 300 may include connecting to an incoming call. For example, the transmitting component 150 may transmit an answer to the paging message using known procedures. The block 308 may also include determining that the paging message indicates updated system information and receiving the updated system information.

In block 310, if the paging message does not identify the UE 110, the method 300 may include updating the false alarm rate. In an aspect, for example, the paging rate component 140 may update the false alarm rate. In block 312, method 300 may include comparing the false alarm rate to the false alarm threshold. In an aspect, for example, the paging rate component 140 may compare the false alarm rate to the false alarm threshold. If the false alarm rate does not exceed the false alarm threshold, in block 316, the method 300 may include decoding the next indicated page message. In an aspect, for example, the receiving component 120 may decode the next indicated paging message.

In block 314, if the false alarm rate does exceed the false alarm threshold, the method 300 may include comparing the channel quality to a threshold channel quality. In an aspect, for example, the channel quality component 142 may compare the channel quality to a threshold channel quality. If the channel quality does not exceed the channel quality threshold, in block 316, the method 300 may include decoding the next indicated paging message. In an aspect, for example, the receiving component 120 may decode the next indicated paging message.

In block 318, if the channel quality does exceed the channel quality threshold, the method 300 may include skipping decoding of the paging channel based on the paging pattern. In an aspect, for example, the page skipping component 138 may skip decoding of the paging channel based on the paging pattern. For example, the page skipping component may cause the receiving component 120 to remain powered down during one or more subsequent DRX cycles even though the PICH 112 may indicate a paging message. In an aspect, the page skipping component 138 may also cause the receiving component 120 to skip receiving and decoding of the PICH 112 during the subsequent DRX cycles.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of determining a paging pattern of a base station, which is one example of how to perform block 202 of method 200 (FIG. 2) . For example, in an operational aspect, UE 110 (FIG. 1) may perform various aspects of method 400 for determining a paging pattern. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the method is shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the method (and further methods related thereto) is/are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be appreciated that a method could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a method in accordance with one or more features described herein.

In block 402, the method 400 may include receiving and decoding the PICH 112 during a first paging opportunity for a paging group of the UE 110. In an aspect, for example, the receiving component 120 may receive and decode the PICH 112 during a first paging opportunity for a paging group of the UE 110. The page indication component 134 may determine that the PICH 112 has a value of 0 during the paging opportunity indicating that no UE in the paging group is being paged. In block 404, the method 400 may include, receiving and decodeing the PICH 112 during the next paging opportunity for the paging group of the UE 110. In an aspect, for example, the receiving component 120 may receive and decode the PICH 112 during the next paging opportunity for the paging group of the UE 110. The next paging opportunity may be in the subsequent DRX cycle following the first paging opportunity. The page indication component 134 may determine that the PICH 112 has a value of 1 during the next paging opportunity indicating that at least one of the UEs in the paging group is being paged. In block 406, the method 400 may include starting a monitoring window for monitored UEs in the paging group based on the status of the PICH 112 in

block

402 and 404. In an aspect, for example, the paging pattern component 132 start a monitoring window for monitored UEs in the paging group based on the status of the PICH 112 in

blocks

402 and 404. That is, the paging pattern component 132 may start the monitoring window based on a first paging opportunity with no paging indication followed by a second paging opportunity with a paging indication. This pattern may indicate that the paging indication in the second paging opportunity is the first paging indication in a paging pattern of repeated paging messages.

In block 408, the method 400 may include decoding the paging channel to obtain a paging message. In an aspect, for example, receiving component 120 may decode the paging channel to obtain a paging message. The receiving component 120 may perform a CRC to determine whether the paging message is correctly decoded. In block 410, the method 400 may include determining whether the paging message includes a UE ID of one or more monitored UEs. In an aspect, for example, the paging pattern component 132 or page indication component 134 may determine whether the paging message includes a UE ID of one or more monitored UEs. In an aspect the paging pattern component 132 may maintain a bit mask array, or other data structure indicating whether each monitored UE is paged during each DRX cycle of the monitoring window. The monitored UEs may be selected from the UE IDs in the paging group of the UE 110 received in the first paging message. Accordingly, for the first paging message, the method 400 may proceed to block 412 because every monitored UE may be identified in the first paging message. At block 412, the method 400 may include determining that a paging message is received for the monitored UEs for the DRX cycle. The paging pattern component 132 may determine that a paging message is received for the monitored UEs for the DRX cycle. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may set an indication in the data structure to 1 for each monitored UE for the first DRX cycle. In block 414, when the paging message does not include a UE ID for a monitored UE, the method 400 may include determining that the monitored UE was not paged during the DRX cycle. In an aspect, for example, the paging pattern component may determine that the monitored UE was not paged during the DRX cycle. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may set an indication in the data structure to 0 for each monitored UE that was not paged during the DRX cycle. The paging pattern component 132 may also determine that the monitored UE was not paged when the PICH has a value of 0 or the receiving component 120 is unable to decode the paging channel (e.g. the CRC fails) .

In block 416, after the status of each monitored UE is determined, the method 400 may include determining whether the monitoring window is finished. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may determine whether enough DRX cycles have been monitored. If the monitoring window is not finished, in block 418 the receiving component 120 may receive and decode the PICH 112 for the next paging opportunity in the next DRX cycle. If the value of PICH is 0, the method 400 may proceed to block 414 and determine that none of the monitored UEs received a page during the DRX cycle. If the value of the PICH is 1, the method 400 may return to block 408 to decode the paging channel and determine whether the paging message is for the monitored UEs.

In block 420, the method 400 may include determining a number of consecutive pages for the monitored UEs. For example, the paging pattern component 132 may determine a number of consecutive 1s in the data structure for each monitored UE. In an aspect, each monitored UE may have the same number of consecutive 1s, for example, because the base station 102 uses a fixed repeat pattern. In another aspect, one of the monitored UEs may have a smaller number of consecutive 1s. The paging pattern component 132 may select the UE having the smallest number of consecutive 1s for the paging pattern. In an aspect, the paging pattern component 132 may determine multiple paging patterns (e.g. a pattern for each UE in the paging group) . The page skipping component 138 may select a paging pattern to use based on a UE identified in a paging message (e.g. a false alarm) that does not identify the UE 110.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram showing a scenario 500 for a DRX cycle including paging opportunities. In an aspect, a UE such as, for example, UE 110 (FIG. 1) may wake up every DRX cycle while in an idle mode. For example, the UE 110 may wake up at time n, n+1k, n+2k, etc. , where n is the time of the start of a first DRX cycle and k is the duration of a DRX cycle. The UE 110 may decode the PICH 112 during a paging opportunity 506. The paging opportunity may be defined for a UE based on the paging group of the UE. The paging group of a UE may be based on a hash function of the UEs IMSI or other UE ID. For example, the UE 110 may be a member of, for example, paging group A. Paging groups A, B, and C may each have different paging opportunities 506, e.g. , a time window within each DRX cycle when the PICH may carry a paging indicator for the group. In an aspect, the value of the start of the DRX cycle, n, for each UE may be based on the paging group of the respective UE. The paging opportunity for each group may carry an indicator (e.g., a bit having a certain value, such as “1” or “0” ) that indicates whether a paging channel (PCH) carried on the S-CCPCH 114 carries a paging message 508 for at least one UE in the paging group. Each paging message 508 may include a paging type and a list of UE IDs for the paging message. A single paging message 508 may include UE IDs for UEs in different paging groups. The paging type may indicate how a UE should process the paging message. For example, the paging type may indicate that the UE has an incoming call or may indicate that system information has been updated.

The following example illustrates a possible scenario for receiving paging indicators and paging messages, but this example should not be construed as limiting as other examples may also be representative of the present aspects. During a first paging opportunity at time n, the PICH 112 may have a value of 0 indicating no paging message for the UEs in the paging group A. Accordingly, the UE 110 may not decode the S-CCPCH 114 and may not determine whether any UEs from other groups were paged in paging message 508a. During a second paging opportunity at time n+1k, the PICH may have a value of 1 indicating a paging message for a UE in paging group A. For example, the paging message 508b may indicate that

UE ID

1 and 2 were paged in paging message 508b. UE ID 1 may be a UE in a different group (e.g. paging group B) and UE ID 2 may be a UE in paging group A. Accordingly, the UE 110 may monitor the UE ID 2 during the monitoring window 502. At times n+1k, n+2k, and n+3k, the UE ID 2 may be paged, while at time n+4k, no UE in paging group A is paged. The UE ID 2 may then be paged again at times n+5k, n+6k, and n+7k. Accordingly, the paging pattern for UE ID 2 may be represented as a bit-map (1110111) for the monitoring window 502. Based on the bit-map, the UE 110 may determine that the paging pattern is 3 consecutive paging messages.

As another example, the UE 110 may have the UE ID 4 and be in the same group as UE ID 2 having a paging pattern of 3. At time n+1k, the UE 110 may determine that the PICH ＝ 1 and the UE 110 was not paged. Accordingly, the UE may skip the next 2 paging opportunities. Similarly, at time n+5k, the UE 110 may determine that the PICH ＝ 1 and the UE 110 was not paged and skip the next 2 paging opportunities (at n+6k and n+7) . However, the base station may begin paging the UE 110 at time n+6, for example, because of an incoming call. Accordingly, the UE may miss the paging opportunities at time n+6k and n+7k due to the skipping. The UE 110 may then decode the S-CCPCH at time n+8k and determine that the UE 110 is being paged based on the UE ID 4. Accordingly, in this example, the UE 110 may use the last paging opportunity in the paging pattern to detect a paging message.

FIG. 6 shows the channel structure 600 for a TD-SCDMA carrier, which is an example of one type of carrier that may be used to perform one or more of the present aspects. The carrier has a TD-SCDMA frame 602 that is 10 ms in length. The TD-SCDMA frame 602 is made up of two 5 ms subframes 604, and each subframe 604 is made up of seven time slots TS0 through TS6. The first time slot is TS0 and the last time slot is TS6. The first time slot, TS0, is for downlink (DL) only. TS0 may be a dedicated time slot and may be used exclusively for DL signaling. For example, TS0 may be used to carry the PCCPCH. The second time slot, TS1, is for uplink (UL) only. TS1 may be a dedicated time slot and may be used exclusively for UL transmissions. The remaining time slots TS2 through TS6 may be utilized for UL or DL, which can provide for flexibility in assigning the corresponding time slots. Between TS0 and TS1, there are three special timeslots, which include a DL pilot time slot (DwPTS) 606, a guard period (GP) 608, and a UL pilot time slot (UpPTS) 610 (also known as the UL pilot channel (UpPCH) ) . Each time slot TS0-TS6 includes two separate data portions 612 separated by a midamble 614 and followed by a guard period (GP) 616. The midamble 614 may be used for channel estimation and the GP 616 may be used to avoid inter-burst interference.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 700 employing a processing system 714, wherein apparatus 700 may correspond to the UE 110 (FIG. 1) and include paging component 130 for monitoring a paging channel as described herein. In this example, the processing system 714 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 702. The bus 702 may include any number of interconnections (for example, buses and bridges) depending on the specific application of the processing system 714 and the overall design constraints. The bus 702 links together or interconnects modules, components, or various circuits including one or more processors, represented generally by the processor 704, and computer-readable media, represented generally by the computer-readable medium 706. The bus 702 also may link or interconnect the paging component 130 to processor 704, and computer-readable medium 706. The bus 702 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface 708 provides an interface between the bus 702 and a transceiver 710. The transceiver 710 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium that may include for example the receiving component 120 and/or the transmitting component 150. Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface 712 (e.g. , keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

The processor 704 is responsible for managing the bus 702 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 706. The software, when executed by the processor 704, causes the processing system 714 to perform the various functions described infra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 706 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 704 when executing software.

In an aspect, the paging component 130 may be implemented by software executing on processor 704 and operating in conjunction with the computer-readable medium 706 and the bus 702.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a telecommunications system including one or more UEs 810, each of which may include a paging component 130 and be an example of the UE 110 (FIG. 1) . Various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be utilized across a broad array of telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards. One non-limiting example will now be presented with reference to a UMTS system employing a TD-SCDMA standard. In this example, the UMTS system includes a radio access network (RAN) 802 (e.g. , UTRAN) that provides various wireless services including telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and/or other services. The RAN 802 may be divided into a number of Radio Network Subsystems (RNS) , each controlled by a Radio Network Controller (RNC) . Only one RNC 806 is shown for illustrative purposes, however, the RAN 802 may include any number of RNCs. The RNC 806 is an apparatus responsible for, among other things, assigning, reconfiguring and releasing radio resources within the RNS. The RNC 806 may be interconnected to other RNCs in the RAN 802 through an interface comprising a direct physical connection or a virtual network using any suitable transport network.

The geographic region covered by the RNS may be divided into a number of cells, with a radio transceiver apparatus serving each cell. The radio transceiver apparatus is commonly referred to as a NodeB in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base station, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS) , an extended service set (ESS) , or some other suitable terminology. Two NodeBs 808 are shown for illustrative purposes, however, the RNS may include any number of wireless NodeBs 808. The NodeBs 808 provide wireless access points to a core network 804 for any number of mobile apparatuses. Examples of a mobile apparatuses include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player) , a camera, a game console, or any other similar functioning device. The mobile apparatus is commonly referred to as user equipment (UE) in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. For illustrative purposes, three UEs 810 are shown in communication with the NodeBs 808.

The core network 804 is shown as a GSM core network. However, as those skilled in the art will recognize, the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented in a RAN, or other suitable access network, to provide UEs with access to other core networks.

In this example, the core network 804 supports circuit-switched services with a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 812 and a Gateway MSC (GMSC) 814. One or more RNCs may be connected to the MSC 812. The MSC 812 is an apparatus that controls call setup, call routing, and UE mobility functions. The MSC 812 also includes a Visitor Location Register (VLR) (not shown) that contains subscriber related information for the duration that a UE is in the coverage area of the MSC 812. The GMSC 814 provides a gateway for the UE to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 816. The GMSC 814 includes a Home Location Register (HLR) (not shown) which contains subscriber data, such as the details of the services to which a user has subscribed. Associated with an HLR is an Authentication Center (AuC) that contains subscriber specific authentication data. The GMSC 814 is responsible for querying the HLR when a call is received for a UE to determine its location and for forwarding the call to the MSC serving that location.

The core network 804 also supports packet-data services with a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 818 and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 820. GPRS, which stands for General Packet Radio Service, is designed to provide packet-data services at higher speeds than those available with standard GSM circuit-switched data services. The GGSN 820 provides a connection for the RAN 802 to a packet-based network 822. The packet-based network 822 may be the Internet, a private data network, or some other suitable packet-based network. The primary function of the GGSN 820 is to provide the UEs 810 with network connectivity. Data packets are transferred between the GGSN 820 and the UEs 810 through the SGSN 818, which performs primarily the same functions in the packet-based domain as the MSC 812 performs in the circuit-switched domain.

The UMTS air interface is a Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) system. DS-CDMA means that user data is spread over a much wider bandwidth through multiplication by a sequence of pseudorandom bits called chips. The TD-SCDMA standard calls for a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system. TDD systems use the same carrier for both the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) between a NodeB 808 and a UE 810. The duplexing is based on time and not frequency, as is done typically with Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) .

Referring to FIG. 9, an access network 900 in a UTRAN architecture is illustrated. The access network 900 may provide wireless communication access for

UEs

930, 932, 934, 936, 938, 940, which may each be an example of the UE 110 in FIG. 1 and include a paging component 130 for detecting paging messages. The multiple access wireless communication system includes multiple cellular regions (cells) , including

cells

902, 904, and 906, each of which may include one or more sectors. The multiple sectors can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell. For example, in cell 902,

antenna groups

912, 914, and 916 may each correspond to a different sector. In cell 904,

antenna groups

918, 920, and 922 each correspond to a different sector. In cell 906,

antenna groups

924, 926, and 928 each correspond to a different sector. The

cells

902, 904 and 906 may include several wireless communication devices, e.g., UEs, which may be in communication with one or more sectors of each

cell

902, 904 or 906. For example,

UEs

930 and 932 may be in communication with Node B 942,

UEs

934 and 936 may be in communication with Node B 944, and

UEs

938 and 940 can be in communication with Node B 946. Here, each

Node B

942, 944, 946 is configured to provide an access point to a core network 804 (see FIG. 8) for all the

UEs

930, 932, 934, 936, 938, 940 in the

respective cells

902, 904, and 906.

As the UE 934 moves from the illustrated location in cell 904 into cell 906, a serving cell change (SCC) or handover may occur in which communication with the UE 934 transitions from the cell 904, which may be referred to as the source cell, to cell 906, which may be referred to as the target cell. Management of the handover procedure may take place at the UE 934, at the Node Bs corresponding to the respective cells, at a radio network controller 806 (see FIG. 8) , or at another suitable node in the wireless network. For example, during a call with the source cell 904, or at any other time, the UE 934 may monitor various parameters of the source cell 904 as well as various parameters of neighboring cells such as

cells

906 and 902. Further, depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE 934 may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, the UE 934 may maintain an Active Set, that is, a list of cells that the UE 934 is simultaneously connected to (i. e. , the UTRA cells that are currently assigning a downlink dedicated physical channel DPCH or fractional downlink dedicated physical channel F-DPCH to the UE 934 may constitute the Active Set) . In an aspect, a serving cell change where the UE 934 remains in an idle mode (e.g. a cell reselection) may be treated as a transition to the idle state. For example, the paging component 130 of UE 934 may determine a new paging pattern for the target cell and may reset any paging condition parameters.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a NodeB 1010 in communication with a UE 1050 in a RAN, wherein UE 1050 may be an example of the UE 110 in FIG. 1 and include a paging component 130 for detecting paging messages implemented in a controller/processor 1090 and/or in a memory 1092. In the DL, a transmit processor 1020 may receive data from a data source 1012 and control signals from a controller/processor 1040. The transmit processor 1020 provides various signal processing functions for the data and control signals, as well as reference signals (e.g., pilot signals) . By way of example, the transmit processor 1020 may provide cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes for error detection, coding and interleaving to facilitate forward error correction (FEC) , mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g. , binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) , quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) , M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK) , M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) ) , spreading with Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factors (OVSF) , and multiplying with scrambling codes to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates from a channel processor 1044 may be used by a controller/processor 1040 to determine the coding, modulation, spreading, and/or scrambling schemes for the transmit processor 1020. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal transmitted by the UE 1050 or feedback contained in the midamble from the UE 1050. The symbols generated by the transmit processor 1020 may be provided to a transmit frame processor 1030 to create a channel structure by multiplexing the symbols with a midamble from the controller/processor 1040 to create a series of frames. The frames may then be provided to a transmitter 1032, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for DL transmission over the wireless medium through smart antennas 1034. The smart antennas 1034 may be implemented with beam steering bidirectional adaptive antenna arrays.

At the UE 1050, a receiver 1054 receives the DL transmission through an antenna 1052 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 1054 is provided to a receive frame processor 1060. The receive frame processor 1060 parses each frame, and provides the midamble to a channel processor 1094 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 1070. The receive processor 1070 performs the inverse processing done by the transmit processor 1020 in the NodeB 1010. More specifically, the receive processor 1070 descrambles and despreads the symbols, and then determines the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the NodeB 1010 based on the modulation scheme. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by the channel processor 1094. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data, control and reference signals. The CRCs are then checked to determine whether the frames were successfully decoded. The data carried by the successfully decoded frames may be provided to a data sink 1072. The data sink 1072 represents applications running in the UE 1050 and various user interfaces (e.g. , display) . Control signals carried by successfully decoded frames may be provided to a controller/processor 1090. The controller/processor 1090 may also use an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for frames that were unsuccessfully decoded by the receive processor 1070.

In the UL, data from a data source 1078 and control signals from the controller/processor 1090 are provided to a transmit processor 1080. The data source 1078 may represent applications running in the UE 1050 and various user interfaces (e.g. , keyboard) . Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DL transmission by the NodeB 1010, the transmit processor 1080 provides various signal processing functions including CRC codes, coding and interleaving to facilitate FEC, mapping to signal constellations, spreading with OVSFs, and scrambling to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates derived by the channel processor 1094 from a reference signal transmitted by the NodeB 1010 or feedback contained in the midamble transmitted by the NodeB 1010 may be used to select the appropriate coding, modulation, spreading and/or scrambling schemes. The symbols produced by the transmit processor 1080 may be provided to a transmit frame processor 1082 to create a channel structure by multiplexing the symbols with a midamble from the controller/processor 1090 to create a series of frames. The frames may then be provided to a transmitter 1056, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for UL transmission over the wireless medium through the antenna 1052.

The UL transmission is processed at the NodeB 1010 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 1050. A receiver 1035 receives the UL transmission through the antenna 1034 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 1035 is provided to a receive frame processor 1036. The receive frame processor 1036 parses each frame, and provides the midamble to the channel processor 1044 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 1038. The receive processor 1038 performs the inverse processing done by the transmit processor 1020 in the NodeB 1010. The data carried by the successfully decoded frames may be provided to a data sink 1039. Control signals carried by successfully decoded frames may be provided to the controller/processor 1040. The controller/processor 1040 may also use a acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for frames that were unsuccessfully decoded by the receive processor 1038.

The controller/

processors

1040 and 1090 may be used to direct the operation at the NodeB 1010 and the UE 1050, respectively. By way of example, the controller/

processors

1040 and 1090 may provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions.

Memories

1042 and 1092 may store data and software for the NodeB 1010 and the UE 1050, respectively. A scheduler/processor 1046 at the NodeB 1010 may be used to allocate resources to the UEs and schedule DL and/or UL transmissions for the UEs.

Several aspects of a telecommunications system has been presented with reference to a TD-SCDMA system. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards. By way of example, various aspects may be extended to other UMTS systems such as WCDMA, HSPA and TD-CDMA. Various aspects may also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) , CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) , Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) , Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

Several processors have been described in connection with various apparatuses and methods. These processors may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such processors are implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and overall design constraints imposed on the system. By way of example, a processor, any portion of a processor, or any combination of processors presented in this disclosure may be implemented with a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , a programmable logic device (PLD) , a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable processing component configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. The functionality of a processor, any portion of a processor, or any combination of processors presented in this disclosure may be implemented with software being executed by a microprocessor, microcontroller, DSP, or other suitable platform. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc. , whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium may include, by way of example, memory such as a magnetic storage device (e.g. , hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip) , an optical disk (e.g. , compact disk (CD) , digital versatile disk (DVD)) , a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g. , card, stick, key drive) , random access memory (RAM) , read only memory (ROM) , programmable ROM (PROM) , erasable PROM (EPROM) , electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) , a register, or a removable disk. Although memory is shown separate from the processors in the various embodiments presented throughout this disclosure, the memory may be internal to the processors (e.g. , cache or register) . A computer-readable medium may also include a carrier wave, a transmission line, or any other suitable medium for storing or transmitting software. Computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer-program product. By way of example, a computer-program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more. ” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a； b； c； a and b； a and c； b and c； and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U. S. C. §112 (f) , unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for. ”

Claims

A method of controlling reception of paging messages, comprising:

determining that a first paging indicator received by a first user equipment (UE) during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE；

determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition； and

skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the first UE.
The method of claim 2, wherein skipping decoding of the paging channel comprises skipping decoding of the paging channel for a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the number of consecutive paging messages in the paging pattern.
The method of claim 2, wherein determining the paging pattern comprises:

decoding the paging channel for each DRX cycle for which the first UE receives a paging indicator during a monitoring window；

determining, for each DRX cycle in the monitoring window, whether the second UE was paged on the paging channel； and

determining a number of consecutive DRX cycles where the second UE was paged during the monitoring window.
The method of claim 4, wherein the monitoring window begins on a DRX cycle where the first UE receives a paging indicator following a DRX cycle where the first UE did not receive a paging indicator.
The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises determining that a rate of incorrect paging indicators exceeds a threshold.
The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises determining that a channel quality exceeds a threshold.
The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first paging indicator does not correspond to a paging message for the first UE comprises determining that the paging message is for a second UE in a same paging group as the first UE.
An apparatus for detecting paging messages, comprising:

a page indication component configured to determine that a first paging indicator received by a first user equipment (UE) during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE；

a paging efficiency component configured to determine that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition； and

a page skipping component configured to skip decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.
The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a paging pattern component configured to determine a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the first UE.
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the page skipping component is configured to skip decoding of the paging channel for a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the number of consecutive paging messages in the paging pattern.
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the paging pattern component is configured to:

decode the paging channel for each DRX cycle for which the first UE receives a paging indicator during a monitoring window；

determine, for each DRX cycle in the monitoring window, whether the second UE was paged on the paging channel； and

determine a number of consecutive DRX cycles where the second UE was paged during the monitoring window.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the monitoring window begins on a DRX cycle where the first UE receives a paging indicator following a DRX cycle where the first UE did not receive a paging indicator.
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, to determine that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition, the paging efficiency component is further configured to determine that a rate of incorrect paging indicators exceeds a threshold.
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, to determine that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition, the paging efficiency component is further configured to determine that a channel quality exceeds a threshold.
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, to determine that the first paging indicator does not correspond to the paging message for the first UE, the page indication component is further configured to determine that the paging message is for a second UE in a same paging group as the first UE.
An apparatus for detecting paging messages, comprising:

means for determining that a first paging indicator received by a first user equipment (UE) during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE；

means for determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition； and

means for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.
The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for determining a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the first UE.
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the means for skipping decoding of the paging channel comprises means for skipping decoding of the paging channel for a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the number of consecutive paging messages in the paging pattern.
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the means for determining the paging pattern comprises:

means for decoding the paging channel for each DRX cycle for which the first UE receives a paging indicator during a monitoring window；

means for determining, for each DRX cycle in the monitoring window, whether the second UE was paged on the paging channel； and

means for determining a number of consecutive DRX cycles where the second UE was paged during the monitoring window.
The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the monitoring window begins on a DRX cycle where the first UE receives a paging indicator following a DRX cycle where the first UE did not receive a paging indicator.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises means for determining that a rate of incorrect paging indicators exceeds a threshold.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises means for determining that a channel quality exceeds a threshold.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for determining that the first paging indicator does not correspond to a paging message for the first UE comprises means for determining that the paging message is for a second UE in a same paging group as the first UE.
A computer readable medium storing computer executable code for controlling reception of paging messages, comprising:

code for determining that a first paging indicator received by a first user equipment (UE) during a first discontinuous receive (DRX) cycle corresponds to a paging message that is not for the first UE；

code for determining that the first UE is in a paging efficiency condition； and

code for skipping decoding of a paging channel after receiving a second paging indicator at the first UE during a consecutive DRX cycle in response to determining that the first paging indicator is not for the first UE and in response to determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition.
The computer readable medium of claim 25, further comprising:

code for determining a paging pattern based on a number of consecutive paging messages for a second UE in a paging group of the first UE.
The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the code for skipping decoding of the paging channel comprises code for skipping decoding of the paging channel for a number of consecutive DRX cycles based on the number of consecutive paging messages in the paging pattern.
The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the code for determining the paging pattern comprises:

code for decoding the paging channel for each DRX cycle for which the first UE receives a paging indicator during a monitoring window；

code for determining, for each DRX cycle in the monitoring window, whether the second UE was paged on the paging channel； and

code for determining a number of consecutive DRX cycles where the second UE was paged during the monitoring window.
The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the code for determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises code for determining that a rate of incorrect paging indicators exceeds a threshold.
The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein determining that the first UE is in the paging efficiency condition comprises determining that a channel quality exceeds a threshold.