System and method for providing message delivery and paging to a group of users in a network environment
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- establishing, for a packet data network gateway (PGW) and each of one or more serving gateways (SGWs), a group control plane tunnel and a group user plane tunnel between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for communicating group-based information between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for a group comprising a plurality of user equipment (UE);
communicating a message for the group from a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) to the PGW using an interface that directly interconnects the MTC-IWF and the PGW, wherein the message comprises a group identifier (ID) associated with the group;
communicating the message from the PGW to one or more respective SGWs via a respective group user plane tunnel for each respective SGW;
determining whether each UE of the group is in at least one of a connected mode and an idle mode;
communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to each UE of the group via a respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group determined to be in the connected mode;
paging each UE of the group determined to be in the idle mode; and
in response to determining that each of the UE determined to be in the idle mode have transitioned to the connected mode, communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to all of the UE of the group determined to have transitioned to the connected mode using the respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group.
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Abstract
An example method is provided in one example embodiment and may include communicating a message for a group of one or more user equipment (UE) from a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) to a packet data network gateway (PGW), wherein the message includes a group identity (ID) associated with the group of one or more UE; communicating the message from the PGW to one or more serving gateways (SGWs); and communicating the message from each of the one or more SGWs to each of the one or more UE of the group of the one via a tunnel for each of the one or more UE.
169 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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establishing, for a packet data network gateway (PGW) and each of one or more serving gateways (SGWs), a group control plane tunnel and a group user plane tunnel between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for communicating group-based information between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for a group comprising a plurality of user equipment (UE); communicating a message for the group from a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) to the PGW using an interface that directly interconnects the MTC-IWF and the PGW, wherein the message comprises a group identifier (ID) associated with the group; communicating the message from the PGW to one or more respective SGWs via a respective group user plane tunnel for each respective SGW; determining whether each UE of the group is in at least one of a connected mode and an idle mode; communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to each UE of the group via a respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group determined to be in the connected mode; paging each UE of the group determined to be in the idle mode; and in response to determining that each of the UE determined to be in the idle mode have transitioned to the connected mode, communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to all of the UE of the group determined to have transitioned to the connected mode using the respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that include instructions for execution that, when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:
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establishing, for a packet data network gateway (PGW) and each of one or more serving gateways (SGWs), a group control plane tunnel and a group user plane tunnel between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for communicating group-based information between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for a group comprising a plurality of user equipment (UE); communicating a message for the group from a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) to the PGW using an interface that directly interconnects the MTC-IWF and the PGW, wherein the message comprises a group identifier (ID) associated with the group; communicating the message from the PGW to one or more respective SGWs via a respective group user plane tunnel for each respective SGW; determining whether each UE of the group is in at least one of a connected mode and an idle mode; communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to each UE of the group via a respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group determined to be in the connected mode; paging each UE of the group determined to be in the idle mode; and in response to determining that each of the UE determined to be in the idle mode have transitioned to the connected mode, communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to all of the UE of the group determined to have transitioned to the connected mode using the respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus, comprising:
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a memory element for storing data; and a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and memory element cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for; establishing, for a packet data network gateway (PGW) and each of one or more serving gateways (SGWs), a group control plane tunnel and a group user plane tunnel between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for communicating group-based information between the PGW and each of the one or more SGWs for a group comprising a plurality of user equipment (UE); communicating a message for the group from a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) to the PGW using an interface that directly interconnects the MTC-IWF and the PGW, wherein the message comprises a group identifier (ID) associated with the group; communicating the message from the PGW to one or more respective SGWs via a respective group user plane tunnel for each respective SGW; determining whether each UE of the group is in at least one of a connected mode and an idle mode; communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to each UE of the group via a respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group determined to be in the connected mode; paging each UE of the group determined to be in the idle mode; and in response to determining that each of the UE determined to be in the idle mode have transitioned to the connected mode, communicating the message from each of the one or more respective SGWs to all of the UE of the group determined to have transitioned to the connected mode using the respective user plane tunnel for each UE of the group. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification