Communication device, communication system, and communication method

• US 10,470,158 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2016
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Yamada, Yoshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ambaye, Mewale A
• Application Number:
  US15/563,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20180288680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,323 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/082 among bearers or channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/06 based on traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/02 Arrangements for increasing efficiency of notification or paging channel

Abstract

The objective of the invention is to suppress increases in a C-Plane processing load on a mobile network side even if requests to call a plurality of terminals in the mobile network are generated within a short period of time. A communication device according to one mode of embodiment of the present invention is a communication device which transmits a paging message to a terminal that transmits a control signal for connecting to a network in response to receiving the paging message, wherein the communication device includes: a control unit which, in response to being requested to transmit paging messages to a plurality of terminals, determines, for each of the plurality of terminals, a time period for delaying transmission of the control signal; and a transmitting unit which transmits, to each of the plurality of terminals, the respective paging message including the time period by which the transmission of the control signal is to be delayed.

Claims

1. A communication device transmitting a paging message to a terminal that, in response to receiving the paging message, transmits a control signal for connecting to a network, the communication device comprising:

a controller that, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of terminals, determines a time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, for each of the plurality of terminals; and

a transmitter that transmits the paging message including an instruction to store predetermined information in the control signal, to each of the plurality of terminals,

wherein the controller randomly determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, from a time range determined by an upper limit and a lower limit of the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, for each of the plurality of terminals.

2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller randomly determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, from predetermined candidates or a predetermined time range, for each of the plurality of terminals.

3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the controller determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of terminals belonging to a predetermined type, for each of a plurality of terminals belonging to the predetermined type.

4. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the terminal is a machine type communication (MTC) device, and

the controller determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of MTC devices, for each of the plurality of MTC devices.

5. A communication system comprising:

a plurality of terminals transmitting a control signal for connecting to a network, in response to receiving a paging message; and

a communication device that, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to the plurality of terminals, is able to transmit, to each of the plurality of terminals, the paging message including an instruction to store predetermined information in the control signal, wherein

the communication device determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, for each of the plurality of terminals, wherein the communication device randomly determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, from a time range determined by an upper limit and a lower limit of the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, for each of the plurality of terminals.

6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein

the communication device randomly determines the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, from predetermined candidates or a predetermined time range, for each of the plurality of terminals.

7. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein,

in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of terminals belonging to a predetermined type, the communication device transmits the paging message to each of the plurality of terminals belonging to the predetermined type.

8. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein

the terminal is a machine type communication (MTC) device, and,

in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of MTC devices, the communication device transmits the paging message to each of the plurality of MTC devices.

9. A communication method in a communication device transmitting a paging message to a terminal that, in response to receiving the paging message, transmits a control signal for connecting to a network, the communication method comprising:

determining a time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of terminals, for each of the terminals; and

transmitting the paging message including an instruction to store predetermined information in the control signal, to each of the plurality of terminals, wherein, in the determining, the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed is randomly determined from a time range determined by an upper limit and a lower limit of the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed, for each of the plurality of terminals.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein,

in the determining, the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed is randomly determined from predetermined candidates or a predetermined time range, for each of the plurality of terminals.

11. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein,

in the determining, in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of terminals belonging to a predetermined type, the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed is determined for each of the plurality of terminals belonging to the predetermined type.

12. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein,

in the determining,

the terminal is a machine type communication (MTC) device, and,

in response to being requested to transmit the paging message to a plurality of MTC devices, the time by which transmission of the control signal is delayed is determined for each of the plurality of MTC devices.