System and Method for Paging and Locating Update in a Network

• US 20080194271A1
• Filed: 06/19/2006
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Agrawal, Rajeev, Kalyanasundaram, Suresh, Bedekar, Anand S., Gopikanth, Venkat, Ov, Vishnu Ram
• Granted Patent: US 9,026,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.2
• 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 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

Mobile station information is exchanged between a plurality of distributed mobility agents (106, 108). The exchange is initiated by a mobility agent (106) associated with a last known network access point (110) that has communicated with the mobile station (114). The mobile station (114) is paged from at least one network access point using an available air interface technology to interface with the mobile station (114) and using the mobile station information. No centralized controller is used in the paging.

Claims

1. A method of paging a mobile station comprising:

exchanging mobile station information between a plurality of distributed mobility agents, the exchange being initiated by a mobility agent associated with a last known network access point that has communicated with the mobile station; and

paging the mobile station from at least one network access point using an available air interface technology to interface with the mobile station and using the mobile station information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a page response from the mobile station at a first network access point;

upon receiving the page response from the mobile station, exchanging information between a first mobility agent associated with the first network access point and a mobility agent associated with the last known access point; and

sending incoming data to the mobile station via the mobility agent associated with the last known network access point.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein sending incoming data comprises sending data from the mobility agent associated with the last known network access point to the mobility agent associated with the first network access point, and from the mobility agent associated with the first network access point to the mobile station.

4. A method of performing a location update for a mobile station moving from a first network access point associated with a first mobility agent and first location to a second network access point associated with a second mobility agent and second location comprising:

receiving, at the second network access point, a location update message from the mobile station using an available air interface technology and communicating the reception of the location update message from the second network access point to a second mobility agent; and

determining an identity of a first mobility agent at the second mobility agent using the location update message and without the involvement of a centralized system controller.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising exchanging information between the first and second mobility agents in order to redirect data destined for delivery to the mobile station to the second access point, and effecting the redirection of data destined for delivery to the mobile station from the second access point.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein determining the identity of the first mobility agent comprises sending a multicast query to a plurality of network access points.

7. The method of claim 4 further comprising transferring context information related to the mobile station from the first mobility agent to the second mobility agent.

8. A mobility agent comprising:

a receiver having an input;

a transmitter having an output; and

a controller coupled to the receiver and the transmitter, the controller programmed to exchange mobile station information with at least one other mobility agent at the receiver and transmitter, the controller further programmed to form and send control messages at the output of the transmitter to initiate paging of the mobile station.

9. The mobility agent of claim 8 wherein the controller is further programmed to, upon receiving a control message from another mobility agent via the receiver, send a communication to an associated access point via the transmitter to cause the associated access point to page the mobile station.

10. The mobility agent of claim 8 wherein the control messages are sent to at least one other mobility agent.

11. The mobility agent of claim 8 wherein the controller is further programmed to effect a redirection of incoming data destined for the mobile station.

12. A mobility agent comprising:

a receiver having an input;

a transmitter having an output; and

a controller coupled to the receiver and the transmitter, the controller programmed to exchange mobile station information with at least one other mobility agent at the receiver and transmitter, the controller further programmed to receive location update information from the mobile station at the input of the receiver and to determine an identity of an initial mobility agent formerly associated with the mobile station without the involvement of a centralized system controller.

13. The mobility agent of claim 12 wherein the controller is further programmed to issue a multicast query at the output of the transmitter in order to determine an identity of the initial mobility agent.