Location updating in a cellular radio network

• US 5,953,667 A
• Filed: 05/20/1997
• Issued: 09/14/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Telecommunications Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Kauppi, Hanna-Maria
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Armstrong, Darnell R.
• Application Number:
  US08/859,417
• Time in Patent Office: 847 Days
• Field of Search: 455/417, 455/432, 455/435, 455/440, 455/422, 455/426, 455/67.1
• US Class Current: 455/440
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/08 using multi-step notification by increasing the notification area

Abstract

In a cellular radio network in which mobile stations roam, in addition to location updating of each mobile station with the accuracy of one location area, a so-called temporary subscriber-specific paging area is determined. Each mobile station initiates the determining of the temporary paging area in the subscriber data base of the cellular radio network after being located in a cell for a sufficiently long period. The temporary paging area is smaller than the location area (e.g., one cell and possibly at least one adjacent cell), and thus the paging of a mobile station can be focused on a small area, i.e., the temporary paging area. It is thus unnecessary to page over the entire location area, and paging time can be reduced and capacity of the cellular radio network spared.

Claims

1. A cellular radio network, comprising:

a plurality of fixed location areas, each location area consisting of a plurality of cells;

a plurality of mobile stations roaming in the cellular radio network; and

means for storing, as location data including respective current location areas, information about the locations of said mobile stations for paging in the cellular radio network with the accuracy of one location area;

each of said mobile stations being arranged to update the location data in said means when said respective mobile station moves from one of said location areas to another;

each of said mobile stations comprising an internal timer which starts to operate as the respective mobile station enters a respective cell and when the respective mobile station has stayed in the respective cell for at least a predetermined period of time measured by said time, activates the respective mobile station to initiate in the cellular radio network a procedure in which the cellular radio network determines a temporary mobile-specific paging area for the respective mobile station within the current location area of the respective mobile station and stores the respective temporary paging area of the respective mobile station in the location data, the temporary mobile-specific paging area comprising at least the current location cell and possibly at least one adjacent cell and containing fewer cells than a respective location area;

said storing means being arranged to store, in addition to the location area, said temporary paging area until the mobile station has entered a new location area or initiated a procedure for determining a new temporary paging area;

said cellular radio network being arranged to conduct any paging of any one of said mobile stations first in a temporary paging area indicated by the location data of said respective mobile station in said storing means, if the location data contains said temporary paging area in addition to said location area; and

said cellular radio network being arranged to conduct any paging of any one of said mobile stations in the location area indicated by the location data of said respective mobile station in said storing means, if the location data contains only said location area.