Method for using effectively the broadcast capacity in a cell

• US 6,778,521 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1998
• Issued: 08/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Mobile Phones UK Limited (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Ranta, Jukka, Korpela, Mikko, Pussinen, Arto
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ferris, Derrick W.
• Application Number:
  US09/223,531
• Time in Patent Office: 2,057 Days
• Field of Search: 370/329, 370/264, 370/331, 370/341, 370/337, 370/347, 370/236, 370/328, 370/332, 370/345, 370/326, 370/330, 370/468, 455/464, 455/450, 455/434, 375/132, 375/267, 375/299, 375/347
• US Class Current: 370/345
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems

Abstract

The transmission of control information from a base station to at least one mobile station in the cell of a cellular radio system takes place using a first channel and a second channel. At a first moment of time, there is an indication on the first channel about the location of the piece of control information on the second channel. At a second moment of time, later than said first moment, the piece of control information is transmitted on the second channel.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a discrete piece of control information from a base station to at least one mobile station in the cell of a cellular radio system using a first channel and a second channel, comprising the steps of:

at a first moment of time, indicating on the first channel the exact location of the discrete piece of control information among all other pieces of information on the second channel, wherein the indicating step is performed on only one channel; and

at a second moment of time, later than said first moment, transmitting the discrete piece of control information on the second channel;

wherein the first channel is a broadcast control channel and the second channel is a traffic channel of point-to-point type, and the method further comprises the step of

between said first moment of time and said second moment of time, transmitting from a mobile station to the base station a request for transmitting the piece of control information.

2. A method for transmitting a discrete piece of control information from a base station to at least one mobile station in the cell of a cellular radio system using a first channel and a second channel, wherein the first channel is a broadcast control channel and the second channel is a traffic channel of point-to-point type, comprising the steps of:

at a first moment of time, indicating on the first channel the exact location of the discrete piece of control information among all other pieces of information on the second channel;

at a second moment of time, later than said first moment, transmitting the discrete piece of control information on the second channel; and

between said first moment of time and said second moment of time, transmitting from a mobile station to the base station a request for transmitting the piece of control information;

wherein the piece of control information is located at a network address of a packet-switched data network, whereby the base station conveys said request to said network address and the transmission of the piece of control information follows the establishment of a packet-switched communication connection from said network address to the mobile station.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the first moment of time is during a period of high traffic and signalling load in the cellular radio system and the second moment of time is during a period of low traffic and signalling load in the cellular radio system.

4. A method according to claim 2, further comprising, between said first moment of time and said second moment of time, the step of informing the user of the mobile station about the intended reception of a piece of control information at said second moment of time.

5. A method for receiving a discrete piece of control information from a base station at a mobile station in the cell of a cellular radio system using a first channel and a second channel, comprising the steps of:

at a first moment of time, receiving an indication on the first channel concerning the exact location of the discrete piece of control information among all other pieces of information on the second channel;

at a second moment of time, later than said first moment, receiving the discrete piece of control information on the second channel; and

between said first moment of time and said second moment of time, informing the user of the mobile station about the intended reception of a piece of control information at said second moment of time;

wherein said step of informing the user of the mobile station takes place as a response to an attempt by the user to power down the mobile station.