Method and arrangement for optimizing the re-establishment of connections in a cellular radio system supporting real time and non-real time communications

• US 7,751,803 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2001
• Issued: 07/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sisvel International S.A. (Fineur International S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Vialen, Jukka, Haumont, Serge, Rajaniemi, Jaakko
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming, William D
• Application Number:
  US09/790,469
• Publication Number:
  US 20010018342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,421 Days
• Field of Search: 455/423, 455/466, 455/450, 455/422.1, 455/418, 455/564, 455/405, 455/458, 455/557, 455/414.1, 455/442, 455/462, 370/208, 370/441, 370/350, 370/280, 379/210.01, 379/215.01
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment

Abstract

A method and arrangement for determining the expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of lost radio bearers is allowable. There is determined a first expiry time (206, 207) for a period during which the re-establishment of lost radio bearers used to provide services of a first category, like real time services, is allowable. Additionally there is determined a second expiry time (208, 209) for a period during which the re-establishment of lost radio bearers used to provide services of a second category, like non-real time services, is allowable.

Claims

1. A method for determining an expiry time for a period during which a re-establishment of a lost radio connection between a mobile station and a network node of a cellular network is allowable, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection, said method comprising:

determining a first expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of the lost radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a first category is allowable,

determining a second expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of the lost radio, connection in respect of said radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a second category is allowable;

wherein

said second category of service is different than said first category of service, and said second expiry time is different than said first expiry time; and

wherein

the mobile station and said network node attempt to re-establish the lost radio connection before the first expiry time in respect of a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of the first category or before the second expiry time in respect of a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of the second category.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first expiry time comprises receiving, in a mobile station of a cellular radio network, a value of said first expiry time from a network node of said cellular radio network in a control message, and determining a second expiry time comprises receiving a value of said second expiry time from said network node in the same control message.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first expiry time comprises receiving, in a mobile station of a cellular radio network, a value of said first expiry time from a network node of said cellular radio network in a first control message, and determining a second expiry time comprises receiving a value of said second expiry time from said network node in a second control message which is different than said first control message.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first expiry time comprises receiving, in a mobile station of a cellular radio network, a value of said first expiry time from a network node of said cellular radio network in a control message, and determining a second expiry time comprises reading a fixed value for said second expiry time from a memory.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first expiry time comprises determining said first expiry time as a duration of time from a moment of detecting the lost radio connection to a moment after which re-establishing the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of said first category is not any more allowable, and determining a second expiry time comprises determining said second expiry time as the duration of time from the moment of detecting the lost radio connection to a moment after which re-establishing the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of said second category is not any more allowable.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first expiry time comprises determining said first expiry time as a duration of time from a moment of detecting the lost radio connection to a moment after which re-establishing the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of said first category is not any more allowable, and determining a second expiry time comprises determining said second expiry time as the duration of time from the moment after which re-establishing the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of said first category is not any more allowable to a moment after which re- establishing the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of said second category is not any more allowable.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a number of expiry times, each expiry time concerning a period during which the re-establishment of the lost radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of one of a number of categories is allowable, wherein said number is greater than two.

8. A method for responding to a situation where a mobile station of a cellular radio network detects a failure in a radio connection between itself and a network node of the cellular radio network, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection, said method comprising:

a) starting a first timer,

b) checking, whether the mobile station is within an in service area,

c) as a response to the mobile station being within an in service area, initiating a re-establishment of the radio connection,

a′

) starting a second timer,

d′

) as a response to the first timer reaching a first expiry value without the mobile station finding itself to be within an in service area, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of said radio bearers which are used to provide a service or services of a first category and

d″

) as a response to said second timer reaching a second expiry value without the mobile station finding itself to be within an in service area, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of said radio bearers which are used to provide a service or services of a second category;

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry value is different than said first expiry value.

9. A method according to claim 8 further comprising:

as a response to completing the re-establishment of the radio connection initiated at step c), stopping those of the first and second timers that have not expired.

10. A method according to claim 8 further comprising:

as a response to an indication of failure of the re-establishment of the radio connection initiated at step c), checking whether any of said first and second timers have reached their expiry values, and after said checking;

d″

′

) as a response to a finding indicating that said first tinier has reached a first expiry value, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of said radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a first category; and

d″

″

) as a response to a finding indicating that said second timer has reached a second expiry value, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of said radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a second category.

11. A method according to claim 8 further comprising:

as a response to both of the first and second timers having expired without the mobile station finding itself to be within an in service area, locally releasing all radio resources allocated for the failed radio connection.

12. A method according to claim 8, wherein starting a second timer coincides with starting the first timer.

13. A method according to claim 8, wherein starting a second timer coincides with a moment of the first timer reaching a first expiry value.

14. A method for responding to a situation where a network node of a cellular radio network detects a failure in a radio connection between itself and a mobile station of the cellular radio network, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection, the method comprising:

a) starting a first timer,

b) checking, whether a connection re-establishment request has been received from the mobile station,

c) as a response to a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station, initiating a re-establishment of the radio connection,

a′

) starting a second timer,

d′

) as a response to the first timer reaching a first expiry value without a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a first category; and

d″

) as a response to said second timer reaching a second expiry value without a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station, disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a second category;

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry value is different than said first expiry value.

15. A method according to claim 14 further comprising:

as a response to completing the re-establishment of the radio connection initiated at step c), stopping those of the first and second timers that have not expired.

16. A method according to claim 14 further comprising:

as a response to both of the first and second timers having expired without a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station, locally releasing all communication resources allocated for a communication connection of which the failed radio connection constituted a part.

17. A communications device of a cellular radio system, comprising:

means for detecting a failure in a radio connection, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection;

means for determining a first expiry time for a period during which a re-establishment of a lost radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a first category is allowable; and

means for determining a second expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of the lost radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a second category is allowable; and

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry value is different than said first expiry value.

18. A communications device according to claim 17, wherein it is a terminal of the cellular radio system and said means for determining a first expiry time comprise means for receiving a value of said first expiry time from a network node of a cellular radio network in a control message, and said means for determining a second expiry time comprise means for receiving a value of said second expiry time I from said network node of a cellular radio network in a control message.

19. A communications device according to claim 17, wherein it is a terminal of the cellular radio system and said means for determining a first expiry time comprise means for receiving a value of said first expiry time from the base station I of a cellular radio network in a control message, and said means for determining a second expiry time comprise means for reading a previously stored constant second expiry time from a memory.

20. A communications device according to claim 17, wherein it is a network node of a cellular radio network for providing communication connections including radio bearers to terminals and it comprises:

means for communicating to a terminal a value of a first expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of a lost radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a first category is allowable; and

means for communicating to a terminal a second expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of a lost radio connection in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a second category is allowable.

21. A method comprising:

determining a first expiry time for a period during which a re-establishment of a lost radio connection is allowable in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a first category, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection;

determining a second expiry time for a period during which the re-establishment of the lost radio connection is allowable in respect of said radio bearers that are used to provide a service or services of a second category; and

transmitting a re-establishing attempt message before the first expiry time in respect of a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of the first category or before the second expiry time in respect of a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of the second category;

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry time is different than said first expiry time.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein determining a first expiry time further comprises receiving in a mobile station of a cellular radio network, a value of the first expiry time from a network node of the cellular radio network in a control message, and determining a second expiry time comprises receiving a value of the second expiry time from the network node in the same control message.

23. A method comprising:

starting a first timer when a mobile station of a cellular radio network detects a failure in a radio connection between itself and a network node of the cellular radio network, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection;

checking whether the mobile station is within a service area;

starting a second timer if the mobile station is within the service area,

transmitting a re-establishing attempt message as an attempt for re-establishment of a radio connection in respect of at least one of a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of a first category or a radio bearer used to provide a service or services of a second category, if the mobile station is within the service area;

disabling a re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a first category if the first timer reaches a first expiry value without the mobile station being within the service area;

disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a second category if the second timer reaches a second expiry value without the mobile station being within the service area;

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry value is different than said first expiry value.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising initiating a re-establishment of the radio connection if the mobile station is within the service area and stopping those of the first and second timers that have not expired.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising locally releasing all radio resources allocated for the failed radio connection if both the first timer and the second timer expire without the mobile station being in a service area.

26. A method, comprising:

detecting a failure in a radio connection between a network node and a mobile station of a cellular radio network, said radio connection having a plurality of active radio bearers belonging to a radio resource control connection;

starting a first timer;

checking whether a connection re-establishment request has been received from the mobile station;

initiating a re-establishment of the radio connection as a response to a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station;

starting a second timer;

disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a first category if the first timer reaches a first expiry value without a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station; and

disabling the re-establishment of the radio connection in respect of radio bearers used to provide a service or services of a second category as a response to the second timer reaching a second expiry value without a connection re-establishment request having been received from the mobile station;

wherein said second category of services is different than said first category of services, and said second expiry value is different than said first expiry value.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising locally releasing all radio resources allocated for the failed radio connection if both the first timer and the second timer expire without the mobile station being in a service area.