System and method for providing power saving mode enhancements in a network environment

• US 9,730,156 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chamarty, Ravi Shankar, Salot, Nirav, Jha, Vivek, Vaidya, Maulik Vijay, Bhaskaran, Sridhar
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Jianye
• Application Number:
  US14/746,947
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include determining that a periodic timer for a user equipment (UE) is about to expire; communicating to an application service, prior to expiration of the periodic timer for the UE, an indication associated with an availability of the UE to receive data from the application service; and communicating the data from the application service to the UE upon receiving the indication. In some cases, the method can include registering, by the application service, to receive the indication from a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), wherein the registering is performed via a service capability exposure function (SCEF) in communication with the MME or the SGSN and the application service.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

deactivating, by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), a power saving mode (PSM) for a user equipment (UE);

communicating an indication to an application service, upon deactivation of the PSM for the UE, that the UE is available to receive data; and

communicating the data to the UE from the application service upon receiving the indication.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subscribing, by the application service, to a trigger for the MME or the SGSN, wherein the trigger is associated with one or more operations to be performed by the MME or the SGSN to perform the deactivating.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the subscribing is performed via a Service Capability Exposure Function in communication with the application service and the MME and the SGSN.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising one of:

receiving, by the MME, an indication of a Tracking Area Update (TAU) for the UE; and

receiving, by the SGSN, an indication of a Routing Area Update (RAU) for the UE.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the deactivating is performed after receiving the indication of one of the TAU or the RAU for the UE.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating the PSM for the UE upon completion of the data being communicated to the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the activating includes one of:

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Tracking Area Update (TAU) timer; and

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Routing Area Update (RAU) timer.

8. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution that when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

deactivating, by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), a power saving mode (PSM) for a user equipment (UE);

communicating an indication to an application service, upon deactivation of the PSM for the UE, that the UE is available to receive data; and

communicating the data to the UE from the application service upon receiving the indication.

9. The media of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

subscribing, by the application service, to a trigger for the MME or the SGSN, wherein the trigger is associated with one or more operations to be performed by the MME or the SGSN to perform the deactivating.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the subscribing is performed via a Service Capability Exposure Function in communication with the application service and the MME and the SGSN.

11. The media of claim 9, further comprising one of:

receiving, by the MME, an indication of a Tracking Area Update (TAU) for the UE; and

receiving, by the SGSN, an indication of a Routing Area Update (RAU) for the UE.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the deactivating is performed after receiving the indication of one of the TAU or the RAU for the UE.

13. The media of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

activating the PSM for the UE upon completion of the data being communicated to the UE.

14. The media of claim 13, wherein the activating includes one of:

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Tracking Area Update (TAU) timer; and

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Routing Area Update (RAU) timer.

15. A system comprising:

at least one memory element for storing data; and

at least one processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory element cooperate such that the system is configured for;

deactivating, by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), a power saving mode (PSM) for a user equipment (UE);

communicating an indication to an application service, upon deactivation of the PSM for the UE, that the UE is available to receive data; and

communicating the data to the UE from the application service upon receiving the indication.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is further configured for:

subscribing, by the application service, to a trigger for the MME or the SGSN, wherein the trigger is associated with one or more operations to be performed by the MME or the SGSN to perform the deactivating.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the subscribing is performed via a Service Capability Exposure Function in communication with the application service and the MME and the SGSN.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising one of:

receiving, by the MME, an indication of a Tracking Area Update (TAU) for the UE; and

receiving, by the SGSN, an indication of a Routing Area Update (RAU) for the UE.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the deactivating is performed after receiving the indication of one of the TAU or the RAU for the UE.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is further configured for:

activating the PSM for the UE upon completion of the data being communicated to the UE; and

wherein the activating includes one of;

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Tracking Area Update (TAU) timer; and

communicating a time to the UE associated with a Routing Area Update (RAU) timer.