Method and apparatus for paging and responding to pages in a mobile radio communications system

• US 6,628,942 B1
• Filed: 10/06/1999
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Innovation Company Limited Hong Kong (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Nordstrand, Ingrid, Muller, Walter, Palm, Hakan, Wallentin, Pontus, Beming, Per
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, NGUYEN THANH
• Application Number:
  US09/413,487
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 455/426, 455/432, 455/435, 455/445, 455/458, 455/517, 340/7.22
• US Class Current: 455/432.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

A paging origination identifier associated with an origination of a page to a mobile radio terminal is included with a mobile terminal'"'"'s response to the page. For example, assuming that the page to the mobile terminal is in a first area, the mobile terminal responds to the page from a second area and includes the identifier in that response. The second area may be a cell controlled by another radio network control node, another radio network operator, or even another type of cellular system. The identifier is used to route the page response through the radio network ultimately to the paging originator. The identifier may be, for example, a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, or a network exchange identifier. Another example identifier is the cell where the mobile terminal received the page. Cell evaluation and selection processes need only be performed while the mobile terminal is listening to the paging channel, for example, thereby saving mobile terminal battery life. Since the mobile terminal checks for an optimum cell just before it transmits a paging response, it ensures that the optimum cell is used, thereby improving the quality of the communication. As a result, there is less chance of increased interference caused by the uplink transmission, of a lost connection, or of an error in the message.

Claims

1. In a mobile radio communications system including a radio network providing communications services to mobile radio terminals over a radio interface, a method comprising:

paging a mobile terminal in a first area;

providing an identifier associated with an origination of the page to the mobile terminal;

receiving a response from the mobile terminal from a second area to the page that incorporates the identifier; and

using the identifier to route the response an entity that originated the page,

wherein the page was not transmitted in the second area, the first area corresponding to a first registration area and the second area corresponding to a second registration area.

2. The method in claim 1, wherein the identifier identifies a node in the radio network.

3. The method in claim 2, wherein the node is a serving radio network control node that receives a request to page the mobile terminal from an external network.

4. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

including the identifier in the page,

wherein the identifier is a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, or a network identifier.

5. The method in claim 1, wherein the first area corresponds to a cell, and the identifier is the identity of the cell where the mobile terminal received the page.

6. The method in claim 5, further comprising:

broadcasting the cell identity to all mobile terminals in the cell over a broadcast channel.

7. The method in claim 1, wherein the response is part of an initial random access message.

8. The method in claim 1, wherein the response is a paging response message.

9. In a mobile radio communications system including a radio network providing communications services to mobile radio terminals over a radio interface, a method comprising:

generating a page for a mobile terminal to be sent to a first area where the mobile terminal is located;

providing to the mobile terminal a paging origination identifier associated with an origin of the page to be used in a response to the page by the mobile terminal from a second area;

receiving a page response over the radio interface that includes the paging origination identifier; and

routing the page response toward an originator of the page using the paging origination identifier,

wherein the page was not transmitted in the second area, the first area corresponding to a first registration area and the second area corresponding to a second registration area.

10. The method in claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting the page with the paging origination identifier to the mobile terminal in a first cell;

receiving the page response including the paging origination identifier from the mobile terminal from a second cell; and

routing the page message through the radio network toward an originator of the page using the paging origination identifier.

11. The method in claim 10, wherein the page is transmitted by a first radio network control node associated with a first plurality of cells including the first cell;

and

wherein the second cell is one of a second plurality of cells associated with a second radio network control node.

12. The method in claim 11, further comprising:

the mobile terminal responding to the page to the second radio network control using the paging origination identifier, and

the second radio network control node detecting the paging origination identifier, and as a result, routing the paging response to the first radio network control node.

13. The method in claim 11, further comprising:

establishing a connection between the second radio network control node and the mobile terminal; and

transmitting a paging message from the mobile terminal including the paging originator identifier over the connection.

14. The method in claim 13, wherein the paging message is forwarded to the first radio network control node by the second radio network control node based on the paging origination identifier.

15. The method in claim 11, wherein the second radio network control node forwards the paging response to a core network node external to the radio network that originated the page.

16. The method in claim 11, wherein the second radio network control node forwards the paging response to a first external core network associated with the second radio network control node, and

wherein the first core network node forwards the paging response to a second core network node associated with the page origination.

17. The method in claim 11, wherein the paging origination identifier is a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, or a network identifier.

18. The method in claim 9, wherein the paging origination identifier is the identity of a first cell where the mobile terminal received the page.

19. The method in claim 9, wherein the mobile terminal reselects a cell after receiving the page but before sending a response to the page.

20. In a mobile radio communications system including a radio network providing communications service with mobile terminals over a radio interface, a mobile terminal comprising:

radio circuitry capable of sending and receiving information with the radio network over the radio interface; and

data processing circuitry, coupled to the radio circuitry, configured to detect a page intended for the mobile terminal in a first cell, to determine a page origination identifier, and to send to a second cell via the radio circuitry over the radio interface to the radio network a response to the page that includes the page origination identifier useable to route the response towards an entity that originated the page,

wherein the page was not transmitted in the second cell, the first cell being located in a first registration area and the second cell being located in a second registration area.

21. The mobile terminal in claim 20, wherein the page contains the page origination identifier.

22. The mobile terminal in claim 20, wherein the paging originator identifier is a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, or a network identifier.

23. The mobile terminal in claim 20, wherein the paging identifier is the identity of the cell in which the page is detected.

24. The mobile terminal in claim 20, wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to send the page response during an initial random access with the radio network.

25. The mobile terminal in claim 20, wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to select a new cell before responding to the page.

26. In a mobile radio communications system including a radio network providing communications services to mobile terminals over a radio interface, a radio network control node, comprising:

data processing circuitry configured to provide a paging origination identifier to a mobile terminal and to generate a page message for the mobile terminal; and

radio circuitry, coupled to the data processing circuitry, for transmitting the page message over a radio interface to a first cell in which the mobile terminal is located and for receiving a paging response message from the mobile terminal transmitted from a second cell which includes the paging origination identifier,

wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to route the paging response message towards an originator of the page using the paging origination identifier, and

wherein the page was not transmitted in the second cell, the first cell being located in a first registration area and the second cell being located in a second registration area.

27. The radio network control node in claim 26, wherein the paging origination identifier is provided to the mobile terminal with the page message.

28. The radio network control node in claim 26, wherein the paging origination identifier is provided to the mobile terminal in some fashion other than with the page message.

29. The radio network control node in claim 26, wherein the paging origination identifier is a cell identification, and the radio circuitry broadcasts the cell identifier to a cell in which the mobile terminal is currently located.

30. The radio network control node in claim 26, wherein the paging origination identifier is a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, a cell identifier, or a network address.

31. In a mobile radio communications system including a radio network providing communications service with mobile terminals over a radio interface, apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting a page in a first set of one or more cells intended for a mobile terminal; and

means for detecting a page response from the mobile terminal received from a cell in a second set of one or more cells that includes a page origination address and directing the page response towards an originator of the page based on the page origination address,

wherein the page was not transmitted in the second set of cells, the first set of cells being located in a first registration area and the second set of cells being located in a second registration area.

32. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the second set of cells belongs to a different network operator than the first set of cells.

33. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the second set of cells belongs to a different type of mobile communications network than the first set of cells.

34. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the paging origination address is a paging area identifier, a registration area identifier, a cell identifier, or a network address.

35. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the paging origination address points to an external network that originated the page.

36. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the means for transmitting includes the page origination address in the transmitted page.

37. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein the means for transmitting includes the page origination address in a broadcast message other than the page.