Method for managing network traffic related to a mechanism for signaling the presence of a terminal

A mobility management entity, in a communication network, capable of implementing a mechanism for reporting the presence of a terminal in a plurality of presence reporting areas, each presence reporting area comprising one or more geographic areas, comprising:

• a processor;
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processor configure the mobility management entity to perform acts comprising:
• receiving from a control entity, for each presence reporting area of said plurality, an area identifier and a priority level for said area;
• storing, in a subscriber context related to a subscriber of said terminal, said identifiers and priority levels received in association with an identifier of said terminal;
• verifying that a load on said mobility management entity, generated by receiving presence reporting messages, is higher than a predefined critical load threshold;
• in response to the load on said mobility management entity being verified to be higher than the predefined critical load threshold, suspending said presence reporting mechanism for the presence reporting areas, referred to as non-monitored areas, of said plurality whose priority level is lower than a transitional priority level.

A system for managing network traffic related to a mechanism for reporting the presence of a terminal in a plurality of presence reporting areas of a communication network, comprising:

• at least one mobility management entity, each comprising:
• a first processor;
• a first non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the first processor configure the mobility management entity to perform acts comprising:
• receiving from a control entity, for each presence reporting area of said plurality, an area identifier and a priority level for said area;
• storing, in a subscriber context related to a subscriber of said terminal, said identifiers and priority levels received in association with an identifier of said terminal;
• verifying that a load on said mobility management entity, generated by receiving presence reporting messages, is higher than a predefined critical load threshold;
• in response to the load on said mobility management entity being verified to be higher than the predefined critical load threshold, suspending said presence reporting mechanism for the presence reporting areas, referred to as non-monitored areas, of said plurality whose priority level is lower than a transitional priority level;
• and
• at least one control entity, including the control entity from which the area identifier and priority level is received, each control entity comprising:
• a second processor;
• a second non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the second processor configure the control entity to perform acts comprising:
• determining that a reporting of presence of a terminal in a plurality of presence reporting areas is required for a subscriber profile of said network;
• and
• sending to a mobility management entity of the at least one mobility management entity, for each presence reporting area of said plurality, an area identifier and a priority level for said area.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code instructions recorded thereon, which when executed by a processor of a mobility management entity, configure the mobility management entity to perform acts comprising:

• managing, in a communication network, network traffic related to a mechanism for reporting presence of a terminal in a plurality of presence reporting areas, each presence reporting area comprising one or more geographic areas, comprising:
• receiving, for each presence reporting area of said plurality, an area identifier and a priority level for said area;
• storing, in a subscriber context related to a subscriber of said terminal, said identifiers and priority levels received in association with an identifier of said terminal;
• verifying whether a load on said mobility management entity, generated by receiving presence reporting messages, is higher than a predefined critical load threshold;
• and
• in response to the load on said mobility management entity being verified to be higher than the predefined critical load threshold:
• suspending said presence reporting mechanism for the presence reporting areas, referred to as non-monitored areas, of said plurality whose priority level is lower than a transitional priority level.