Method and Apparatus for Paging a User Equipment in an Area Spanning Across a Plurality of Radio Access Technologies

A method in a radio access network (RAN) node for paging user equipment in an area spanning across a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs), the method comprising:

• determining the capabilities of a user equipment (UE) to which a paging message is intended;
• and
• transmitting the paging message to the UE via one or more RATs which the UE is determined as being capable of communicating with.

A method in a core network node for paging in an area spanning across a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs), the method comprising:

• sending a paging message to a radio access network (RAN) node for forwarding to a UE, wherein the paging message comprises capability information, wherein the capability information provides an indication of the capabilities of the UE for communicating with one or more of the plurality of RATs.

A method in a user equipment (UE) for enabling the UE to be paged via an area spanning across a first radio access technologies (RAT) and a second RAT, the method comprising:

• signalling capability information to a network node, the capability information indicating whether the UE is capable of connecting to the first RAT, second RAT, or both.

A radio access network (RAN) node for paging user equipment in an area spanning across a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs), the RAN node comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said RAN node is operative to:

• determine the capabilities of a user equipment (UE) to which a paging message is intended;
• and
• transmit the paging message to the UE via one or more RATs which the UE is determined as being capable of communicating with.

A core network node for paging user equipment in an area spanning across a plurality of radio access technologies, the core network node comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said core network node is operative to:

• send a paging message to a radio access network (RAN) node for forwarding to a UE, wherein the paging message comprises capability information, wherein the capability information provides an indication of the capabilities of a UE for communicating with one or more of the plurality of radio access technologies.

A user equipment (UE) for enabling the UE to be paged via an area spanning across a first radio access technologies (RAT) and a second RAT, the UE comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said UE is operative to:

• signal capability information to a network node, the capability information indicating whether the UE is capable of connecting to the first RAT, second RAT, or both.