Paging heuristics in packet based networks

A mobility management entity (MME) that communicates with at least one eNodeB in a communication network to page a user equipment (UE), and where the communication network includes a plurality of eNodeBs that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the MME comprising:

• a storage medium configured to store a list of eNodeBs from which the UE was actively communicating with the communication network;
• a physical interface configured to receive a page request for the UE where the page request includes the tracking area where the UE was last registered, and to send page requests to at least one eNodeB;
• and
• a processing unit configured to run a heuristic for determining to selectively send page requests to the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area including initiating a sending of a first page request to at least one eNodeB based on the list of eNodeBs from which the UE was last actively communicating and determining if a subsequent page request is sent to a second subset of eNodeBs, wherein determining if a subsequent page request is sent includes waiting a certain period of time for a page response and initiating the sending of the subsequent page request when the certain period of time elapses, and expanding the number of eNodeBs a page request is sent to until a determination is made to refrain from sending another page request at that time, wherein the heuristic is configured to determine a pre-defined priority for handling the page request based on a determined delay sensitivity of a category of application for which the page request was issued, and to select a heuristic in paging the UE that depends on the priority for handling the page request.

A method of paging a user equipment (UE) from a chassis coupled to a communication network, where the communication network includes a plurality of cell sites that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the method comprising:

• maintaining, at the chassis, information regarding the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area;
• receiving, at the chassis, a page request for the UE and locating the tracking area where the UE was last registered;
• determining, at the chassis, to apply heuristic based paging in sending the page request to the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area;
• inspecting the page request, at the chassis, to determine a category of application for which the page request was issued;
• determining, at the chassis, the delay sensitivity of the category of application;
• determining, at the chassis, a pre-defined priority for handling the page request based on the determined delay sensitivity;
• selecting a heuristic in paging the UE depending on the priority for handling the page request;
• sending a page request to a subset of the plurality of cell sites in the tracking area based on the information at the chassis including the cell site from which the UE was last actively communicating with the communication network;
• determining, at the chassis, if a subsequent page request is sent to a second subset of cell sites to locate the UE in the communication network, wherein determining if a subsequent page request is sent includes waiting a certain period of time for a page response and initiating the sending of the subsequent page request when the certain period of time elapses;
• sending the subsequent page request to the second subset with at least some different cell sites than the first subset, if a response is not received after the first page request;
• and
• expanding the number of cell sites a page request is sent to until a determination is made by the chassis to refrain from sending another page request at that time.