US 9,432,968 B1Granted

Method and system for managing signaling in a wireless communication network

AssigneeSprint Spectrum L.P.

InventorsMuhammad A. Naim, Yu Zhou

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Abstract

Disclosed is a method and system for managing signaling in wireless communication network. Base stations in the network will be divided into groups, but each base station's coverage area will be deemed a separate respective tracking area, and, for each group of base stations, an intermediary will manage transmission of registration and paging signaling between a paging controller and the group of base stations. In practice, when a tracking-area update (TAU) arrives from a WCD in coverage of the group of base stations, the intermediary may forward the TAU to the paging controller only if the TAU represents the WCD's movement into coverage of the group of base stations. Further, when a paging message arrives for a WCD, the intermediary may forward the paging message to the appropriate base station in the group.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of managing signaling in a wireless communication network, wherein the network includes a group of base stations each providing respective coverage in which to serve wireless communication devices (WCDs), wherein each base station's coverage defines a separate respective tracking area, and wherein the network includes a paging controller, the method comprising:

receiving into an intermediary between the group of base stations and the paging controller a tracking-area update (TAU) transmitted from a WCD upon the WCD entering into coverage of one of the base stations, and recording by the intermediary the TAU;
responsive to receiving the TAU, the intermediary making a determination of whether the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations or rather results from movement of the WCD between coverage of the base stations of the group;
if the determination is that the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations, then the intermediary forwarding the TAU to the paging controller;
and
if the determination is that the TAU results from movement of the WCD between coverage of the base stations of the group, then the intermediary not forwarding the TAU to the paging controller.

2 more elements

A method for managing signaling in a wireless communication network, wherein the network includes multiple groups of base stations, wherein each base station provides respective coverage in which to serve WCDs and each base station's coverage defines a separate respective tracking area, and wherein the network includes a paging controller, the method comprising:

for each group of base stations, a respective intermediary managing signaling between the group of base stations and the paging controller,
wherein managing signaling between the group of base stations and the paging controller comprises (i) receiving a tracking-area update (TAU) transmitted from a WCD upon the WCD entering into coverage of one of the base stations of the group, (ii) recording the TAU, (iii) responsive to receiving the TAU, making a determination of whether the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations or rather results from movement of the WCD between coverage of the base stations of the group, and (iv) forwarding the TAU to the paging controller only if the determination is that the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations.

An intermediary for managing signaling in a wireless communication network, wherein the network includes a group of base stations each providing respective coverage in which to serve wireless communication devices (WCDs), wherein each base station's coverage defines a separate respective tracking area, and wherein the network includes a paging controller, the intermediary comprising:

a network communication interface;
a processing unit;
data storage;
and
program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to (i) to receive via the network communication interface a tracking-area update (TAU) transmitted from a WCD upon the WCD entering into coverage of one of the base stations, (ii) to record the TAU, (iii) responsive to receiving the TAU, to make a determination of whether the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations or rather results from movement of the WCD between coverage of the base stations of the group, and (iv) to forward the TAU via the network communication interface to the paging controller only if the determination is that the TAU results from movement of the WCD into coverage of the group of base stations.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/638,600Filed 4 Mar 2015
Granted: 30 Aug 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04W 68/04
User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like: multi-step notification using statistical…
H04W 4/021
Services making use of location information: services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
H04W 4/025
Services making use of location information: using location based information parameters
H04W 64/00
Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes