Patent Application
20180077682
The present invention pertains to the field of communication networks and in particular to methods and apparatuses for application aware notifications in a wireless communication network.
In current wireless communication networks, a user equipment (UE) listens to paging messages to know about the availability of buffered downlink data, system information changes, Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) notifications, and Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Service (EWTS) notifications for ETWS capable UEs. In 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), a UE needs to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) periodically for the presence of a paging message.
Furthermore, a purpose of paging is to notify a UE which is in an idle mode when there is a communication or data for it to receive. To conserve radio resources and UE power, a UE which is not currently sending or receiving data can be placed into an idle mode in which the UE's radio can be powered down. A UE in idle mode checks for a paging message once every paging cycle, namely during a pre-determined paging occasion which defines the specific subframe within an LTE frame during which a paging message can be sent. The location of the paging occasion can be provided to the UE when it is being put into idle mode. In LTE the UE searches for downlink control information (DCI) encoded using the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) within PDCCH at the specific subframe belonging to the assigned paging occasion. If a DCI encoded with the P-RNTI is detected, the UE decodes the paging message from PDSCH resource blocks indicated by the DCI and checks for its UE identity, for example as defined by its temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI), in all the paging records of the paging message. If the UE does not find its identity in the paging message then it will return to check the PDCCH for P-RNTI at each of the subsequent paging occasions. However, if the UE does find its identity, the UE triggers a random access procedure in order to establish a communication session for receiving the data pending for the UE, even if the amount of data pending is small. This random access procedure results in the UE being re-connected to the network, which results in network entities being able to determine where to send the buffered downlink data.
In addition, for group paging a group of UEs can share the same specific paging cycle, and thus can be assigned the same paging occasion. Moreover the group of UEs can be assigned the same group specific mobile subscriber identity. As such, if the group specific mobile subscriber identity is included in the paging message, all UEs in the group of UEs will attempt to establish a communication session, even if only some of the UEs in the group are actually required to establish a communication session, thus unnecessarily using network resources.
In LTE, when a UE is not in an idle mode, the UE may be configured to check for a pending downlink transmission by monitoring the PDCCH for its assigned RNTI at predefined times, for example every 60 ms or 100 ms, which can aid in the reduction of power consumption. The process of periodically monitoring the PDCCH for downlink transmissions using its assigned RNTI is known as Discontinuous Reception (DRX).
A UE in DRX mode checks the PDCCH for a pending downlink transmission during pre-configured subframes of every DRX cycle; these subframes are known as DRX reception opportunities. If the UE decodes a DCI encoded with its assigned RNTI within a DRX reception opportunity, the UE receives the downlink transmission in PDSCH resource blocks defined by the DCI. If the UE does not find a DCI encoded with its RNTI in the PDCCH then it will return to check PDCCH for its assigned RNTI during reception opportunities in the next DRX cycle.
Furthermore, when a UE is not in an idle mode, a UE may be assigned a semi-persistent schedule (SPS). The SPS provides the UE with pre-configured periodic uplink transmission opportunities and/or periodic downlink reception opportunities. At every transmission and/or reception opportunity, the UE may also be instructed to decode a DCI encoded with an SPS RNTI to determine the radio resources assigned for the uplink or downlink transmission.
Moreover a group of UEs can be assigned the same group specific RNTI. As such, if the group specific RNTI is used to encode a DCI, all UEs in the group of UEs will attempt to use the subsequent transmission opportunity, even if only some of the UEs in the group are the actual intended recipients, thus unnecessarily using network resources.
Therefore there is a need for a method and apparatus which enables data transfer that is not subject to one or more limitations of the prior art.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for application aware notifications to one or more UEs. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for data transfer. The method includes receiving, by a network node, a configuration including one or more of a predicate structure and evaluation logic and receiving, by the network node, a first notification request including a first predicate and data. The method further includes transmitting, by the network node, a second notification request including a second predicate and the data, wherein transmitting is at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and the evaluation logic.
In some embodiments, the second notification request is a paging request or a data transfer request. According to some embodiments, the paging request or data transfer request is transmitted to one or more radio access nodes which are determined at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and evaluation logic.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for data transfer during a period without a pre-existing communication session. The method includes receiving, by a network node, a notification including one or more of a predicate structure and evaluation logic and receiving, by the network node, a request including a first predicate and data. The method further includes transmitting, by the network node, a transmission including a second predicate and data, wherein transmitting is at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and the evaluation logic.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a network node for data transfer. The network node includes a processor and machine readable memory storing machine executable instructions which when executed by the processor configure the network node to perform any of the methods defined above.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for data transfer during a period without a pre-existing communication session. The method includes receiving, by a user equipment (UE), configuration information including at least one of a predicate structure and evaluation logic associated with a predicate supporting data transfer. The method further including receiving, by the UE, a notification including the predicate and data.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user equipment (UE) for data receipt during a period without a pre-existing communication session. The UE includes a processor and machine readable memory storing machine executable instructions which when executed by the processor configure causes the UE to perform the methods defined above.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for data transfer during a period without an established communication session between a UE and the network. The method includes transmitting, by a network node, a data transfer request including data and a predicate, wherein the predicate is indicative of one or more intended receivers of the data. In addition, the method includes the network node receiving a response to the data transfer request.
According to embodiments, the method also includes transmitting, by the network node, a configuration request including a predicate structure and evaluation logic, wherein the predicate structure is indicative of a predicate for data transfer. In addition, the method includes the network node receiving a response to the configuration request and subsequently transmitting a predicate and data.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for data transfer during a period without an established communication session between a UE and the network. The method includes receiving, by the UE, a data transfer request including data and a predicate, wherein the predicate is indicative of one or more intended receivers of the data. In addition, the method includes the UE transmitting a response to the data transfer request.
The method also includes receiving, by a UE, a configuration request including a predicate structure and evaluation logic, wherein the predicate structure is indicative of a predicate for data transfer. In addition, the method includes the UE transmitting a response to the configuration request and subsequently receiving a predicate and data.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus which enables data transfer without the establishment of a communication session. The methods and apparatuses disclosed and described herein, can be used to enable the transfer of at least some data to a UE or group of UEs without the specific need to establish a communication session for this data transfer, thus the transfer of data can be enabled during a period without a pre-existing communication session. According to embodiments, the method and apparatus enable data to be transferred to a UE or a group of UEs along with the paging message. According to embodiments, downlink data to be transferred to a UE is integrated within a grant notification sent to the UE to allow for subsequent transmission of uplink data by the UE.
According to embodiments, there is provided a method for delivery of small amounts of downlink traffic or data, which can be provided by the integration of the data into a paging message or integrated into a grant notification, for example a grant to the UE for subsequent uplink transmission.
According to embodiments, the method and apparatus can provide short data delivery to a UE without the establishment of a communication session, (e.g. during a period without a pre-existing communication session). This data delivery can be defined in terms of one-to-one data delivery or one-to-many data delivery.
According to embodiments, a data field is embedded into a downlink paging message, wherein this data field can allow small amounts of data to be delivered to specifically referenced UEs. For example, embodiments can enable the sending of filtering information to grouped UEs, wherein the grouped UEs can share an identifier such as a System Architecture Evolution (SAE) temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-TMSI). This filtering information may provide a way for defining which UEs in the grouped UEs are to be responsive to the data that was received in the paging message. In some embodiments, the data received in the paging message can be provided, for example by the operating system (OS) of the UE(s), to the application layer for provision to a specific application operating on the UE. In some embodiments, the data may also result in the triggering of actions which result in the transfer of further data, for example, the data can cause the specifically identified UE(s) from the grouped UEs to commence establishment of a communication session for the transfer of the additional data.
According to embodiments, each of the grouped UEs can be configured to read the data received in the paging message. The data within the paging message can be used to trigger further action by a subset of the grouped UEs. In some embodiments, this further action may be to decode additional data, for example data that is received in the grant notification or to begin transition from an idle state to an active state. In some embodiments, the action may be to send a transmission on the uplink, which may be configured as polling using grant resources.
According to embodiments, the method and apparatus can provide for a customized UE wake up policy, for example a policy for one or more UEs to transition from an idle state to an active state. According to embodiments, the wake up policy can be configured by application data carried by the paging message (or configured in response to application data carried by the paging message). The UE can read the policy and subsequently determine if it is required to transition to an active state.
According to embodiments, the determination, by the UE, of whether a wake up should be performed can be useful for machine type communication (MTC) devices, for example massive MTC configurations. In this configuration, the communication network may not have to maintain information for individual MTC devices and communication with the MTC devices can be triggered based on customized paging messages being sent to a group of MTC devices. For example, some data indicative of filtering, predicate and qualifier information can be paged to a group of UEs and each UE in the group can determine if it is a qualified UE (e.g. if it is a UE that meets the requirements of the qualifier information).
According to embodiments, a predicate can define the group of UEs which are the intended targets for this transmission, for example the specific UE(s) and in some instances the specific application that is operational on the UE(s). Further, a predicate can include a protocol data unit (PDU) session ID, which identifies UEs associated with an intended target PDU session; a qualified UE can subsequently perform the appropriate action, for example activating a PDU session that is identified by the PDU session ID. It will be readily understood that the above are examples of a predicate, and that a predicate can be configured in a plurality of ways to define desired target or targets of the paging request. A qualified UE can subsequently perform the appropriate action such as transmit uplink data or transition from an idle state to an active state and commence establishment of a communication session.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In some embodiments the formatting of the predicate received in the short data transfer request 1-1 may be modified by the NCEF 102. For example, the NCEF 102 may translate a message or predicate configured in a first format, for example RESTful HTTP configurations or SQL query language or the like, into a second format which can be a format expected by any or all of the MM 104, RAN 106 and UE 108. It will be readily understood that when translation of the message or predicate occurs, any or all of the NCEF 102, MM 104 and RAN 108 may receive a predicate or message, e.g. a first predicate or first message, and subsequently transmit a translated predicate or translated message, e.g. a second predicate or second message. While the above discussion is directed towards instances wherein there is a translation of the predicate or message by any or all of the NCEF 104, MM 104 and RAN 106, it will be readily understood that this is not to be considered limiting as there can be instances where the first predicate or first message are in fact the same as the second predicate or second message.
In the embodiment illustrated in
Upon the broadcast of the grant notification 2-5 to the UEs 108, the RAN 106 transmits a transfer acknowledgement 2-8 to the MM 104; optionally, the RAN 106 may wait for one or more uplink acknowledgments 2-7 from the UEs or wait for a pre-determined acknowledgement time before transmitting the transfer acknowledgement. The MM 104 subsequently transmits a notification acknowledgement 2-9 to the NCEF 102. The NCEF 102 can then transmit a short data transfer response 2-10 to the application server 100. It will be appreciated that the transfer acknowledgement 2-8 and notification acknowledgement 2-9 and the short data transfer response 2-10 that are transmitted can be in the form of acknowledgements or negative acknowledgements depending on the actions performed by the RAN 106 and MM 104. In addition, in some embodiments, upon receipt of the downlink transmission 2-6 by one or more of the intended UEs, an ACK or NACK 2-7 can be subsequently transmitted by a UE 108 to the respective RAN 106. In some embodiments, one or more of the actions including the acknowledgement 2-7 sent by the UE 108, the transfer acknowledgement 2-8 sent by the RAN 106, the notification acknowledgement 2-9 sent by the MM 104 and the short data transfer response 2-10 sent by the NCEF 102, may not occur, or alternately may occur in a different order to that illustrated. For instance the MM 104 may send a notification acknowledgement, before or without receiving a transfer acknowledgement from the RAN 106.
As noted above, according to embodiments, prior to the transmission of data using a paging message or a grant notification, the application server, UE 108 and network components there between, for example the radio access nodes (RANs) 106, mobility managers (MMs) 104 and the NCEF 102, are preconfigured and provided with information indicative of the predicate parsing and evaluation logic. This predicate parsing and evaluation logic can be used by the UE 108 and the various communication network components for the evaluation of a predicate and data configured in a paging request or grant notification or both. This preconfiguration of the UE 108 and the network components is discussed elsewhere herein.
Furthermore, when considering that the UE 108 is not in idle mode, for example the UE 108 is in connected mode from the perspective of the Core Network (CN), the UE 108 may be operating in a RAN inactive mode, for example Radio Resource Control (RRC) suspended or inactive state (e.g. RRC_INACTIVE state). In this embodiment, a case is considered wherein Downlink (DL) data is delivered by the CN to the RAN 106 that is serving this UE 108 or group of UEs. It is understood that the RAN 106 and UE(s) 108 may have been identified by evaluation of a predicate which may have been previously received by an interworking function such as the NCEF 102 or a MM 104. Upon receipt of this DL data, the RAN 106 can determine that the UE 108 is in a RAN active mode. The RAN 106 can buffers the DL data, and at the next paging opportunity, the RAN 106 can transmit a paging notification to the UE 108 in order to notify the UE 108 of the availability of buffered DL data. In some embodiments, the RAN 106 can integrate the DL data in the paging message broadcast to the UEs 108. Upon receipt of the paging notification, the UE 108 decodes the paging message thereby further obtaining the DL data.
In other embodiments, the RAN 106 can include DL resource assignment information in the paging message. Upon receipt of the paging message, the UE 108 decodes the paging message to obtain the DL resource assignment information. In some embodiments, the DL resource assignment information can be in the form of Downlink Control Information (DCI). Upon obtaining the DL resource assignment information, the UE 108 can subsequently receive the DL data according to the assigned DL resources.
In each of the above embodiments, for example when the RAN 106 includes the DL data in the paging message or the RAN 106 includes DL resource assignment information in the paging message, the UE 108 can be provided with a mechanism to receive DL data without transitioning into a RAN active mode of operation (such as RRC_CONNECTED state) and thus can receive the DL data while remaining in a RAN inactive mode of operation. Furthermore, while this scenario is described in terms of the downlink transmission, it would be readily understood by one of skill in the art how to modify the defined embodiments for uplink transmission.
Furthermore, while the above embodiments have been defined with respect to the transmission of DL data to a UE 108, these embodiments can be further considered to provide a mechanism for the RAN 106 to update a semi-persistent schedule, for example for one or both of the downlink or the uplink, to define a UL data channel or DL data channel for data transfer to or from the UE 106. In this case, the DL resource assignment (or UL resource assignment) information in the paging message describes the DL data channel (or UL data channel). It is understood that the semi-persistent schedule may be shared by a group of UEs. It is further understood that this updating of the semi-persistent schedule can be triggered by an internal need of the network.
In the embodiment illustrated in
Having further regard to
As previously noted according to embodiments, prior to the transmission of data using a paging notification or a grant notification, the application server, UE 108, 110 and communication network components there between, for example the radio access nodes 106 (RANs), mobility managers 104 (MM) and the NCEF 102, may be preconfigured and provided with information indicative of the predicate parsing and evaluation logic. This predicate parsing and evaluation logic can be used by the UE 108, 110 and the various communication network components for the evaluation of a predicate and data configured in any or all of the a paging and grant notification.
According to embodiments, the preconfiguration of the application server, UEs 108, 110 and communication network components there between can provide for a global uniqueness of the predicates, for example these predicates may contain application unique headers. Furthermore, by the provision of a validation and authorization of this preconfiguration, denial of service (DOS) attacks may be prevented or mitigated. In addition, the preconfiguration of the communication network components can enable a level of filtering of the data to be performed on the network side of the communication. This filtering may enable the sending of traffic, for example the paging requests, only to RAN(s) 106 which are serving UEs 110 for which the paging request are intended. This process can reduce the communication network overhead as unnecessary paging requests are not sent out. In addition, by the preconfiguration of the network components to the predicate that will be received in the subsequent paging request, the communication network is capable of verifying responses to the paging requests, as there can be an association of the responses with the predicate, for example responses between the UE 108, application server and network components may be associated with the predicate used when the paging request was first initiated. In this manner, a form of confirmation of guaranteed delivery may be enabled.
According to embodiments each device (UE) is assigned to a group which is identified by a S-TMSI. The S-TMSI can indicate a larger set of UEs to which the predicate will apply. The S-TMSI can be shared between all UEs in a group. The group may encompass UEs that have been subscribed to a particular service or belong to a particular operator/vendor/supplier or other parameter that is shared by the UEs using the same S-TMSI. This S-TMSI can be referred to as the application identifier, however according to some embodiments, the S-TMSI can have greater meaning, for example the S-TMSI may also be used for other communication or charging aspects relating to the UEs or both. According to embodiments, as illustrated in
According to embodiments, the ‘grant’ field indicated in “S-TMSI-Data” of
According to embodiments, a DCI 800 (such as a PDCCH DCI) may include a predicate 802 and may optionally also include data 804. The predicate 802 and data 804 (where appropriate) can be embedded within a grant notification providing a transmission grant. For example, the grant notification can be a grant for transmission of uplink data sent periodically to a group of UEs. Upon receipt of a grant notification encoded with a group identifier (RNTI), a UE can use the predicate 802 and, optionally, the data 804 included in the grant notification to determine whether it should transmit information during an indicated uplink transmission opportunity.
In some embodiments, if a paging notification is a unicast paging notification, for example one-to-one, then the predicate may be embedded in the unicast paging notification. In some embodiments, the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of a PDCCH DCI can be masked using the predicate or a portion of the predicate. For example, this masking of the CRC using the predicate can be performed by using attribute-based-encryption to encrypt the CRC such that only the qualifying UE, for example with the proper attributes, can verify the CRC and subsequently proceed with the decoding of the message or data contained in the notification. For example, attribute-based-encryption can define a type of public-key encryption in which the secret key of a user and the ciphertext are dependent upon attributes, for example attributes of the user. The decryption of a ciphertext can be possible only if the set of attributes of the user key matches the attributes of the ciphertext.
The memory may include any type of non-transitory memory such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), any combination of such, or the like. The mass storage element may include any type of non-transitory storage device, such as a solid state drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, USB drive, or any computer program product configured to store data and machine executable program code. In some embodiments, mass storage may be integrated with a heterogeneous memory. According to certain embodiments, the memory or mass storage may have recorded thereon statements and instructions executable by the processor for performing any of the aforementioned method steps described above.
The electronic device can include one or more network interfaces, which may include at least one of a wired network interface and a wireless network interface. A network interface may include a wired network interface to connect to a network, and also may include a radio access network interface for connecting to other devices over a radio link. When ED is a network infrastructure element, the radio access network interface may be omitted for nodes or functions acting as elements of the PLMN other than those at the radio edge (e.g. an eNB). When ED is infrastructure at the radio edge of a network, both wired and wireless network interfaces may be included. When ED is a wirelessly connected device, such as a User Equipment, radio access network interface may be present and it may be supplemented by other wireless interfaces such as WiFi network interfaces. The network interfaces allow the electronic device to communicate with remote entities such as those connected to network.
According to embodiments, a video adapter and the I/O interface provide interfaces to couple the electronic device to external input and output devices. Examples of input and output devices include a display coupled to the video adapter and an I/O device such as a touch-screen coupled to the I/O interface. Other devices may be coupled to the electronic device, and additional or fewer interfaces may be utilized. For example, a serial interface such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) (not shown) may be used to provide an interface for an external device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in embodiments in which ED is part of a data center, I/O interface and Video Adapter may be virtualized and provided through network interface.
In some embodiments, electronic device may be a standalone device, while in other embodiments electronic device may be resident within a data center. A data center, as will be understood in the art, is a collection of computing resources (typically in the form of servers) that can be used as a collective computing and storage resource. Within a data center, a plurality of servers can be connected together to provide a computing resource pool upon which virtualized entities can be instantiated. Data centers can be interconnected with each other to form networks consisting of pools computing and storage resources connected to each by connectivity resources. The connectivity resources may take the form of physical connections such as Ethernet or optical communications links, and in some instances may include wireless communication channels as well. If two different data centers are connected by a plurality of different communication channels, the links can be combined together using any of a number of techniques including the formation of link aggregation groups (LAGs). It should be understood that any or all of the computing, storage and connectivity resources (along with other resources within the network) can be divided between different sub-networks, in some cases in the form of a resource slice. If the resources across a number of connected data centers or other collection of nodes are sliced, different network slices can be created.
It should further be understood that different embodiments have been discussed in the context of individual features or elements. This has been for the sake of simplifying the discussion. Features and elements introduced in one embodiment may be combined with the features and elements introduced in other embodiments. In one non-limiting example provided solely for the purposes of illustration, in the method 170 illustrated in
In embodiments, as discussed above, there is provide a method for data transfer during a period without an established communication session. This method comprises transmitting, by a network node, a request including a predicate structure and evaluation logic, the predicate structure being indicative of a predicate for data transfer; receiving, by the network node, a response to the request; and transmitting, by the network node, the predicate and data.
In a further embodiment, transmitting the predicate and data includes broadcasting to one or more recipients. In a further embodiment, transmitting the predicate and data includes transmitting a paging notification. In another embodiment, transmitting the predicate, the data, or both includes transmitting a grant notification. Optionally the grant notification is a grant for at least one of a downlink reception opportunity and an uplink transmission opportunity.
In other embodiments, there is provided a method for data transfer for execution at a network node, such as a mobility management function. The method for data transfer comprises receiving, by a network node, a configuration (which may be configuration information) including one or more of a predicate structure and evaluation logic; receiving, by the network node, a first notification request including a first predicate and data; and transmitting, by the network node, a second notification request including a second predicate and the data, wherein transmitting is at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and the evaluation logic.
In an embodiment, the second notification request is a paging request. Optionally the method further comprises receiving a paging acknowledgement. In a further optional embodiment, the paging request is transmitted to one or more identified radio access nodes (RANs) wherein the identified RANs are determined at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and the evaluation logic.
In an embodiment, the second notification request is a data transfer request. The data transfer request is configured to, upon reception at the destination, initiate transmission of a grant notification. In an optional embodiment, the method comprises receiving a data transfer acknowledgement. In another optional embodiment, the data transfer request is transmitted to one or more identified radio access nodes, RANs, wherein the identified RANs are determined at least in part based on the first predicate evaluated using one or more of the predicate structure and the evaluation logic.
In further embodiments, the method can be carried out at a mobility manager. The mobility manager may be a mobility anchor. In another embodiment, the configuration including one or more of a predicate structure and evaluation logic is received from one of an Application Server, an NCEF and a RAN and a UE. The configuration may be received directly from one of the above mentioned nodes or functions, or it may be received indirectly.
The first notification request may be received from any or all of the NCEF, RAN and UE. In some embodiments, the notification request may originate at an Application Server, and in such embodiments, the notification request may be sent through either the NCEF, or through a UE (via a RAN) to the MM.
In a further embodiment, there is provided a network node for transferring data in accordance with the method for data transfer described in the above embodiment. The network node comprises a network interface, a processor and a memory. The memory is machine readable and stores instructions that when executed by the processor cause the network node to be configured to carry out the method described above. The various embodiments of this method can also be applied mutatis mutandis to the network node.
It will be further understood that as defined by the LTE standards, a UE in idle mode is assigned a paging cycle. At fixed points in the cycle, the UE will wake up from a power saving mode in which the radio is powered down, and listen for a broadcast page. Upon receipt of the broadcast page, the UE will examine the page to determine if the page includes an identifier associated with the UE. If the identifier associated with the UE is included in the broadcast page, the UE initiates a service request so that it can retrieve the buffered data. If the identifier associated with the UE is not included the in the broadcast page, the UE can return to the power saving mode in which the radio is powered down. This power saving mode is often referred to as a sleep mode. As described above, the behavior of the UE may be different under the disclosed methods. A UE that is in an idle mode (or an RRC inactive mode) will wake up to receive a broadcast page. The UE will process the received broadcast page. If an identifier associated with the UE is present in the broadcast page, the UE will perform further processing (e.g. an examination of the predicate). Responsive to a determination that the broadcast page that includes an identifier associated with the UE contains an instruction or request that the UE connect to the network, the UE can connect to the network in one form or another. This may entail transmitting a service request, interacting with a radio access node to exit an RRC inactive state, or other such activities. It will also be understood that a UE, having received a broadcast page including an identifier associated with the UE, may return to a sleep state (e.g. a power saving state in which radio functions are powered down) without attempting to further connect to the network. When the further processing of the predicate does not specify an action for or request of the UE, the UE may return to the sleep state without connecting to the network.
Through the descriptions of the preceding embodiments, the present invention may be implemented by using hardware only or by using software and a necessary universal hardware platform. Based on such understandings, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product. The software product may be stored in a non-volatile or non-transitory storage medium, which can be a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), USB flash disk, or a removable hard disk. The software product includes a number of instructions that enable a computer device (personal computer, server, or network device) to execute the methods provided in the embodiments of the present invention. For example, such an execution may correspond to a simulation of the logical operations as described herein. The software product may additionally or alternatively include number of instructions that enable a computer device to execute operations for configuring or programming a digital logic apparatus in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the invention. Moreover, in some instances the present invention has been described using reference to terminology specific to LTE, it is readily understood that the use of these terms is meant to be illustrative and not limiting. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded simply as an illustration of the invention as defined by the appended claims, and are contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the present invention.
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/395,153 filed on Sep. 15, 2016 and entitled Method and Apparatus for Application Aware Notifications in a Wireless Communication Network, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62395153 | Sep 2016 | US |
