Patent ID: 8428625
Filing Date: 2013-04-23
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of paging a user equipment (UE) from a mobility management entity (MME) in a communication network, where the communication network includes a plurality of eNodeBs that are arranged into at least one tracking area, the method comprising: maintaining, at the MME, a list of eNodeBs from which the UE was actively communicating with the communication network; receiving a page request for the UE at the MME and locating the tracking area where the UE was last registered; determining, at the MME, to apply heuristic based paging in sending the page request to the plurality of eNodeBs in the tracking area; inspecting the page request, at the MME, to determine a category of application for which the page request was issued; determining, at the MME, the delay sensitivity of the category of application; determining, at the MME, 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 first page request to a first subset of the eNodeBs in the tracking area based on the list of eNodeBs from which the UE was last actively communicating; determining, at the MME, 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; sending the subsequent page request to the second subset with at least some different eNodeBs than the first subset, if a response is not received after the first page request; and expanding the number of eNodeBs a page request is sent to until a determination is made by the MME to refrain from sending another page request at that time.