Patent ID: 8150393
Filing Date: 2012-04-03
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: receiving at a first network element in a communications network a first message from a user equipment; transmitting the first message from the first network element to a serving network element; detecting at the first network element that the serving network element is out of service; determining at the first network element a type of the first message, wherein determining the type of the first message comprises evaluating content of a predefined information element in the first message; in response to detecting at the first network element that the serving network element is out of service and to determining that the type of the first message is a re-registration request, sending from the first network element to the user equipment an error message including an indication that the serving network element is out of service; and subsequent to sending the error message to the user equipment, receiving a second message having an initial registration type from the user equipment.