Abstract:
An apparatus and method for updating the location of an idle-mode MS in a communication system are provided, in which the MS transmits a ranging request message requesting location update to a BS, receives a ranging response message from the BS, determines from the ranging response message whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and performs network reentry if downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and upon receipt of the ranging request message from the MS, the BS performs a location update procedure, determines whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, generates the ranging response message including information indicating whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and transmits the ranging response message to the MS.

Description:
PRIORITY  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to an application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on May 30, 2006 and assigned Serial No. 2006-48605, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates generally to a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication system, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for fast processing downlink traffic that has been generated during a location update procedure in an idle-mode Mobile Station (MS).  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Provisioning of services with diverse Quality of Service (QoS) requirements at or above 100 Mbps to users is an active study area for a future-generation communication system called a 4 th  Generation (4G) communication system. Particularly, active research is conducted on provisioning of high-speed service by ensuring mobility and QoS to a BWA communication system such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN). Examples of such systems are Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16a and IEEE 802.16e systems.  
         [0006]     According to the IEEE 802.16e standards, an idle-mode MS shall update its location, if any of a plurality of location update conditions are met. The IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard defines four location update conditions: Zone Update, Timer Update, Power Down Update, and Medium Access Control (MAC) Hash Skip Threshold Update.  
         [0007]     Before describing the location update conditions, it is to be clarified that Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), Uplink Channel Descriptor (UCD), Mobile Paging Advertisement (MOB_PAG-ADV), Paging Group Identifier (PG-ID), MAC Hash Skip Threshold, MAC Hash Skip Counter, Deregistration Command (DREG-CMD), Ranging Request (RNG-REQ), and Ranging Response (RNG-RSP) messages are in compliance with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard.  
         [0008]     In Zone Update, the MS performs a location update process when it detects a change in its paging group by comparing a PG-ID stored in the MS with a PG-ID included in a DCD or MOB_PAG-ADV message broadcast by a preferred BS during a Paging Listening Interval (PLI) known to the MS. If the two PG-IDs are different, the MS determines that its paging group has been changed.  
         [0009]     In Timer Update, the MS periodically performs the location update process prior to the expiration of an idle-mode timer. The idle-mode timer is set to 128 to 65536 seconds as defined in IEEE 802.16e-2005 Parameters and Constants.  
         [0010]     In Power Down Update, the MS attempts a location update as part of its orderly power-down procedure. As the MS informs its power-down to a paging controller being a network entity that handles the idle mode of the MS, the paging controller deletes information about the MS.  
         [0011]     In MAC Hash Skip Threshold Update, the MS performs the location update process if an MS MAC Hash Skip Counter exceeds a MAC Hash Skip Threshold. The MAC Hash Skip Threshold is known from a DREG-CMD message that the MS receives from a network in order to enter the idle mode. When the location update is successful, the MS and the BS need to initialize their MAC Hash Skip Counters.  
         [0012]     A description will be made of  FIG. 1 , which is a flowchart illustrating a conventional location update process when a preferred BS is changed within the same paging group.  
         [0013]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a first BS  110  and a second BS  120  are in the same paging group. When the first BS  110  is a preferred BS, an MS  100  monitors occurrence of a location update event in idle mode in step  130 . Upon occurrence of a location update event, the MS  100  updates its location with the first BS  110  in step  132  and proceeds to step  134 . If a location update event does not occur in step  130 , the MS  100  jumps to step  134 . The MS receives a MOB_PAG-ADV message from the first BS  110  during a PLI in step  134 . Steps  136  to  140  are the same as steps  130  to  134  except that the preferred BS has changed to the second BS  120 .  
         [0014]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , in the case where the preferred BS changes from the first BS  110  to the second BS  120 , an analysis of the occurrence of a location update event in step  136  reveals that the two BSs  110  and  120  are in the same paging group. Hence the MS jumps from step  136  to step  140  without a location update.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a conventional Zone Update process.  
         [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , when detecting a change in its paging group, the MS  100  transmits an initial/dedicated ranging Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Code (M 20 ) to a preferred BS, herein the BS  120 , according to valid DCD and UCD information received from the BS  120 .  
         [0017]     The BS  120  transmits Uplink BandWidth (UL BW) allocation information to the MS  100  by a RNG-RSP message with status=success (M 21 ) and a CDMA-Allocation-IE message (M 22 ) so that the MS  100  can transmit an uplink message.  
         [0018]     The MS  100  transmits a RNG-REQ message with ranging purpose=0x02 (M 23 ) according to the UL BW allocation information. That is, the MS  100  sets Value of a Ranging Purpose Indication Type, Length, Value (TLV) to indicate a location update request.  
         [0019]     The BS  120  replies with an RNG-RSP message with location update response (M 24 ), i.e. including a Location Update Response (LUR) TLV indicating success. The BS  120  may include paging information such as a new paging cycle, a new paging offset, and a new PG-ID in the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ).  
         [0020]     Upon receipt of the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ), the MS  100  determines whether the location update is successful in step  202 . If the location update is successful, the MS  100  completes the location update process in step  204 . If the location update has failed, the MS performs initial network entry in step  206 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a conventional process for processing pending downlink traffic during the Zone Update. Steps or messages described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2  will not be described herein.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , when detecting the change of the preferred BS from a first BS  310  to a second BS  320  in a different paging group in an idle mode, the MS  100  and the second BS  320  exchange M 20  to M 24  messages as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Upon receipt of a RNG-RSP message (M 24 ), the MS completes the location update in step  336 .  
         [0023]     Upon receipt of the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ), the MS  100  also monitors a valid PLI from the second BS  320  using new paging information included in the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ). Hence, the MS  100  can receive a MOB_PAG-ADV message (M 30 ) indicating occurrence of downlink traffic in the valid PLI.  
         [0024]     When detecting the presence of the downlink traffic, the MS releases itself from the idle mode and performs network reentry in step  338 .  
         [0025]     If the first BS  310  or second  320  receives downlink traffic for the MS  100  but does not transmit the downlink traffic, i.e. leaves the downlink traffic pending during the time period between step  332  and transmission of the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ) from the second BS  320 , the MS  100  does not reenter the network until it is aware of the occurrence of the downlink traffic by the MOB_PAG-ADV message (M 30 ), despite the completion of the location update by the time of receiving the RNG-RSP message (M 24 ).  
         [0026]     A shortcoming with the above conventional location update process is that the MS does not know whether downlink traffic exists for the MS even after a successful location update. The MS knows the occurrence of the downlink traffic only when an updated PLI comes.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]     An aspect of the present invention is to substantially solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for updating the location of an idle-mode MS such that the delay of downlink traffic is decreased in a BWA communication system.  
         [0028]     Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for reducing the delay of downlink traffic during a location update by an idle-mode MS in a BWA communication system.  
         [0029]     A further aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for transmitting a location update response message indicating whether there is pending downlink traffic for an MS that has requested a location update in a BWA communication system.  
         [0030]     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating apparatus in a BWA communication system, in which if a location update is required, an MS transmits a ranging request message requesting location update to a BS, receives a ranging response message from the BS, determines from the ranging response message whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and performs network reentry if downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and upon receipt of the ranging request message from the MS, the BS performs a location update procedure, determines whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, generates the ranging response message including information indicating whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and transmits the ranging response message to the MS.  
         [0031]     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating apparatus of a BS in a BWA communication system, in which a ranging request processor performs a location update procedure, if a ranging request message received from an MS requests location update, a downlink traffic processor determines whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, if the requested location update is successful, and a ranging response processor generates a ranging response message including information indicating whether the location update is successful and information indicating whether there is downlink traffic pending for the MS, and transmits the ranging response message to the MS.  
         [0032]     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating apparatus of an MS in a BWA communication system, in which a ranging request processor generates a ranging request message to perform a location update procedure according to a location update condition in an idle mode, a ranging response processor acquires location update information from a ranging response message received from a BS and determines whether there is downlink traffic pending for the MS from the ranging response message, and a network reentry processor attempts network reentry to the BS being a preferred BS in order to receive the downlink traffic, if there is downlink traffic pending for the MS.  
         [0033]     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating method in a BWA communication system, in which if a location update is required, an MS transmits a ranging request message requesting location update to a BS, the BS performs a location update procedure, upon receipt of the ranging request, the BS determines whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS after the location update procedure, generates a ranging response message including information indicating whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS, and transmits the ranging response message to the MS, and the MS determines from the ranging response message whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS and performs network reentry if downlink traffic has been generated for the MS.  
         [0034]     According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating method of a BS in a BWA communication system, in which the BS performs a location update procedure, upon receipt of a ranging request message requesting location update from an MS, determines whether downlink traffic has been generated for the MS after the requested location update, generates a ranging response message including information indicating whether there is downlink traffic pending for the MS and transmits the ranging response message to the MS.  
         [0035]     According to yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location updating method of an MS in a BWA communication system, in which the MS generates a ranging request message and transmits the ranging request message to a Base Station (BS) if a location update is required, determines whether there is downlink traffic pending for the MS from the ranging response message upon receipt of the ranging response message from the BS, and performs network reentry, if there is downlink traffic pending for the MS. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0036]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0037]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a conventional location update process when a preferred BS is changed within the same paging group;  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a conventional Zone Update process;  
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a conventional process for processing pending downlink traffic during the Zone Update;  
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a process for processing pending downlink traffic during a Zone Update in a BWA communication system according to the present invention;  
         [0041]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a BS in the BWA communication system according to the present invention; and  
         [0042]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an MS in the BWA communication system according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0043]     Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.  
         [0044]     The present invention provides an apparatus and method for updating the location of an idle-mode MS so as to reduce the delay of downlink traffic directed to the MS, in particular to overcome the problem encountered with the present IEEE 802.16e standard in that an MS is not aware of the presence of downlink traffic until an updated PLI, in a BWA communication system.  
         [0045]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for a process for processing pending downlink traffic during a Zone Update in a BWA communication system according to the present invention. A description of steps or messages described earlier with reference to  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3  is not provided herein.  
         [0046]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , when an MS  400  detects in an idle mode that a preferred BS has changed from a first BS  410  to a second BS  420  in a different paging group in step  432 , it transmits an initial/dedicated ranging CDMA Code (M 20 ) to the second BS  420 . The BS  420  transmits a RNG-RSP message (M 21 ) and a CDMA-Allocation-IE message (M 22 ) to the MS  400 . Then the MS  400  transmits a RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) to the second BS  420 .  
         [0047]     Determining that there is downlink traffic pending for the MS  400  in step  434 , the second BS  420  transmits a RNG-RSP message (M 40 ) to the MS  400 . The RNG-RSP message (M 40 ) contains new paging information and information indicating the presence of the downlink traffic.  
         [0048]     As the MS  400  is aware of the pending downlink traffic by the RNG-RSP message (M 40 ), it completes the location update process and performs network reentry from the idle mode in step  436 .  
         [0049]     The RNG-RSP message (M 40 ) includes an LUR TLV configured as shown in Table 1 below.  
                                                 TABLE 1                                   Type   Length   Value                                    LUR   23   1   0x00 = Failure of Location Update. The MS shall                   perform Network Reentry from Idle Mode                   0x01 = Success of Location Update                   0x02 = Success of Location Update and presence                   of DL traffic pending                   0x03˜0xFF = Reserved                  
 
         [0050]     In Table 1, the TLV values other than a Value of 0x02 are in compliance with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard.  
         [0051]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a BS in the BWA communication system according to the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the BS includes a controller  500 , an interface module  502 , a RNG-REQ processor  504 , a RNG-RSP processor  506 , and a downlink traffic processor  508 .  
         [0052]     The interface module  502  is a module for communicating with an MS, including a Radio Frequency (RF) processor and a baseband processor. The RF processor downconverts an RF signal received through an antenna to a baseband signal and provides the baseband signal to the baseband processor. It also upconverts a baseband signal received from the baseband processor to an RF signal transmittable over air and transmits the RF signal through the antenna. In BWA, for example, the baseband processor processes an RF signal received from the RF processor by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and channel decoding and provides the original information data to the controller  500 . In the reverse order, the baseband processor processes data received from the controller  500  by channel encoding and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) and provides the processed data to the RF processor.  
         [0053]     The RNG-REQ processor  504  processes a RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) received from the idle-mode MS  400 . It identifies whether the ranging purpose of the RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) is location update, initial ranging, or network entry and operates correspondingly. If the RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) includes the ID of the MS  400  and Ranging Purpose Indication Bit# 1 =1, the RNG-REQ processor  504  considers that the RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) requests a location update.  
         [0054]     The downlink traffic processor  508  operates after the location update requested by the MS  400  is performed. If the location update is successful, the downlink traffic processor  508  monitors generation of downlink traffic for the MS  400  and provides the monitoring result to the RNG-RSP processor  506 .  
         [0055]     The RNG-RSP processor  506  generates a RNG-RSP message (M 40 ) with an LUR TLV parameter configured as shown in Table 1 according to whether the location update is successful and there is pending downlink traffic.  
         [0056]     The controller  500  controls the interface module  502 , the RNG-REQ processor  504 , the RNG-RSP processor  506 , and the downlink traffic processor  508 . That is, the controller  500  can implement the functionalities of the interface module  502 , the RNG-REQ processor  504 , the RNG-RSP processor  506 , and the downlink traffic processor  508 . While the interface module  502 , the RNG-REQ processor  504 , the RNG-RSP processor  506 , and the downlink traffic processor  508  are shown separately for illustrative purposes, all or part of them may be incorporated into the controller  500  in real implementation.  
         [0057]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an MS in the BWA communication system according to the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 6 , the MS includes a controller  600 , an interface module  602 , a RNG-REQ processor  604 , a RNG-RSP processor  606 , a location update processor  608 , and a network reentry processor  610 .  
         [0058]     The interface module  602  is a module for communicating with the BS, including an RF processor and a baseband processor. The RF processor downconverts an RF signal received through an antenna to a baseband signal and provides the baseband signal to the baseband processor. It also upconverts a baseband signal received from the baseband processor to an RF signal transmittable over air and transmits the RF signal through the antenna. In BWA, for example, the baseband processor processes an RF signal received from the RF processor by FFT and channel decoding and provides the original information data to the controller  600 . In the reverse order, the baseband processor processes data received from the controller  600  by channel encoding and IFFT and provides the processed data to the RF processor.  
         [0059]     The RNG-REQ processor  604  generates a RNG-REQ message (M 23 ) for a location update when any of location update conditions is met in an idle mode. The RNG-REQ message (M 23 ), whose ranging purpose is location update includes the ID of the MS (herein, the MS  400 ) and Ranging Purpose Indication Bit# 1 =1.  
         [0060]     The RNG-RSP processor  606  processes a RNG-RSP message (M 40 ) received from the BS  420  to update the location of the MS  400 . The RNG-RSP processor  606  provides location update information according to an LUR TLV value to the location update processor  608  and informs the network reentry processor  610  whether there is pending downlink traffic according to the LUR TLV value. Herein, the location update information can be new paging information with a new paging cycle, a new paging offset, and a new PG-ID.  
         [0061]     The location update processor  608  updates a PLI using the new paging cycle and the new paging offset, and stores the new PG-ID.  
         [0062]     The network reentry processor  610  attempts network reentry to the BS  420 , being the preferred BS, when the RNG-RSP processor  606  indicates that there is pending downlink traffic.  
         [0063]     The controller  600  controls the interface module  602 , the RNG-REQ processor  604 , the RNG-RSP processor  606 , the location update processor  608 , and the network reentry processor  610 . That is, the controller  600  can implement the functionalities of the interface module  602 , the RNG-REQ processor  604 , the RNG-RSP processor  606 , the location update processor  608 , and the network reentry processor  610 . While the interface module  602 , the RNG-REQ processor  604 , the RNG-RSP processor  606 , the location update processor  608 , and the network reentry processor  610  are shown separately for illustrative purposes, all or part of them may be incorporated into the controller  600  in real implementation.  
         [0064]     As described above, the present invention provides a location updating apparatus and method in which a BS determines the presence or absence of downlink traffic for an MS and transmits a RNG-RSP message indicating the presence or absence of downlink traffic to the MS during a location update of the MS in an idle mode. Therefore, the delay of downlink traffic is reduced without using additional resources during the location update.  
         [0065]     While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.