Patent Description:
In this respect, a wireless communication system may be operated by means of a radio network, comprising a number of radio base stations connected to a backbone, which in turn is connected to the Internet and other networks. Wireless radio devices, normally referred to as user equipment, may gain contact with the radio network by means of radio communication with the base stations. The wireless communication systems are mainly developed for the purpose of providing communication possibilities to mobile devices, but it should be noted that a user equipment may be substantially or completely stationary, and still benefit from being provided with radio communication capabilities.

Various multiple access technologies have been adopted in different telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional and global level. An example is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Further telecommunication standards have been developed in the past and more will follow, as this is an area of constant development.

The demand for wireless communication access continues to increase. This includes a need for mobile broadband access by an increasing number of devices. In parallel, various technical improvements have been made for providing wireless access to various types of user equipment with comparatively lower requirements on bandwidth and data rates. This includes radio devices of less complex structure that e.g. may need to transmit or receive data with long intervals. For such purposes, technical specifications for e.g. machine-type communication MTC and narrow-band Internet of things Nb-IoT are developed within 3GPP. Devices that may employ such communication schemes may include meters, monitoring devices and other type of equipment, which may be of low cost and require little or no recharging of battery. While the number of wireless devices in use, such as mobile phones and tablets, continues to increase, it is foreseen that the amount of IoT devices having access to communicate over wireless communication systems will grow even more rapidly and extensively. Even though most user equipment present within a coverage area of a radio network will normally not be active simultaneously, the sheer number of such devices provides a challenge. Should a large number of devices need access to the network at a common instance, the load on physical access request channels need to be handled.

<CIT> discloses method and a system for implementing a MBMS counting in a wireless communication network environment, wherein a plurality of UEs and at least one Radio Network Controller are located in the wireless communication network. The method comprises: confirming a counting response from the UE by means of sending a first message containing a Service ID list and a counting sequence number (CSN) to the UE when the CRNC receives a connection request from the UE; storing the CSN in the UE and starting a timer Tcsn configured in the UE when the UE receives the first message; not responding to a counting when a further CSN and a further Service ID list in a further message received from the CRNC are the same as the CSN and the Service ID list stored in UE and the timer Tcsn does not expire; starting a new counting response by responding to the counting and stopping the timer Tcsn when either the further CSN or the Service ID list in the further message is distinguishing from the CSN and the Service ID list stored in UE and when the timer Tcsn does not expire. According to the method and system of the present invention, the UTRAN radio resource is saved and the UEs consume less power. Meanwhile, the interferences to other users caused by the RRC connection can be avoided.

There is consequently a need in the art to provide a solution associated with load management in wireless communication systems, in view of the increase in use of user equipment. One method of targeting this problem is to provide a solution for allowing the radio network to establish a count measure of user equipment present within a dedicated coverage area. The invention is defined by the terms of the independent claims, whereas various embodiments are set out in the dependent claims.

The detailed description set forth below, wherein reference is made to the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced.

Aspects of the embodiments presented herein are disclosed with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). Software in any such form may be stored in a memory, such as a non-volatile memory, forming part of or being connected to the processing system.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications often refers to technologies that allow devices to communicate with each other, with little human intervention. Such M2M communication devices typically may store data, and may transmit data to other M2M devices or to a server over a network, such as a cellular network. In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and its evolution LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), one version of M2M has been developed under the term Machine Type Communications (MTC). An MTC device may perform automatic data transmissions in a network wherein each data transmission can be initiated by a first machine, routed through a network, and delivered to one or more other machines. When operating under a 3GPP system, such as an LTE system, scheduling of resources for such communication is controlled by the network, typically within the base station, or the eNode B (eNB) as denoted in LTE. In addition to legacy LTE control and data communication and MTC, another system that can co-exist is the in-band deployment of a Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, which may optionally also be deployed in the guard-band or in stand-alone mode. Operating under such a protocol, an NB-IoT carrier of ~<NUM> can be located within the assigned bandwidth of LTE operation.

In the following, the detailed description describes example embodiments of the present invention in relation to radio wide area networks of a wireless communication system, but it may be noted that the invention is not limited thereto and can be applied to other types of wireless networks where similar advantages can be obtained. Furthermore, description will be given associated with embodiments related to MTC or NB-IoT under LTE, where a radio device is commonly referred to as a user equipment (UE), but the invention is applicable also to other types of radio systems, and may also include coming systems such as discussed under the concept of NR (New Radio), or other wireless communication systems and networks.

In a wireless system where a very large number of radio devices may be present at any time within a dedicated coverage area, a situation may occur that a multitude of radio device request access simultaneously. This is a potential risk that may increase dramatically with the introduction of large volumes of M2M devices. For NR, discussions related to Random access have started, including enhancements for NR compared to legacy LTE, including handling the PRACH load, and potential overload. The problem is e.g. to handle excessive amount of RACH attempts, and especially Re-attempts. This could also involve UEs in Coverage Enhancement mode (CE). So, in order for the network or base station to handle a certain RACH load, and to dimension its PRACH resources, an understanding of the number of UEs that might access the base station may be beneficial. In this context, a dedicated coverage area may be a cell, as served by a base station of a radio network. In another embodiment, the dedicated area may refer to a larger area comprising a plurality of cells, such as a RAN area. In the endeavor of finding a procedure for managing the risk of a surge in access requests, it is proposed that a method for UE counting is employed. The objective is that the radio network shall gain knowledge of at least an estimate of the number of UEs present within the dedicated coverage area. A serving base station should already know how many active UEs that are connected to the base station. However, for idle mode, or inactive UEs under NR, this would not be possible without some sort of update procedure since there is no RRC connection between the radio device and the base station. Although the radio device in such modes may be configured to make cell reselections and to listen to signaling from the base stations of network, e.g. listen to broadcast messages and monitor paging signals from the network, the radio transmitter in the radio devices are inactive and the base stations of the network are not aware of which base station the radio devices are camped to or moving towards.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a radio network <NUM>, comprising at least one base station <NUM> connected to a backbone <NUM> of a wireless communication system. The radio network comprises one or more dedicated coverage areas <NUM>. As an example, each base station may be configured to cover an area <NUM> associated with one cell of the radio network, as indicated in <FIG>. In other embodiments, the dedicated coverage area may be a RAN area, incorporating a large number of cells <NUM>. The base station <NUM> may be configured to serve a plurality of radio devices <NUM> within the coverage area of a cell <NUM>. Some radio devices may be connected, or active, and are indicated by full line contours in <FIG>. For such radio devices <NUM>, it will be clear to the network <NUM>, from information gathered from the base station <NUM>, how many radio devices are present within the coverage area <NUM>. Concurrently, a number of radio devices <NUM> may be present within the coverage area <NUM> in idle or inactive mode, indicated in <FIG> by means of a dashed contour. These may be completely or substantially stationary, or mobile radio devices. It will therefore not be clear to the network <NUM> how many such radio devices are present within the coverage area <NUM>. This also means that the network <NUM> may not be appropriately prepared to handle access attempt load control, especially if a large number of the radio devices <NUM> should make an access attempt concurrently.

For this reason, a solution is proposed as broadly indicated in <FIG>. This relates to a method for establishing a count measure of radio devices <NUM> in a radio network <NUM>, such as a value representing the number of a radio devices <NUM> present within a certain coverage area. The method comprising a step <NUM> of receiving a presence message at a first base station <NUM> of the radio network, wherein said presence message is transmitted based on a reporting rule; and <NUM> detecting presence of a radio device <NUM> within a dedicated coverage area <NUM> of the radio network <NUM> responsive to receiving said presence message. This presence message is used in a step <NUM> for compiling the count measure, in which the received presence message represents a count of at least one radio device <NUM>. In this context, the network <NUM> compiles a count measure of how many radio devices <NUM> are present in a dedicated coverage area <NUM>. As will be discussed below, the method involves counting all radio devices for which a message is received, and adding up the number of such detected radio devices <NUM>. In various embodiments, not all radio devices <NUM> are configured to transmit a presence message, and the count measure involves calculating an estimate of the number of radio devices <NUM> present, based on the number detected radio devices.

In various embodiments, only radio devices <NUM> of one or more predefined radio access technologies (RAT) are configured to or triggered to report a presence message. In one embodiment, only Nb-IoT radio devices <NUM> are configured to transmit a presence message. In one embodiment, MTC radio devices <NUM> are configured to transmit a presence message. In another embodiment, radio devices <NUM> of any RAT supported in the coverage area, e.g. LTE, MTC, Nb-IoT, may be configured to transmit a presence message, but only a subset of those will be triggered to do so, e.g. by a setting in broadcast system information. It thus be understood that where a radio device <NUM> is described herein e.g. as being configured to send a presence message, this may in various embodiments relate to a radio device with a specific RAT capability.

In an embodiment where the dedicated coverage area is a cell, at least idle mode radio devices <NUM> are configured to send this presence message. One reason for the network <NUM>, or specifically the base station <NUM>, to know the number of Idle mode radio devices may be for PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) resource handling. If there are many Idle mode radio devices <NUM> in the cell <NUM> and they would try to access the network <NUM> simultaneously, a PRACH storm, i.e., a congestion situation and overload situation may result. In one embodiment, also connected mode radio devices <NUM> are configured to send this presence message, e.g. for the sake of facilitating the step of compiling the count measure in step <NUM>, but strictly speaking that would not be required in order for the network to know how many connected radio devices <NUM> are present.

In one embodiment, where the dedicated coverage area <NUM> is a RAN area comprising a number of cells, at least radio devices <NUM> in Light Connected state, as identified in NR, or otherwise inactive state, are configured to send this presence message, but potentially also connected radio devices <NUM>. If the UE is in Light Connected or in Inactive state, a RAN Area Update could be triggered for every cell change, or for relevant cells, within the dedicated RAN area <NUM>.

In yet another embodiment, the network <NUM> or the base station <NUM> may be configured to compile a measure of how many radio devices <NUM> in Idle mode there are in the coverage area <NUM> that benefit from Coverage Enhancement (CE). In such an embodiment, a presence message may be configured to be transmitted for receipt in the network <NUM>, specifically associated with such CE radio devices <NUM>.

Various embodiments will now be described, primarily from the viewpoint of the radio device <NUM> or other sender node, and will broadly fall within the scope of <FIG>. Herein, a method is shown for providing a count indication of radio devices <NUM> to a radio network <NUM>, comprising <NUM> transmitting a presence message to a first base station <NUM> of the radio network <NUM> based on a reporting rule <NUM>, which presence message indicates presence of a radio device <NUM> within a dedicated coverage area <NUM> of the radio network <NUM>. In one embodiment, the transmission of the presence message it preceded by an event, wherein detection <NUM> of the event may at least partly be configured to cause the transmission of the presence message.

In one embodiment, a method is proposed based on the notion that it may be sufficient for the network <NUM>, or specifically the base station <NUM>, to establish a count measure that represents an estimate of the number of radio devices <NUM> present within the coverage area <NUM>. The step <NUM> of transmitting the presence message will occupy some portion of the air interface, and there may thus be reasons for minimizing this type of transmission, especially considering that the number of idle mode radio devices may be very large. Also, staying in idle mode, or Light Connected or inactive state, serves a purpose of saving power consumption in such radio devices <NUM>. For these reasons, the system may be configured to minimize messaging, while still being configured to provide a count measure of the number of radio devices <NUM> present within a dedicated coverage area <NUM>. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by means of the reporting rule including a probability rule, wherein said presence message is transmitted responsive to an outcome of a probability check, based on the probability rule, indicating that the radio device shall transmit the presence message. In one embodiment, this may be done by introducing a probability factor. For example, the system may be configured such that the presence message shall be sent with a certain probability P, e.g. P=<NUM>%. Applying the probability factor P, carrying out the probability check in the step <NUM> of determining whether to send the presence message will only give an indication that the radio device <NUM> shall transmit the presence message in <NUM>% of the cases. In one embodiment, the probability check may be carried out in each radio device <NUM> within the coverage area <NUM>, responsive to the step <NUM> of detecting an event. For the sake of clarity, it should be noted that <NUM>% is just an example, and that the probability factor may be both smaller and bigger. Should the network <NUM>, or the specific base station <NUM>, be requiring an exact number, the probability factor may be set to <NUM>%. If an estimate is sufficient, P may be set to lower than <NUM>%. The count measure to be compiled may be calculated, involving dividing the number of responses by the probability factor P. As an example, if probability is set to <NUM>% and <NUM> radio devices <NUM> transmit a presence message indicating presence in the coverage area <NUM>, then the network can estimate that there are <NUM> radio devices <NUM> in the cell, where the other <NUM> did not pass probability check. The estimated value represents the count measure for the radio devices <NUM> in the coverage area <NUM> that are configured to answer, e.g. the idle devices or those in Light Connected or inactive state. The lower the probability factor is, the better for power consumption in the radio device <NUM>, while at the same time reducing amount of resource usage to perform the update.

In one embodiment, a probability factor, or at least a default value for the probability factor, may be preconfigured by specification, or for the radio network <NUM> in question. A certain radio device <NUM>, or type of radio device <NUM>, may be specified or preconfigured to always apply a certain probability factor. In an alternative embodiment, there may be a preconfigured probability factor used as a default value, unless another value is set from the network <NUM>. In one embodiment, the network may be configured to send probability level data to the radio devices <NUM>, for use in the radio devices <NUM> in said probability check. This may e.g. be carried out by broadcasting the probability level data as system information from the network. The probability level data may be a numeric value to apply, or an indication which may be mapped to a numeric value by means of a processing device in a receiving radio device <NUM>.

A detectable event <NUM> that will cause the radio devices <NUM> to determine <NUM> to send a presence message may be time related, and may a period of a number of e.g. subframes or seconds. The time-dependent requirement may be preconfigured, or a default value in the radio network <NUM>. In on embodiment, time-dependent requirement may be altered and conveyed to the radio devices <NUM> by e.g. as system information in a radio broadcast from the base station <NUM>.

Another embodiment of a detectable event <NUM> that will cause the radio devices <NUM> determine <NUM> to send a presence message may be a trigger signal received from the network <NUM>, e.g. from the base station <NUM>. This may be transmitted to the radio devices <NUM> by broadcast of system information, and the radio devices <NUM> may be triggered to detect such information by paging.

In one embodiment, the reporting rule may involve messaging dependent on type or class of radio device <NUM>. As an example, a first type or class of radio device <NUM> may be capable of broadband data transfer, such as an LTE radio device <NUM>, whereas a second type or class of radio device has a more limited capability, or is restricted to lower bandwidth, such as an NB-IoT radio device <NUM> or an MTC radio device <NUM>. The network <NUM> may e.g. need or desire information on the number of radio devices <NUM> with high bandwidth capability only, or only those of lower bandwidth capability, and only such radio devices <NUM> may be preconfigured or triggered to transmit a presence message to the network <NUM>. In a variant of this embodiment, a certain type or class of radio device <NUM> may have higher priority, to access or to high bandwidth, in the coverage area <NUM>, such as radio devices <NUM> associated with emergency services.

<FIG> illustrates radio network <NUM> and two different coverage areas <NUM>, <NUM> of that network. A radio device <NUM> in a non-connected mode, such as in idle mode, Light Connected or inactive state, is moving from the coverage area <NUM> served by a first base station <NUM> into a second coverage area <NUM> served by a second base station <NUM>. Upon detecting <NUM>, in the radio device <NUM>, that the radio device <NUM> has moved to a position where a new base station <NUM> is the most appropriate, e.g. by monitoring the signal strength of base stations <NUM> and <NUM>, this may in an embodiment cause the determination <NUM> that the radio device shall transmit a presence message based on a reporting rule. As mentioned before, the coverage areas <NUM>, <NUM> may represent different RAN areas, each including several cells. In another embodiment, each coverage area may be a cell, in which the relocation of the radio device <NUM> from the first cell <NUM> to the second cell <NUM> may be denoted a cell reselection.

In one embodiment, a reporting rule may be that for any radio device <NUM> entering the coverage area <NUM>, a presence message shall be transmitted to indicate presence of the radio device <NUM>. This may be used as a one-time transmission, which need not require any update until the radio device <NUM> leaves the coverage area <NUM>. The requirement to send the presence message may be dependent on rules related specifically to the new coverage area <NUM>, which did not apply in the former coverage area <NUM>. In other words, not all coverage areas must apply a reporting rule for indicating presence, or the same reporting rule. The radio device <NUM> may receive information via system information from a base station <NUM> of the previous coverage area <NUM>, that messaging to indicate presence is needed when reselection to a specific different coverage area, e.g. <NUM>. This information may potentially also be preconfigured, or configured via dedicated signaling, e.g. in relation to neighbor cell measurement configuration. If the radio device <NUM> has not received any information before entering the new coverage area <NUM>, the radio device <NUM> may retrieve such indication from System Information from a serving base station in the new coverage area <NUM> upon changing to camp to a base station <NUM> of the new coverage area <NUM>. Alternatively, if there is a sudden need to count the radio devices <NUM> currently camping in the new coverage area <NUM>, the radio devices <NUM> in such a cell or area <NUM> could be paged, and then all the responses could be counted.

In various embodiments, consideration may be taken to further minimize unnecessary signaling. This may be relevant for situations where it can be assessed that the radio device <NUM> is passing through the coverage area <NUM> rather than moving to stay in it. In <FIG>, this is illustrated by the continuation of the arrow indication the movement of the radio device <NUM>, further to a third coverage area <NUM>, e.g. a new cell <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the reporting rule may include considering a parameter indication that messaging shall not be done as soon as the change of coverage area, e.g. cell reselection has taken place. The reporting rule may include an indication of a delay to apply prior to transmitting the presence message from the radio device <NUM>, counted after a certain point in time when change of coverage area, e.g. cell reselection, has been accomplished. In a variant of this embodiment, the reporting rule may include an indication of a time window, within which window the radio device may randomly calculate the delay to apply. Any of these indications may be preconfigured, or be shared from the network <NUM> in broadcast system information, either through the preceding serving base station <NUM> or the new base station <NUM>. If, after the applied delay, the radio device has again made a cell reselection, e.g. to cell <NUM>, transmission of the presence message may be inhibited.

In another embodiment, the reporting rule may involve the radio device <NUM> taking stored mobility information into considerations. The reporting rule may involve an indication to transmit a presence message provided a mobility level is below a predetermined value, and not to send if the mobility value is above said level. The mobility value may reflect e.g. number of cell reselections in a preceding time period.

In one embodiment, transmitting <NUM> the presence message indicating presence of a radio device <NUM> in a coverage area <NUM> may be carried out by a base station <NUM> of the preceding coverage area <NUM>, e.g. via the network backbone <NUM>. In such an embodiment, the leaving radio device <NUM> may update the base station <NUM> of the present coverage area <NUM> that a cell reselection to another coverage area <NUM> is made. This may e.g. be relevant in an embodiment where the first coverage area <NUM> applies a reporting rule for idle or otherwise non-active radio devices <NUM> to indicate their presence, but not the coverage area <NUM> to which it is moving.

If a radio device <NUM> moves between coverage areas <NUM> and <NUM> which both apply a reporting rule requesting the radio device to indicate its presence, a presence message transmitted from the radio device <NUM> to the base station <NUM> of the new coverage area <NUM> may trigger an update signal from the new base station <NUM> to the previous serving base station <NUM> via the backbone <NUM> that the radio device <NUM> has left. In such an embodiment, signaling may be reduced to one presence message from the radio device <NUM> to update the network <NUM> on the situation in both coverage areas <NUM>, <NUM>.

In various embodiments, the radio device <NUM> may, in its presence message to the network <NUM>, include information related to presence in a previous coverage area <NUM>, or related to a previously transmitted presence message. The reporting rule may include that, where a radio device <NUM> makes a cell reselection to a coverage area <NUM> where presence detection is applied by the network <NUM> through a serving base station <NUM>, the radio device <NUM> shall include in its presence message, or in separate information associated with the presence message, an indication of a previous coverage area <NUM>. As an alternative, this indication may specify the latest coverage area in which a preceding presence message was transmitted by that radio device <NUM>. The latest coverage area in which a presence message was transmitted need not be the last coverage area from which the cell reselection was made, since that last coverage need not apply presence detection. The network <NUM> may then signal, through the backbone <NUM>, to the base station of that previous or latest coverage area, that the radio device <NUM> has left.

In various embodiments, the reporting rule applied to determine whether to transmit a presence message to indicate presence of the radio device <NUM> within a coverage area <NUM> may involve both considering a probability rule, and indication of entering a new coverage area, as outlined for the embodiments above, which may thus be combined. One variant of such an embodiment may involve the radio device <NUM> determining to transmit the presence message responsive to the radio device making a cell reselection. A delay or mobility information determination may be made, prior to making this determination. In addition, a probability check may be made, based on a probability factor P, whether the presence message shall be transmitted. This way, not all radio devices <NUM> will transmit a presence message to the network after cell reselection, or in other words, not every time a radio device <NUM> makes a cell reselection will it be determined that it shall in fact send a presence message. In an embodiment where a radio device <NUM> is configured to send a presence message indicating its presence in a coverage area <NUM> based on a probability check, and also to update the network <NUM> when it is leaving a coverage area <NUM> upon a cell reselection (either by signaling in the area <NUM> it is leaving or in the new area <NUM>), the reporting rule may involve an instruction for the radio device <NUM> to send a presence message indicating that it is leaving a coverage area <NUM> only if a presence message indicating its presence was transmitted in that area <NUM> as an outcome of the probability check.

In one embodiment, the presence message indicating presence of a radio device in a coverage area <NUM> is conveyed to the network in a radio signal received from the radio device <NUM>. The presence message is preferably transmitted prior to, or even without, transmitting a connection setup presence message from the radio device. The radio device <NUM> may e.g. transmit the presence message on a random access channel RACH to the base station <NUM> or <NUM>. For a radio device that is idle or otherwise non-active, the presence message would serve the purpose of indicating its presence, but not as a real access request. In one embodiment, related to LTE provided as an example for the sake of clarity, an uplink signal may be transmitted from the radio device <NUM> including a RACH RA Preamble, potentially after contention resolution if required, where the RACH RA Preamble may be selected based on sensed system information blocks signaled by the base station <NUM>. This uplink signal may include, or alternatively be followed by a separate signal, indicating that this is a presence message to indicate presence and not a request for resources. The presence message may in such an embodiment be in the form of a simple flag or other indication, such as a known preamble sequence, a code or a value in one or more predefined bits in a dedicated field, which may be decoded or read by the base station <NUM>. Responsive to retrieving this presence message from the radio device <NUM>, rather than responding with assigned resources via PDCCH, the base station <NUM> may interpret the presence message received, and simply return with an Ack, or even terminate the procedure with no further signaling, thereby terminating connection setup. No further RRC signaling need thereafter follow.

In various embodiments, a radio device <NUM> may be configured to transmit information related to its presence in a previous coverage area <NUM>, or related to a previously transmitted presence message, as outlined above. The reporting rule may thus include that, where a radio device <NUM> makes a cell reselection to a coverage area <NUM> where presence detection is applied by the network <NUM> through a serving base station <NUM>, the radio device <NUM> shall include in its presence message, or in separate information associated with the presence message, an indication of a previous coverage area <NUM>. As an alternative, this indication may specify the latest coverage area in which a preceding presence message was transmitted by that radio device <NUM>. The indication related to a previous cell may be in the form of a flag or other indication, such as a known preamble sequence, a code or a value in one or more predefined bits in a dedicated field, which may be decoded or read by the base station <NUM>. This indication may form part of the presence message as such, or be a separate message.

<FIG> schematically illustrates an embodiment of a radio station <NUM>, which is configured to operate according to the methods described herein. The radio station <NUM> comprises a processing system <NUM>, connected to a memory <NUM> for holding data and computer program code executable by the processing system <NUM>. A radio transceiver <NUM> is connected to the processing system, and to an antenna <NUM> for transmitting and receiving radio signals.

In one embodiment, the radio station <NUM> is a radio device <NUM>, configured to communicate with a base station <NUM> of a radio network <NUM> is connected. The radio device <NUM> may obviously include further elements which are not shown, such as a battery, and auxiliary members such as a user interface. Upon execution of code present in memory <NUM>, the processing system <NUM> may be configured to carry out any of the steps outlined herein as carried out by the radio device <NUM>.

In another embodiment, the radio station <NUM> is a base station <NUM> of a radio network <NUM>, configured to communicate with a radio device <NUM>. The base station <NUM> may also include further elements which are not shown, such as a power supply. Upon execution of code present in memory <NUM>, the processing system <NUM> may be configured to carry out any of the steps outlined herein as carried out by the base station <NUM>, including communicating with other base stations <NUM>.

Claim 1:
Method for establishing a count measure of radio devices in a radio network, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>) a presence message at a first base station of the radio network, wherein a radio device is configured to transmit said presence message with a certain probability based on a predefined reporting rule and responsive to the radio device being present in a dedicated coverage area of the radio network;
detecting (<NUM>) presence of the radio device within the dedicated coverage area of the radio network responsive to receiving said presence message;
compiling (<NUM>) the count measure, comprising calculating an estimate of the number of radio devices present in the dedicated coverage area, wherein the detected presence of said radio device represents a count of at least one radio device.