Patent ID: 8406210

Claim:
A method for allocating Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs) for random access by an Evolved Node B (ENB) in a mobile communication system, the method comprising: determining, by the ENB, a number of RNTIs allocated to at least one User Equipment (UE) that transmitted a random access preamble; determining, by the ENB, an average number of random access preambles received during a Transmission Time Interval (TTI); setting, by the ENB, a timer based on the number of allocated RNTIs and the average number of random access preambles; releasing, by the ENB, an RNTI allocated to a first UE if a cell identifier corresponding to the first UE is not received from an upper layer before expiration of the timer; and allocating, by the ENB, the released RNTI to a second UE different from the first UE.