Patent ID: 8654694

Claim:
A method for configuring mode timers, including an inactivity timer and a sleeping mode timer, which control a probability that user equipment is in a power saving mode to adapt the user equipment to characteristics of a shared channel and packet service, comprising: determining a class of the user equipment, where each class of the user equipment has a class index indicating the class of the user equipment, by comparing at least one data traffic requirement value and a power condition value of the user equipment with predetermined threshold values, the class indicating performance characteristics of the user equipment; adjusting the mode timers, by a network end node, according to the class of the user equipment depending on the at least one data traffic requirement value and depending on the power condition value of the user equipment; triggering the inactivity timer by the network end node in an active phase of the user equipment when an active mode of the user equipment is activated, if a data buffer provided for the user equipment in the network end node is empty; after the inactivity timer of the user equipment has expired, activating the power saving mode of the user equipment by the network end node to enter a power saving mode, and triggering the sleeping mode timer of the user equipment entering a new sleep phase of the user equipment if the user equipment detects during a wake up phase after a previous sleep phase of the sleeping mode timer has expired that no data packet has arrived at the network end node during the previous sleep phase; and entering an active phase of the user equipment for receiving pending data packets buffered in the network end node, if the user equipment detects during the wake up phase after the sleeping mode timer has expired that at least one data packet has arrived at the network end node during the previous sleep phase.