Patent ID: 8761768

Claim:
A method for providing a tracking area identity list in a communications network, comprising: maintaining, at a mobility management entity, a tracking area transition likelihood, wherein the tracking area transition likelihood is indicative of a likelihood that a user equipment device moves from one tracking area to another tracking area; maintaining, at the mobility management entity, a tracking area group transition likelihood, wherein a tracking area group includes at least one tracking area, and wherein the tracking area group transition likelihood is indicative of a likelihood that the user equipment device moves from a first tracking area in a first tracking area group to a second tracking area in a second tracking area group; recording, at the mobility management entity, a mobility number, wherein the mobility number is indicative of a number of times a tracking area identity has changed for the user equipment device during a period of time; recording, at the mobility management entity, a paging number, wherein the paging number is indicative of a number of times the user equipment device is paged during a period of time; determining a category associated with the user equipment device based on the recorded mobility number and the recorded paging number; and generating the tracking area identity list for the user equipment device based on the category associated with the user equipment device and one or both of the tracking area transition likelihood and the tracking area group transition likelihood; wherein determining the category associated with the user equipment device includes classifying the user equipment device into one of at least three categories based on the recorded mobility number and the recorded paging number, wherein the at least three categories include: a first category associated with higher mobility numbers and higher paging numbers compared to respective mobility numbers and paging numbers associated with one of the at least three categories, a second category associated with lower mobility numbers compared to mobility numbers associated with one of the at least three categories, and a third category associated higher mobility numbers or lower paging numbers compared to respective mobility numbers or paging numbers associated with one of the at least three categories.