Patent ID: 8260374

Claim:
A method of operating a user equipment in a cellular communication system, the method comprising: operating the user equipment in a first mode in which radio functions are enabled; and in response to a predetermined condition, operating the user equipment in a power saving mode, wherein the power saving mode comprises: disabling all radio functionality for a first period of time, wherein no connection is maintained with a cellular communication system serving node during the first period of time; detecting that the first period of time has elapsed and in response to said detection, ascertaining whether any attempts were made to contact the user equipment during the first period of time and if so whether any of the attempted contacts is characterized by an attribute that matches a predefined attribute; if it is ascertained that any of the attempted contacts is characterized by the attribute that matches the predefined attribute, then activating a user alarm; ascertaining whether a response to the user alarm has been made; if the response to the user alarm has been made, then again operating the user equipment in the first mode; and if the response to the user alarm has not been made, then again operating the user equipment in the power saving mode.