Method and apparatus for enhanced paging

DESCRIPTION

METHOD AND APPARATUS TO IMPROVE PAGING SERVICE

BACKGROUND

I. Field

The present disclosure relates, in general, to communication and, more specifically, to techniques for user equipment (UE) of paging in a wireless communication system.

II. Background

A UE in a wireless communication system (eg, a cell phone in a cell system) can operate in one of several states, such as active and inactive states, at any given time. In the active state, the UE can actively exchange data with one or more Bs Nodes (or base stations), eg, for a voice or data call. In the idle state, the UE can lower power consumption, most of the time, to save battery power and can periodically activate itself to monitor the paging messages sent to the UE. These paging messages can alert the UE to the presence of a call or they can provide other information.

A communication system without supporting the paging service. sending paging indicators on a wire uses radio resources For example, the system can use the paging indicator channel (PICH) to indicate whether paging messages are sent to the UEs. The system can send messages on a paging channel (PCH) to the UEs. A UE can quickly receive paging indicators, determine if a paging message is sent to the UE and process the PCH if a paging message is sent or return to an idle state immediately if no paging message is sent to the UE. The PITCH and PCH are complementary information channels that are used for all UEs. Therefore, these channels of supplementary information are typically sent with a sufficiently low throughput and sufficient transmission power so that even the most disadvantaged UEs with the worst channel conditions can reliably receive the paging and message messages. paging. In addition, since the location of the UEs receiving the paging messages may not be known, the system typically sends paging indicators and paging messages from all cells over a wide area. The sending of paging indicators and paging messages in complementary information channels across a wide area with low throughput and / or high transmission power can consume many radio resources. The publication US-A-2004/091022 refers to a CDMA system that uses a hashing function to transmit bits of paging indicators based on the IMSI_S of the collision prone remote units.

There is, therefore, a need in the technical techniques for an efficient paging service for the UEs.

SUMMARY

Techniques for a paging service for the UEs in a wireless communication system are here.

According to the invention, a cell sends a paging indicator on a shared control channel to a UE and sends a paging message on a shared data channel to the UB. The paging indicator and paging message can be sent from multiple cells to the UE. Alternatively, the paging indicator can be sent from multiple cells to the UE and the paging message can be sent from a single cell to the UE. The cell can send the paging indicator and possibly UE identification information to the UE. The UE identification information identifies the UE as the intended recipient of the paging indicator and can comprise all or part of an UE identifier that uniquely identifies the UE. The cell sends a paging message to the UE if an acknowledgment for the paging indicator is received from the UE. The cell can receive channel quality information from the UE and can send the paging message with link adaptation and / or hybrid automatic retransmission (HARQ) to improve performance.

Various aspects and characteristics of the disclosure are described in more detail below. The invention is defined in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 shows a design of a frame format.

FIG. 3 shows a schedule for an UE in a DRX operating mode.

FIG. 4 shows a design of logical, transport and downlink physical channels.

FIG. 5 shows a design of uplink logical, transport and physical channels.

FIG. 6 shows a paging process that uses shared channels for paging.

FIG. 7 shows a paging process that sends a single cell paging message,

FIG. 8 shows a design for implicitly sending a paging indicator.

FIG. 9 shows a design for retrieving an implicit paging indicator.

FIG. 10 shows a process performed by a cell to perform a paging service for an EU.

FIG. 11 shows an apparatus for performing a paging service for a UE.

FIG. 12 shows a process performed by a UE to receive a paging service.

FIG. 13 shows an apparatus for receiving a paging service.

FIG. 14 shows another process performed by a cell to perform a paging service for a UE.

FIG. 15 shows another apparatus for performing a paging service for a UE.

FIG. 16 shows a process performed by a network entity to perform a paging service.

FIG. 17 shows an apparatus for performing a paging service.

FIG. 18 shows a process for sending an implicit paging indicator.

FIG. 19 shows an apparatus for sending an implicit paging indicator.

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of a UE, a Node B and a system controller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The paging techniques described here can be used for various communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Customer Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access systems ( TDMA), Orthogonal FDMA systems (OFDMA), FDMA systems based on a Single Carrier (SC-FDMA), etc. The terms systems and networks are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system can use radio technology, such as CDMA-Broadband (W-CDMA), cdma2000, etc. Cdma2000 covers the IS-95, IS-2000 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system can use radio technology, such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). These various radio technologies, standards and systems are known in the art. An OFDMA system uses Multiplexing by Orthogonal Friction Division (OFDM) and sends modulation symbols in the friction domain in orthogonal subcarriers. A SC-FDMA system uses Frontal Division Multiplexing based on a Single Carrier (SC-FDM) and sends time domain modulation symbols on orthogonal subcarriers. For clarity, paging techniques are described below for a wireless communication system that uses Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which is a radio technology under development. However, paging techniques can also be used for several other wireless communication systems.

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system 100 with multiple Nodes B 110. A Node B is, in general, a fixed station, which communicates with the UEs and can also be called the base station, an evolved Node B (eNode B ), an access point, etc. Each Node B 110 provides communication coverage for a given geographic area. The term cell can refer to a Node B and / or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term is used. To improve the capacity of the system, a Node B coverage area can be divided into several smaller areas, eg, three smaller areas. Each smaller area can be served by a respective base transmitter-receiver (BTS) subsystem. The term sector can refer to a BTS and / or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term is used. For a sequenced cell, the BTS for all sectors of that cell are typically co-located within Node B for the cell.

UE 120 may be dispersed throughout the system. The UE can be fixed or mobile and can also be called a mobile station, mobile equipment, terminal, access terminal, station, etc. The UE can be a cell phone, a digital personal assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a portable device, a subscriber unit, etc. A UE can communicate with one or more B Nodes through downlink and uplink transmissions. The downlink (or base station-mobile station link) refers to the communication link from Nodes B to the UEs and the uplink (or mobile station-base station link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the Nodes B. In FIG. 1, a full line with double arrows indicates the data exchange between a Node B and an UE in the active state. A dashed line with a simple arrow indicates a UE in the inactive state and receiving paging messages and / or other information. The UE can be served by a specific Node B, which is designated as the service cell for the UE.

A controller system 130 can be coupled to Nodes B 110 and provide coordination and control for those Nodes B. Controller system 130 can be a single network entity or a group of network entities. The controller system 130 can also be called the Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), etc.

FIG. 2 shows a design of a frame format 200 for system 100. The transmission schedule can be divided into radio frames. Each radio frame can be identified by a system frame number (SFN) and can have a predetermined duration, eg, 10 milliseconds (ms). Each radio frame can be divided into multiple (N) subframes, eg, N = 20 or some other value. In general, the duration of the radio frames and subframes can be any length and they can also be designated by some other terminology, eg, frames, time slots, etc.

FIG. 3 shows a schedule 300 for a UE in a batch receiving (DRX) operating mode. DRX mode can also be referred to as a segmented paging service. In DRX mode, the UE is assigned paging events, which are periods of time when the UE can receive paging service. Each occurrence of paging can correspond to a specific radio frame, a specific subframe of a specific radio frame, etc. Paging instances can also be referred to as paging periods, paging frames, paging subframes, etc. Paging events for the UE can be separated by a time interval called the DRX cycle. The DRX cycle can be configurable for the UE. Paging occurrences for the UE can be determined based on parameters, such as, eg, a specific UE identifier (UE ID) for the UE.

UE can be activated periodically before its aging occurrences to receive any paging messages sent to the UE. Paging messages are also referred to as paging service messages, pagings, etc. Paging messages are not sent outside the UE outside of your paging occurrences. The UE can thus go into inactivity during the time between its paging occurrences if there are no other tasks to perform. 0 UE can disconnect as many circuits as possible while inactive to save battery power.

System 100 can use logical channels, transport channels and physical channels to support various services. A Media Access Control (MAC) layer can provide data transfer services on logical channels. Different types of logical channel can be defined for different types of data transfer services and each type of logical channel can carry different types of information. The MAC layer can map logical channels into transport channels and can process (eg, encode and modular) logical channel data to generate MAC protocol data units (PDU). A physical layer (PHY) can map transport channels into physical channels and can process (eg, channel and encrypt) the MAC PDU to generate output data for the physical channels.

FIG. 4 shows a design of logical, transport and physical channels for the downlink (DL). In this design, logical downlink channels include:

• Broadcast control channel (BCCH) - transports system control information, • Dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) - transports user information to a specific UE, • Dedicated control channel (DCCH) - transports control information to a Specific UE, • MBMS traffic channel (MTCH) - carries traffic data to multiple UEs and • MBMS control channel (MCCH) - carries programming and control info to MTCH (s), where MBMS stands for Mobile Multimedia and Broadcasting Services.

Downlink transport channels include:

• Broadcast channel (BCH) - carries part of the BCCH and • Shared DL data channel (DL-SDCH) - carries the

DCCH, DTCH, MCCH, MTCH and part of BCCH.

A different transport channel for MBMS traffic and control can exist on an MBMS (MCH) channel.

Physical downlink channels include:

Common control channel (CCCH) - transports system and cell parameters to demodulate other physical channels and transport the BCH,

Reception confirmation channel (ACKCH) - transports reception confirmation (ACK) / negative reception confirmation (NAK) to the UL-SDCH,

Physical DL shared data channel (DL-PSDCH) - carries the DL-SDCH, • Shared DL control channel (SDCCH) - carries control info to the DL-PSDCH and • Shared UL assignment channel (SUACH) - carries UL PHY resource assignments.

PHY resources refer to resources used for physical channels. PHY resources can be quantified by frequency (eg, subcarriers), time (eg, time intervals), code (eg, channel codes), space (eg, transmission antennas), transmission power, etc.

FIG. 4 also shows a mapping of logical channels in transport channels and a mapping of transport channels in physical channels. Some of the downlink transport and physical channels are described in more detail below.

FIG. 5 shows a design of logical, transport and physical channels for the uplink (UL). In this design, the logical uplink channels include the

DCCH and DTCH. Uplink transport channels include:

• Random access channel (RACH) - carries access requests and possibly other information; and • Shared UL data channel (UL-SDCH) - carries the

DCCH and DTCH.

Depending on the information conveyed by RACH, RACH can be considered only as a physical channel.

Physical uplink channels include:

• Physical random access channel (PRACH) - carries the RACH, • physical data channel shared from

UL (UL-PSDCH) - carries the UL-SDCH, • Reception confirmation channel (ACKCH) - carries ACK / NAK to p DL-SDCH, and • Channel quality indicator channel (CQICH) - carries CQI for quality of DL signal.

FIG. 5 also shows a mapping of logical channels in transport channels and a mapping of transport channels in physical channels. Some of the uplink transport and physical channels are described in more detail below.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show specific designs of downlink and uplink channels that will be used in the description below. In general, a system can support any number and any type of logical, transport and physical channels, for each connection, eg, less, more and / or different channels than the data above. The logical, transport and physical channels can also be mapped in other ways.

A UE can register with the system and can camp ”in a service cell when it is not in active communication. At the time of registration, the UE is located in the service cell's coverage area and is also in a paging area that covers the service cell and neighboring cells. Referring again to FIG. 1, the service cell for the UE 120x can be Node B HOx and the paging area of ​​the UE 120x can include the seven cells delimited by the strong dashed line. Depending on your configuration, the UE may perform a cell update whenever the UE moves to a new cell or update a paging area whenever the UE moves to a new paging area.

FIG. 6 shows a design of a paging process 600 that uses shared channels for paging. The UE can be camped in a service cell and can periodically activate to monitor the paging service, eg, as shown in FIG. 3. At any given time, the exact location of the UE may not be known. For example, the UE may have moved to a new cell while inactive, among its paging occurrences. Thus, when the system has a paging for the UE, the service cell and other cells in the paging area of ​​the UE can send a paging indicator (Paging ind) and possibly UE identification information (UE ID info) to the UE (step 612). The UE identification information identifies the UE that is receiving the paging service and can comprise a total or partial UE ID and / or other information. 0 UE ID can be a Temporary Radio Network Identifier (RNTI), an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI), a MAC ID, etc. An RNTI is a unique UE ID for a UE in the system. The paging indicator and EU identification information can be sent on the SDCCH, as described below. The service cell and other cells in the paging area can also send a DL-SDCH paging message to the UE (step 614). 0 sending the paging indicator and paging message from all cells in the paging area of ​​the UE increases the likelihood that the UE will be able to receive the paging message when the location of the UE is not known exactly.

The cells can send the paging indicator and paging message in a way that is known a priori, so that, when receiving the paging indicator, the UE knows where the paging message is sent from on the DL-SDCH and how to decode the paging message. For example, each paging indicator sent in the SDCCH can be associated with a paging message sent in the DL-SDCH using a predetermined modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and predetermined PHY resources. In this case, no control information can be sent on the SDCCH for the paging message sent on the DL-SDCH. Alternatively, the control information can be sent on the SDCCH to indicate where and / or how to retrieve the paging message on the DL-SDCH.

UE receives the paging message from the DL-SDCH and can respond to the paging message by performing random access and sending a transmission on the RACH (step 616). The RACH transmission may include an acknowledgment for the paging message, information about the channel quality indicative of the downlink channel quality, an upstream PHY resource request, etc. In general, any cell in the paging area of ​​the UE can receive the RACH transmission depending on the current location of the UE. In one design, the cell receiving the RACH transmission can respond to the UE and perform the processing described below. In another design, the UE can direct the RACH transmission to a specific cell, eg, using a signature ”or a base sequence corresponding to the selected cell. The selected cell would then perform the processing described below if it could successfully receive the RACH transmission. The following description assumes that the service cell receives the RACH transmission.

The service cell receives the RACH transmission and can respond by sending an assignment to SUACH (step 618). SUACH transmission can include the MAC ID of the UE, time setting to adjust the transmission time of the UE, allocation of PHY resources to the ACKCH, CQICH and / or UL-SDCH, etc. The MAC ID can be assigned to the UE during the exchange after the initial paging and can be used to identify the transmission on the DL-SDCH. 0 ACKCH and / or assignment of CQICH can also be implicit and not sent in SUACH. For example, PHY resources for the ACKCH may be implicit in the transmission on the DL-SDCH. The UE can subsequently send information about the quality of the channel in the CQICH and / or acknowledgments of reception in the ACKCH (step 620).

In the case of downlink data transmission, the service cell can send control information to the SDCCH (step 622) and can send data to the DL-SDCH (step 624) in the normal / regular way. The control information sent in the SDCCH can comprise several types of information, such as, eg, the MAC ID of the destination UE for data transmission in the DL-SDCH, the MCS, resource allocation and transmission time interval (TTI ) for data transmission, etc. The data transmission can be sent with hybrid automatic retransmission (HARQ), connection adaptation, etc. With HARQ, a transmitter sends a transmission to a packet and can send one or more retransmissions, if necessary, until the packet is correctly decoded by a receiver or the maximum number of retransmissions has been sent or some other termination condition is met. HARQ can improve the reliability of data transmission. Connection adaptation can include flow control, power control, etc. Flow control refers to the selection of an encoding and modulation scheme so that a package can achieve a desired performance metric. The metric can be quantified by, eg, a desired probability of correct decoding after a desired number of retransmissions with HARQ. 0 Power control refers to the adjustment of transmission power to achieve a desired received signal quality, while reducing transmission power and interference. The service cell can use the channel quality information received in step 620 for link adaptation and can select an MCS and / or a transmit power level based on the information received.

In the design shown in FIG. 6, paging is supported through the use of a shared control channel and a shared data channel that are shared by the UEs and are also used for different types of data. For example, the DL-SDCH can transport user traffic data (DTCH) and user control information (DCCH) to specific UEs, broadcast data (MTCH) and broadcast control information (MCCH) to multiple UEs, etc. This design avoids the use of a separate paging indicator channel (PITCH) and a separate paging channel (PCH) for paging support. The use of control channels and shared data for paging can provide some advantages, such as, eg, simpler implementation in the UE and / or cells, better use of PHY resources through multiplexing, without fixed complementary information (e. for the paging indicator channel, which is used in W-CDMA and cdma2000), etc.

FIG. 7 shows a design of a paging process 700 that sends a paging message from a specific cell. The UE can be camped in a service cell and can periodically leave the idle state to monitor pagings. When the system has a paging service for the UE, the service cell and other cells in the paging area of ​​the UE send a paging indicator and possibly UE identification information in the SDCCH to the UE (step 712). The UE receives the paging indicator and can respond to the paging indicator by performing random access and sending a transmission on the RACH (step 714). The RACH transmission may include an acknowledgment for the paging indicator, channel quality information and / or other information. The RACH transmission may or may not include a request for uplink PHY resources in the UL-SDCH. The RACH transmission serves to confirm receipt of the paging indicator and to provide the current location of the UE. In particular, the current location of the UE can be determined based on the cell (s) receiving the RACH transmission. In general, any cell in the paging area can receive the RANCH transmission and the cell that receives the RACH transmission or the cell selected by the UE can respond to the UE. The following description assumes that the service cell receives the RACH transmission.

The service cell responds to the RACH transmission by sending an assignment to SUACH (step 716). SUACH transmission can include the MAC ID of the UE, time setting for the UE, allocation of PHY resources to the ACKCH and / or CQICH, etc. The MAC ID sent in step 716 can be used as the UE ID during an active state. The UE ID in step 712 can be derived from the RNTI or IMSI and can be used as the UE ID in a non-active state. ACK and / or CQI assignment can also be implied and not sent in SUACH. The UE can subsequently send information about channel quality to the CQICH (step 718). Step 718 can be suppressed, eg, if channel quality information is sent on the RACH, at step 714. The service cell can use the channel quality information for link adaptation and can select an MCS and / or a transmission power level for transmission to the UE based on the information received. The service cell sends control information on the SDCCH (step 720) and sends a paging message on the DL-SDCH to the UE (step 722). The service cell can send the paging message in the same way as other types of data sent on the DL-SDCH. The control information can indicate where and / or how the paging message is sent on the DL-SDCH. The UE can send information about equality in the CQICH and / or an acknowledgment of receipt in the ACKCH for the paging message (step 724). The service cell can send one or more retransmissions for the paging message, if necessary, on the DL-SDCH, until the paging message is correctly decoded by the UE (step 726).

The design shown in FIG. 7 has several desirable characteristics. First, the paging service is supported using control channels and shared data, similar to the design shown in FIG. 6. Second, only a small amount of information (eg, only the paging indicator) is sent from all cells in the UE paging area and the paging message is sent from a single cell that can serve the UE. This can greatly reduce the amount of PHY resources used for paging. Thirdly, the paging message can be sent efficiently using features that are available for normal data transmission, eg, HARQ and link adaptation. This can further reduce the amount of PHY resources used to send the paging message. In particular, the paging message can be sent with an MCS and / or a transmission power level that can be selected based on the channel conditions of the UE and not the worst channel conditions for all UEs.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show specific conceptions of two paging processes that use the transport and physical channels described above. You can also send paging indicators and paging messages in other ways and / or use other transport and physical channels. For example, in FIG. 6, the first transmission of a paging message can be sent on the DL-SDCH simultaneously with a paging indicator on the SDCCH. One or more retransmissions of the paging message can be sent later, if necessary. In another example, in FIG. 7, paging indicators can be sent on a paging indicator channel from all cells in a paging area and paging messages can be sent on a shared data channel from a single cell. Other conceptions of paging and paging processes can also be implemented.

UEs can be mapped to paging events in a variety of ways. In one conception, UEs are mapped to specific paging instances, eg, based on a hash of their UE IDs. Different UEs can be mapped in a pseudo-random manner at different time intervals in the transmission schedule. Each UE can leave the idle state before its assigned paging occurrences and monitor paging indicators. One or multiple SDCCHs can be used to send paging indicators. If multiple SDCCHs are available, then the UEs can be mapped to different SDCCHs, eg, based on their UE IDs. In this case, a paging event for a UE can correspond to a specific SDCCH in a specific time interval. In general, UEs can be hashed for different SDCCHs over time and / or different PHY resources at the same time. An objective of hashing is that several UEs with the same least significant bit (LSB) portion of the UE IDs are subjected to a hash function for different SDCCH so that a paging indicator at a given moment can target a single UE or a small number of EUs.

The UE identification information can be sent with a paging indicator to identify the UE that is receiving the paging service. In one design, the UE identification information comprises a complete UE ID, and, e.g., a complete RNTI, etc. This design allows each UE to unambiguously determine whether a paging indicator is sent to that UE. This design can be used for the paging processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In another design, the UE identification information comprises a partial UE ID, eg, a predetermined LSB number of a UE ID, eg, RNTI. In general, any part of the UE ID and any number of bits can be used for the partial UE ID. LSBs can be more random than the most significant bits (MSB) and can be used for partial UE ID. 0 number of bits to be used can be a fixed or configurable value and can be dependent on the number of bits available in the SDCCFI for UE identification information. This design reduces the number of bits to be sent for the UE identification information. UEs can be mapped to paging instances so that no two UEs with the same partial UE ID are mapped to the same paging instance. In this case, all UEs that are mapped to each paging event can be uniquely identified based on their partial UE IDs. This mapping ensures that a partial UE ID sent on a paging event can unambiguously identify the UE receiving the paging service. The mapping of UEs on paging events can be done in several ways. For example, a hash function can map UEs on paging instances based on their UE IDs, but avoid mapping two UEs with the same partial UE ID to the same paging instance. This design can also be used for the paging processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Sending EU identification information, along with paging indicators, can provide some advantages. For example, UEs can quickly determine whether or not paging messages are being sent to them based on UE identification information and can immediately return to the idle state without having to decode the data channel for incoming messages. paging. In the case of the design shown in FIG. 7, only the UEs receiving the paging service (instead of all UEs) would respond to the RACH. This reduces the amount of uplink signaling for paging.

Paging indicators can be sent in a variety of ways. In one conception, a paging indicator is explicitly sent through a designated field. For example, a bit can be allocated to each occurrence of paging and can be worth one ('1') to indicate that a paging indicator is being sent or zero ('0') to indicate that no indicator is being sent. paging Each UE can check whether a paging indicator has been sent by checking this bit. In another design, a paging indicator is explicitly sent by a specific index or value for a designated field. For example, the control information for each transmission in the DLSDCH can include a field that conveys the type of data sent in the transmission. A specific index can be assigned for paging and the field can be defined for this index whenever a paging message is sent. In yet another conception, a paging indicator is implicitly sent. This implicit signaling of the paging indicator can be achieved in several ways.

FIG. 8 shows a design 800 for implicitly sending a paging indicator. In this design, a cyclic redundancy control (CRC) generator 810 receives control information for the DL-SDCH and generates a CRC value. A masking unit 812 masks (eg, encrypts) the CRC value with a paging ID and provides a masked CRC value. The paging ID is a specific string used for paging and is known to cells and UEs. Control information and masked CRC value are sent on the SDCCH. The paging indicator is, implicitly, sent through the masked CRC value.

FIG. 9 shows a design 900 for retrieving an implicit paging indicator. Control information and masked CRC value are received from SDCCH. A CRC generator 910 generates a CRC value based on the received control information and provides a generated CRC value. An unmasking unit 912 unmasks (eg, decrypts) the masked CRC value with the same paging ID used by the cell and provides a received CRC value. A comparison unit 914 compares the CRC value generated and the CRC value received and indicates that a paging indicator has been sent if there is a match.

An implicit paging indicator can be sent in FIG. 6 masking the control information or the CRC value sent on the SDCCH to the paging message sent on the DL-SDCH. Each UE will be able to unmask the control information or the CRC value to determine whether a paging indicator has been sent. Other information can also be masked. In any case, additional PHY resources are not used to send the implicit paging indicator.

FIG. 10 shows a design of a process 1000 performed by a cell to perform a paging service for a UE. The cell sends a paging indicator to the UE (eg, on a shared control channel) (block 1012). The cell can send EU identification information with the paging indicator. The UE identification information can identify the UE as the intended recipient of the paging indicator and can comprise all or part of an UE identifier that uniquely identifies the UE. The cell monitors (eg, a random access channel) if there is an acknowledgment for the paging indicator from the UE (block 1014). The cell can verify that it is the cell designated to serve the UE based on the receipt of the acknowledgment.

The cell sends a paging message to the UE (eg, on a shared data channel) if the acknowledgment for the paging indicator is received from the UE (block 1016). The cell can send an uplink resource allocation to the UE, which can use the uplink resources to send back information for downlink transmission of the paging message. The cell can receive information about channel quality from the UE and can use this information to send the paging message with link adaptation and / or HARQ. The cell can select a modulation and encoding scheme and / or a transmit power level based on the received channel quality information. The cell can send the paging message according to the selected modulation and coding scheme and / or the selected transmission power level to the UE. The cell can send a transmission of the paging message to the UE and can send a retransmission of the paging message if an acknowledgment of receipt for the paging message is not received. The paging indicator can be sent from multiple cells to the UE and the paging message can be sent from a single cell to the UE.

FIG. 11 shows an apparatus 1100 for performing a paging service for the UE. Apparatus 1100 includes means for sending a paging indicator to the UE (module 1112), means for monitoring an acknowledgment for the paging indicator from the UE (module 1114) and means for sending a paging message to the UE if acknowledgment of receipt for the paging indicator is received from the UE (module 1116). Modules 1112 to 1116 can comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, etc., or any combination thereof.

FIG. 12 shows a design of a process 1200 performed by a UE to receive a paging service. The UE receives a paging indicator for the UE, eg, through a shared control channel (block 1212). The UE can receive UE identification information (eg, a full or partial UE ID) with the paging indicator and can verify that the paging indicator is for the UE based on the UE identification information. The UE sends an acknowledgment to the paging indicator, e.g. via a random access channel (block 1214). The UE then receives a paging message to the UE, eg, via a shared data channel (block 1216). The UE can send information about channel quality and can process the paging message according to a modulation and coding scheme selected based on the information about channel quality. The UE can also receive a transmission and, eventually, one or more retransmissions for the paging message.

FIG. 13 shows an apparatus 1300 for receiving a paging service. The apparatus 1300 includes means for receiving a paging indicator from a UE (module 1312), means for sending an acknowledgment to the paging indicator (module 1314) and means for receiving a paging message to the UE (module 1316) . Modules 1312 to 1316 can comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, etc., or any combination thereof.

FIG. 14 shows a design of a process 1400 performed by a cell to perform a paging service for a UE. The cell sends a paging indicator on a shared control channel to the UE (block 1412). The cell sends a paging message on a shared data channel to the UE (block 1414). The cell can send UE identification information with the paging indicator to identify the UE as an intended recipient of the paging indicator. The shared control channel can carry control information to the shared data channel. The shared data channel can carry data to different UEs and / or different types of data. The paging indicator and paging message can be sent from multiple cells to the UE, eg, as shown in FIG. 6. Alternatively, the paging indicator can be sent from multiple cells to the UE and the paging message can be sent from a single cell to the UE, eg, as shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 15 shows an apparatus 1500 for performing a paging service for the UE. Apparatus 1500 includes means for sending a paging indicator on a shared control channel to the UE (module 1512) and means for sending a paging message on a shared data channel to the UE (module 1514). Modules 1512 and 1514 can comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, etc., or any combination thereof.

FIG. 16 shows a design of a process 1600 performed by a cell and / or system controller for paging. Each UE is associated with (1) a UE ID that uniquely identifies that UE and (2) a partial UE ID that is obtained based on the UE ID. UE IDs can be MAC ID or some other UE-specific IDs. UEs are mapped to paging instances based on their UE IDs so that UEs with the same partial UE ID are mapped to different paging instances (block 1612). A paging indicator and a partial UE ID for a recipient UE are sent in a paging instance to the recipient UE (block 1614). The partial UE ID for the recipient UE can be determined based on a predetermined number of LSB from the UE ID to the recipient UE.

FIG. 17 shows a 1700 paging apparatus. Device 1700 includes means for mapping UEs on paging instances based on their UE IDs so that UEs with the same partial UE ID are mapped to different paging instances (module 1712) and means for sending an indicator page and a partial UE ID for a recipient UE in a paging instance for the recipient UE (module 1714). The 1712 and 1714 modules can comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, etc., or any combination thereof.

FIG. 18 shows a design of a process 1800 for sending an implicit paging indicator. A cell masks the information with a paging ID to obtain masked information (block 1812). The cell then sends the masked information to transmit the information and, implicitly, to transmit a paging indicator (block 1814). The information to be masked can be control information sent on a shared data channel or some other type of information. The cell can mask and send the information generating a CRC value that is used as the information to mask, masking the value of

CRC with the paging ID to generate a masked CRC value and send the masked CRC value.

FIG. 19 shows an apparatus 1900 for sending an implicit paging indicator. Apparatus 1900 includes means for masking information with a paging ID to obtain masked information (module 1912) and means for sending masked information to transmit information and implicitly transmitting a paging indicator (module 1914). The 1912 and 1914 modules can comprise processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, etc., or any combination thereof.

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of a design of a UE 120, a Node B 110 and a system controller 130 in FIG. 1. In the direction of transmission, data and signaling to be sent by the UE 120 are processed (eg, formatted, encoded and interlaced) by an encoder 2012 and subsequently processed (eg, modulated, channeled and encrypted) by a modulator (Mod) 2014 to generate output segments [chips]. A transmitter (TMTR) 2022 conditions (e.g. converts to analogue, filters, amplifies and performs an upward conversion of the frequency) the output segments and generates an uplink signal, which is transmitted via a 2024 antenna. In the receiving direction, downlink signals transmitted by the Node B 110 and other Nodes B are received by the antenna 2024. A receiver (RCVR) 2026 conditions (e. filters, amplifies, performs a downward frequency conversion and digitizes the signal received from the 2024 antenna and provides samples. A demodulator (Demod) 2016 processes (eg, decrypts, channels and demodulates) samples and provides symbol estimates.

A 2018 decoder further processes (eg, deinterlaces and decodes) the symbol estimates and provides decoded data. The 2012 encoder, 2014 modulator, 2016 demodulator and 2018 decoder can be implemented by a 2010 modem processor. These units perform the processing according to the radio technology used by the wireless communication system.

A controller / processor 2030 directs the operation of several units in the UE 120. The controller / processor 2030 can perform a process 1200 in FIG. 12 and / or other processes for receiving pagings. A 2032 memory stores program codes and data for the UE 120.

Node B 110 includes a transceiver 2038, a processor / controller 2040, a memory (Mem) 2042 and a communication unit (Comm) 2044. The 2038 transceiver provides radio communication with the UE 120 and other UEs. The processor / controller 2040 performs several functions for communicating with and paging the UEs and can implement process 1000 in FIG. 10, process 1400 in FIG. 14, process 1600 in FIG. 16, process 1800 in FIG. 18 and / or other processes. Memory 2042 stores program codes and data for Node B 110. Communication unit 2044 facilitates communication with system controller 130.

The system controller 130 includes a processor / controller 2050, a memory 2052 and a communication unit 2054. The processor / controller 2050 performs several functions to support communication and paging for the UEs, eg, determining which cells are in the paging area of ​​the EU 120 and sending messages from paging indicators and paging messages to those cells. The processor / controller 2050 can implement process 1600 in FIG. 16 and / or other processes. Memory 2052 stores program codes and data for system controller 130. The 2054 communication unit facilitates communication with Node B 110.

The paging techniques described in this document can be implemented by several means. For example, these techniques can be implemented in Hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof. In the case of a Hardware implementation, the processing units used to support paging in an UE, a Node B or a system controller can be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), digital signal processors (DSP) , digital signal processing devices (DSPD), programmable logic devices (PLD), programmable logic gate networks (FPGA), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described in this document or a combination thereof.

In the case of a firmware and / or software implementation, paging techniques can be implemented with modules (eg, processes, functions and so on) that perform the functions described in this document. The firmware and / or software codes can be stored in memory (eg, memory 2032, 2042 or 2052 in FIG. 20) and executed by a processor (eg, processor 2030, 2040 or 2050). The memory can be implemented inside the processor or outside the processor.

The foregoing description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to implement or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples described here, but it is granted the greatest scope consistent with the principles and innovative features disclosed here.