Paging Error Alert Mitigation at User Equipment

Abstract

The present invention discloses a user equipment (UE) operating in a network. The UE receives a paging area from the network, and the paging area includes a plurality of cells of the network. When the UE is in one of a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state with respect to the network, the UE moves from a second coverage area of a second cell in the paging area to a first coverage area of a first cell, and transmits a message to the first cell in the paging area. The UE then monitors the first cell for paging from the network.

Description

Background Art

[0001] In 5G New Radio (NR) wireless communication, a User Equipment (UE) can enter the Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle mode or the RRC inactive mode at various times to optimize power consumption at the UE. When the UE is in the RRC idle mode, the UE does not exchange any data with the 5G NR network. The UE switches to the RRC connected mode to exchange data with the network by establishing a connection with a next-generation NodeB (gNB) of the 5G NR network. If there is no activity at the UE for a period of time, the UE can move to the RRC inactive mode to suspend its RRC session, during which a minimum amount of data is exchanged with the 5G NR network.

[0002] One type of information that the UE can receive when in the RRC idle mode or the inactive mode is a paging transmission. The paging transmission can notify the UE that the network has data or messages (e.g., short messages) (e.g., voice calls, system information change, Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS), Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) indication, etc.) for the UE. The paging message can be sent to the UE via a Paging Control Channel (PCCH), and the short message can be sent to the UE via a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). To receive the paging message, the UE can monitor one or more paging occasions (POs) in each paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle on the PDCCH.

[0003] There are two types of paging areas: a core network (CN)-initiated paging area and a radio access network (RAN)-initiated paging area. In the CN-initiated paging area, when the UE is initially in the RRC idle state, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of the 5G network can allocate a registration area to each UE during the non-access stratum (NAS) registration process. The registration area can be defined as a set of non-overlapping tracking areas, each tracking area including one or more cells (gNBs) covering a geographical area. In the RAN-initiated paging area, a UE in the RRC inactive state can be configured by the previous serving gNB with a RAN-based notification area (RNA). The RNA can cover one or more cells and can be included in the above-mentioned CN registration area.

[0004] For a UE receiving a paging message, the UE receives and demodulates the PDCCH, blindly decodes the PDCCH, receives and demodulates the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), decodes the PDSCH, and processes the paging message. The power consumption of the UE increases as the number of received false alarm paging messages increases. Such false alarms can occur due to the fact that multiple UEs share the same PO in a given area, and, as such, a given UE can receive paging messages not intended for it. Since the number of UEs increases as the paging area increases, the larger the paging area, the greater the likelihood of false alarms occurring. The network can attempt paging transmissions multiple times to reduce paging signaling overhead. The process can include the network starting with a small paging area and, if no paging response is received for a given attempt, increasing the size of the paging area with each subsequent paging attempt. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) operating in a network. The method includes: receiving a paging area from the network, the paging area including a plurality of cells of the network; when the UE is in one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network, transmitting a message to a first cell of the paging area based on the UE moving from a second coverage area of a second cell of the paging area to a first coverage area of the first cell; and monitoring the first cell for paging from the network.

[0006] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a User Equipment (UE) having a transceiver and a processor. The processor is configured to: receive a paging area from the network, the paging area including a plurality of cells of the network; when the UE is in one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network, generate a message to be transmitted in a first cell of the paging area based on the UE moving from a second coverage area of a second cell of the paging area to a first coverage area of the first cell. The transceiver is further configured to transmit the message to the first cell.

[0007] Yet some other exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state with a cell of a network. The method includes: transmitting a message including a mobility state of the UE to the cell, where the mobility state includes one of a moving state or a stationary state; transitioning to one of an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network; and monitoring one or more cells of the network for paging.

[0008] An additional exemplary embodiment relates to a user equipment (UE) having a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to connect to one or more cells of a network. The processor is configured to: when the UE is in a radio resource control connected state with the network, generate a message including the mobility state of the UE, where the mobility state includes one of a moving state or a stationary state; transition the UE to one of an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state with respect to the network; and monitor one or more cells of the network for paging. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0010] Figure 2 An exemplary UE is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0011] Figure 3 A signaling diagram illustrating a first paging process is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0012] Figure 4 A signaling diagram illustrating a second paging process is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0013] Figure 5 A signaling diagram illustrating a third paging process is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0014] Figure 6 A signaling diagram illustrating a fourth paging process is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related drawings, in which like elements are denoted with the same reference numerals. Exemplary embodiments describe devices, systems, and methods for reducing or eliminating false paging alert messages received by user equipment.

[0016] Exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE. However, the use of the UE is for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary embodiments can be utilized with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Thus, the UE described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0017] Exemplary embodiments are also described with reference to a network including a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT). However, in some embodiments, the network may also include other cellular access networks (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT, legacy RATs, etc.) and / or non-cellular access networks (e.g., 802.XX networks, WiFi, etc.), even though the following description will focus primarily on 5G NR RAT.

[0018] As noted above, an increase in the number of false alarm paging messages received by the UE will increase the power consumption at the UE. If no response is received, the above paging area optimization is inefficient when the paging area increases for various reasons. First, the paging delay increases due to various transmission attempts of the same paging message. Additionally, the smaller paging area is not driven by any meaningful information about the UE's movement path.

[0019] According to an exemplary embodiment, the UE may provide information about the movement of the UE to the 5G NR network to improve the accuracy of the reduced paging area described above. In some exemplary embodiments, the information may include the latest cell (gNB) camped on by the UE before transitioning to the RRC inactive or idle state. In some exemplary embodiments, the UE may provide movement path information to the 5G NR network. Based on the information provided by the UE, the network may select which cell or cells should be used to forward paging messages to the UE.

[0020] Another problem with increasing the number of false alarm paging messages received by the UE is that multiple UEs monitor the same paging occasion (PO) in a given area. As noted above, the more UEs that monitor the PO, the greater the likelihood that one or more of these UEs will process a paging message not intended for that UE.

[0021] According to some exemplary embodiments, the 5G NR network may configure a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle during which the UE actively monitors paging messages. As such, different UEs may be configured with different DRX cycles during which these UEs should monitor the PDCCH for paging signals. Accordingly, the number of UEs monitoring the same PO is reduced.

[0022] Figure 1FIG. 0 illustrates an exemplary network arrangement 100 in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. It should be noted that any number of UEs may be used in the network arrangement 100. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE 110 may alternatively be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0023] The UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which the UE 110 may communicate wirelessly are a 5G New Radio (NR) Radio Access Network (5G NR-RAN) 120, an LTE Radio Access Network (LTE-RAN) 122, and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 124. However, it should be understood that the UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks, and the UE 110 may also communicate with a network via a wired connection. Therefore, the UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset for communicating with the 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset for communicating with the LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset for communicating with the WLAN 124.

[0024] The 5G NR-RAN 120 and the LTE-RAN 122 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a cellular provider (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macro cell base stations, micro cell base stations, small cell base stations, femto cell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. The WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspots, IEEE 802.11x networks, etc.).

[0025] UE 110 can be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A and / or gNB 120B. Those skilled in the art will understand that any relevant process can be executed for UE 110 to connect to 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, 5G NR-RAN 120 can be associated with a specific cellular provider where UE 110 and / or its user have protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). When detecting the presence of 5G NR-RAN 120, UE 110 can transmit the corresponding credential information to be associated with 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, UE 110 can be associated with a specific base station (e.g., gNB 120A of 5G NR-RAN 120).

[0026] In addition to networks 120, 122, and 124, network arrangement 100 further includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. Cellular core network 130 can be regarded as an interconnected set of components that manage the operations and traffic of a cellular network. Cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. IMS 150 can communicate with cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to UE 110. Network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and cellular core network 130. Network service backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functions for UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0027] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. UE 110 will be described with reference to Figure 1 network arrangement 100. UE 110 can represent any electronic device and can include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. Other components 230 can include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting UE 110 to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc. For example, UE 110 can be coupled to an industrial device via one or more ports.

[0028] The processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, these engines may include a paging management engine 235. The paging management engine 235 may perform various operations related to paging reception, such as processing paging messages, notifying the network 100 of the mobility of the UE, and the like.

[0029] The above engines are merely exemplary as applications (e.g., programs) executed by the processor 205. The functions associated with the engines may also be represented as separate integrated components of the UE 110, or may be modular components coupled to the UE 110, e.g., integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving signals and a processing circuit for processing signals and other information. The engines may also be embodied as one application or separate multiple applications. Additionally, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0030] The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables a user to make inputs. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish connections with the 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, WLAN 124, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of contiguous frequencies).

[0031] Figure 3 A signaling diagram 300 illustrating a first paging process is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. In Figure 3 the exemplary embodiment, the network uses information about the previous cell preoccupied by the UE 110 to determine the paging transmission target and reduce paging false alarms. Figure 3The components shown in include User Equipment (UE) 110, network cells 301 to 303, and an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 304. It should be understood that UE 110 can represent any UE. Network cells 301 to 303 can be, for example, gNB 122A, gNB 122B, and another gNB associated with 5G NR Radio Access Network (RAN) 120. AMF 304 can be considered a function implemented by Core Network 130. Generally speaking, AMF 304 is responsible for connection and mobility management tasks (such as UE handover between gNBs). Additionally, AMF 304 can be responsible for providing paging information to the appropriate gNBs, enabling these gNBs to transmit paging over-the-air (OTA).

[0032] In Figure 3 the example of, the paging area of UE 110 can be considered to include cells 301 to 303. This means that when there is a paging for UE 110, AMF 304 will forward the paging to each of the multiple cells in the paging area, such as cells 301 to 303. As will be described in more detail below, when UE 110 moves from the coverage area to the coverage area of cells 301 to 303 in the paging area, UE 110 can send a notification. Based on the configuration information provided to UE via RRC signaling or NAS signaling, UE 110 can know the cells in the paging area to which UE 110 is to send the notification.

[0033] Further, it should be considered that in Figure 3 the scenario of, when transmitting paging, UE 110 is not in a connected state with the network (such as UE 110 being in the RRC idle state or RRC inactive state). For example, when paging is transmitted by corresponding cells 301 to 303 at 320, 340, or 360, UE 110 will not be in a connected state. Those skilled in the art will understand that, for example, if UE 110 receives paging from 320 of cell 301, UE 110 will very likely transition to a connected state to receive the data associated with the paging. However, for the purpose of signaling diagram 300, it should be considered that UE 110 is not in a connected state when the paging is to be transmitted by the network.

[0034] As Figure 3 illustrated, at 305, UE 110 receives an RRC release signal from cell 301 that UE 110 is currently camped on. This will cause UE 110 to switch to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state at 310. At 315, AMF 304 of Core Network 130 has a paging for UE 110 and sends a paging transmission to all cells 301 to 303 in UE 110's paging area. However, in this exemplary embodiment, at 320, only the previous cell that UE was camped on (such as cell 301) will transmit the paging.

[0035] It should be understood that when paging is transmitted only by cell 301, UEs pre - empted on cells 302 and 303 will not receive paging that is not intended for those other UEs (e.g., because it is intended for UE 110), thereby preventing other UEs from receiving paging error alerts. Thus, by intelligently selecting which cell should transmit the paging for UE 110, multiple paging error alerts are avoided.

[0036] At 325, UE 110 moves into the coverage area of another cell (e.g., cell 302). To ensure that the network knows of the UE's movement to a different cell, at 330, UE 110 may transmit a UE - specific scheduling request (SR) to cell 302 or initiate a random access channel (RACH) procedure. As a result, the network now knows that UE 110 is in the coverage area of cell 302. Thus, when the AMF 304 sends a paging transmission to cells 301 to 303 in the paging area of UE 110 at 335, only cell 302 will transmit the paging at 440. Similar to the scenario described above, UEs monitoring the POs of cells 301 and 303 will not receive paging error alerts related to the paging of UE 110 because those cells 301 and 303 will not transmit the paging.

[0037] Similarly, at 345, UE 110 moves into the coverage area of another cell (e.g., cell 303). Again, to ensure that the network knows of the movement of UE 110, at 350, UE 110 transmits a UE - specific SR to cell 303 or initiates a RACH procedure. As a result, the network now knows that UE 110 has moved to cell 303. Thus, when the AMF 304 sends a paging transmission to cells 301 to 303 in all paging areas of UE 110 at 355, only cell 303 will transmit the paging at 360. Again, this will reduce the number of times UEs erroneously receive paging transmissions intended for UE 110 because the network knows the cell on which UE 110 is pre - empted and targets the transmission of the paging message to UE 110 via that cell.

[0038] Figure 4 A signaling diagram 400 illustrating a second paging process is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. Figure 4 The process depicted in Figure 3 is similar to the process depicted in Figure 4In the example, the UE 110 does not notify the network of every movement to a new cell. Instead, the UE 110 reports movements for every N cell changes. In the example of signaling diagram 400, the UE 110 may report movements for every N = 2 cell changes instead of reporting to the network for every cell change. Given this information, the network will forward paging messages to the UE 110 via the previous cell preoccupied by the UE 110 and adjacent cells, as will be described in more detail below. The network can configure the N value of the UE 110, for example, via RRC signaling or NAS signaling.

[0039] In signaling diagram 400, these components can be considered similar to the components described above with respect to signaling diagram 300, including the UE 110, cells 401 to 403, and the AMF 404. Additionally, cell 401 can be considered to have cell 402 as a neighbor, cell 402 can be considered to have cells 401 and 403 as neighbors, and cell 403 can be considered to have cell 402 as a neighbor.

[0040] As Figure 4 illustrated, at 405, the UE 110 receives an RRC release signal from cell 401 that the UE 110 is currently preoccupied with. This causes the UE 110 to switch to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state at 410. At 415, the AMF 404 of the core network 130 sends a paging transmission to all cells 401 to 403 in the paging area of the UE 110. In this example, since the UE 110 was last preoccupied with cell 401, the paging is transmitted by cell 401 and its neighbor cell 402 at 420.

[0041] At 425, the UE 110 can be considered to move into the coverage area of another cell (e.g., cell 402). However, contrary to Figure 3 signaling diagram 300, the UE 110 does not notify the network of this movement. As described above, in this example, the UE 110 has been configured to report cell changes to the network for every N = 2 cell changes. Since the change at 425 is the first cell change (e.g., N = 1), the UE 110 will not report this cell change. At 430, the AMF 304 sends a paging transmission to all cells 401 to 403 in the paging area of the UE 110. Since no movement information is relayed to the network, at 435, cells 401 and 402 will transmit the paging. Since the UE 110 has been configured to report its movement for every N cell changes, the network knows that the UE 110 is within N cells of the previous known cell preoccupied by the UE 110. As such, forwarding the paging transmission via cell 401 (the previous preoccupied cell) and cell 402 (the neighbor cell) achieves a reduction in the paging area (cell 403 does not transmit the paging), while also reducing the power consumption associated with reporting the movement of the UE 110.

[0042] At 440, the UE moves to the coverage area of another cell, e.g., cell 403. As noted above, in this example, UE 110 is configured to report its movement every N = 2 cell changes. Since this is the second cell change, at 445, UE 110 transmits a UE-specific SR or initiates a RACH procedure to cell 403 to indicate the cell change to the network. As a result, the network now knows that UE 110 has moved to the coverage area of cell 403. Thus, when the AMF 404 sends a paging transmission to all cells 401 to 403 in the paging area of UE 110 at 450, only cell 403 and neighbor cell 402 transmit paging at 455.

[0043] Figure 5 A signaling diagram 500 is shown illustrating a third paging process in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. In this example, the current paging area of UE 110 can be considered to include five (5) cells, cells 501 to 505. In this exemplary embodiment, UE 110 will provide the network with information about the movement of UE 110. The network can then use this movement information to select one or more cells on which to transmit paging. The movement information can be, for example, the path that UE 110 is going to travel, such as a train path from point A to point B, a driving path from the user's home to the user's office, etc. The movement information can include any suitable information that notifies the network of the possible cells that UE 110 may enter its coverage area. To provide a further example, if UE 110 is moving east from one cell to the next while in the connected state, the movement information can allow the network to eliminate cells that are further west or away from the expected path of UE 110 when determining which cells are to be used to forward paging transmissions to UE 110.

[0044] It should be understood that there are many ways for UE 110 to determine movement or potential movement information, and the way UE 110 determines movement information is outside the scope of this disclosure. For the purposes of signaling diagram 500, it can be considered that UE 110 has determined movement information and is reporting this movement information to the network.

[0045] In signaling diagram 500, UE 110 is initially in the RRC connected state. Before switching to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state, at 510, UE 110 transmits movement information to the currently pre-empted cell, e.g., cell 501, via, for example, AS or NAS signaling. At 515, cell 501 forwards the movement information to the AMF 506. At 520, UE 110 receives an RRC release signal from cell 501 and switches to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state at 525.

[0046] Subsequently, the AMF 506 has a paging for the UE 110. As described above, the AMF 506 has previously received the mobility information of the UE 110. The AMF 506 (or another component of the core network 130) can use this mobility information to select a set of cells that match the possible path of the UE 110. In the example of the signaling diagram 500, the AMF 506 can determine that the subset of cells for the paging area for the UE 110 includes cells 501 to 503 based on the mobility information. However, cells 504 and 505 in the paging area are excluded from this subset. At 530, the AMF 506 of the core network 130 sends a paging transmission to the cells of this subset (e.g., cells 501 to 503). At 535, cells 501 to 503 that receive the paging information from the AMF 506 can transmit the paging.

[0047] In other exemplary embodiments, the determination of the subset of cells can be transmitted to each individual cell such that each cell understands whether it should send a paging for a particular UE. In these exemplary embodiments, at 530, the AMF 506 can send a paging transmission to all cells in the paging area of the UE 110 (e.g., cells 501 to 505). Then, at 535, only cells 501 to 503 of the subset determined by the information received by the cells of the UE 110 can transmit the paging.

[0048] Figure 6 A signaling diagram 600 illustrating a fourth paging process is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Similarly, the signaling diagram 600 includes the UE 110, network cells 601 to 603, and the AMF 604. In the example of the signaling diagram 600, the UE 110 provides a mobility state to the network, and the network can then use this mobility state to select the cells in the paging area to page the UE 110.

[0049] In the signaling diagram 600, the UE 110 is initially in the RRC connected state. Before switching to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state, the UE 110 transmits an indication of the mobility state of the UE 110 to the currently occupied cell (e.g., cell 601) at 605. This indication can be transmitted via, for example, NAS or AS signaling. The mobility state can include any number of states, such as stationary, moving, etc. At 610, cell 601 forwards this mobility information to the AMF 604. At 615, the UE 110 receives an RRC release signal from the currently occupied cell 601, and the UE 110 switches to the RRC idle or RRC inactive state at 620.

[0050] When the UE 110 reports its mobility state at 605, the UE 110 may also report the above-mentioned mobility information regarding the signaling diagram 500. When the mobility state is mobile, mobility information may be sent. When the UE 110 is in a mobile mobility state, its paging process may be the same as any one of the above-referenced signaling diagrams 300 to 500.

[0051] However, the signaling diagram 600 focuses on the scenario where the UE 110 has reported a stationary mobility state. At 625, the AMF 504 of the core network 130 sends a paging transmission to all the cells in the paging area of the UE 110. However, since the UE 110 has reported a mobility state of stationary, only the previous cell to which the UE 110 was connected will transmit the paging. In the example of the signaling diagram 600, the previous connected cell is cell 601. Therefore, at 630, cell 601 transmits the paging.

[0052] The above exemplary embodiments can reduce the number of false alarm paging transmissions received and processed by the UE by reducing the size of the paging area. In some embodiments, the network 100 may alternatively reduce the number of UEs monitoring the same PO by modifying the DRX cycle of the UE. As a result of the modification, since UEs monitor the PDCCH at different times, the number of UEs monitoring a given PO is reduced.

[0053] In some embodiments, the network 100 may configure the UE 110 such that different UEs use one of three different types of paging DRX cycles: 1.) the default DRX cycle configured by RRC; 2.) the UE-specific DRX cycle configured by non-access stratum (NAS) signaling; 3.) the RAN DRX cycle configured by RRC.

[0054] In some embodiments, the network 100 may alternatively configure a UE-specific offset to determine the UE-specific paging frame (PF) and PO. The PO may be based on network configuration and UE ID. To reduce the number of UEs monitoring the PO, the network 100 may configure an offset for each UE such that when the UE calculates its PF and PO, the UE adds the UE-specific offset configured by the network. This results in the distribution of multiple UEs among the POs.

[0055] In some embodiments, the network 100 may alternatively directly configure where each UE will receive paging. That is, the network 100 may configure a brand-new paging DRX configuration via NAS or access stratum (AS) signaling. In some embodiments, the new paging DRX configuration will no longer be based on UE ID, but on network configuration. For example, the network 100 may make the new paging DRX configuration based on the number of registered UEs to achieve a better distribution of UEs among the POs.

[0056] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one embodiment can be combined with the features of other embodiments in any manner not precluded by the disclosure or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation of the devices of the disclosed embodiments of the invention or the functions thereof.

[0057] As is well known, the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for safeguarding user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0058] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments can be implemented in any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or a combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments can include, for example, an Intel x86-based platform with a compatible operating system, Windows OS, Mac platform, and MAC OS, and mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods can be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, can be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0059] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the essence or scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for a User Equipment (UE), comprising: At the UE operating in a network: Receiving a paging area from the network, the paging area including a plurality of cells of the network; When the UE is in one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network, based on the UE moving from a second coverage area of a second cell in the paging area to a first coverage area of a first cell, transmitting a message to the first cell in the paging area, wherein the message is transmitted by the UE for each predetermined number of cell coverage area changes; And Monitoring the first cell for paging from the network.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message is transmitted by the UE each time the UE moves to a coverage area of a different cell.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined number is configured by the network.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message includes one of a UE-specific Scheduling Request (SR) or a UE-triggered Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure.

5. A User Equipment (UE), comprising: A transceiver; And A processor configured to: Receive a paging area from the network, the paging area including a plurality of cells of the network; When the UE is in one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network, based on the UE moving from a second coverage area of a second cell in the paging area to a first coverage area of a first cell, generate a message to be transmitted in the first cell in the paging area, wherein the message is transmitted by the UE for each predetermined number of cell coverage area changes, wherein the transceiver transmits the message to the first cell.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the message is transmitted by the UE each time the UE moves to a coverage area of a different cell.

7. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined number is configured by the network.

8. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the message includes one of a UE-specific Scheduling Request (SR) or a UE-triggered Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure.

9. A method for a User Equipment (UE), comprising: At the UE in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state with a cell of a network: Transmitting a message including the mobility state of the UE to the cell, wherein the mobility state includes one of a moving state or a stationary state; When the mobility state includes the moving state, generating mobility information of the UE to be transmitted to the network, wherein the mobility information includes the expected path of the UE; Switching to one of an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state relative to the network; And Monitoring one or more cells of the network for paging.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein transmitting the message is part of one of an Access Stratum (AS) procedure or a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) procedure.

11. A User Equipment (UE), comprising: A transceiver configured to connect to one or more cells of a network; and A processor configured to: When the UE is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state with the network, generate a message including the mobility state of the UE, where the mobility state includes one of a moving state or a stationary state; When the mobility state includes the moving state, generate mobility information of the UE to be transmitted to the network, where the mobility information includes the predicted path of the UE; Transition the UE to one of an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state with respect to the network; and Monitor one or more cells of the network for paging.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein the message is transmitted as part of one of an Access Stratum (AS) procedure or a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) procedure.

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