Conditional NAS Recovery for Mobile Stations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing network recovery methods in LTE networks consume substantial resources and generate high signaling loads when re-establishing connectivity, especially when no downlink data is expected, leading to unnecessary strain on the network.

Innovation Solution

A method for a mobile station to detect radio connection failures and selectively invoke a NAS recovery procedure only when downlink data is expected, by analyzing information from application, RLC, or MAC layers, and initiating a registration procedure accordingly, thereby reducing unnecessary resource consumption.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If NAS recovery procedures are invoked to re-establish connectivity after radio connection failure, then connection reliability is improved, but network resource consumption and signaling load increase substantially

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnection reliabilityVSAvoidnetwork resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameter of NAS procedure invocation from unconditional to conditional based on data expectation status. The mobile station evaluates whether downlink data is expected before initiating NAS recovery procedures, thereby adjusting the system behavior parameter (procedure invocation) based on the condition parameter (data expectation) to resolve the contradiction between connection reliability and network resource consumption

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by selectively invoking NAS recovery procedures only when necessary (when downlink data is expected) rather than always invoking them. This partial invocation approach maintains sufficient connection reliability for actual data needs while avoiding excessive resource consumption from unnecessary procedure executions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

2Reliability

If NAS recovery procedures are invoked to re-establish connectivity, then connection re-establishment capability is improved, but signaling load on the network increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnection re-establishment capabilityVSAvoidsignaling load
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the invocation parameter of NAS procedures from always-execute to conditionally-execute based on downlink data expectation. This parameter change reduces the frequency of NAS procedure invocations while maintaining re-establishment capability when needed, thereby reducing signaling load without sacrificing essential connection recovery functionality

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts the unnecessary NAS procedure invocations from the system by introducing a condition check that filters out redundant recovery attempts. By taking out only the necessary invocations (when data is expected) and eliminating unnecessary ones (when no data is expected), the signaling load is reduced while preserving essential re-establishment capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Reliability

If registration procedures are initiated after radio connection failure, then connectivity recovery is improved, but network efficiency deteriorates due to unnecessary resource usage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnectivity recoveryVSAvoidnetwork efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameter of registration procedure initiation from unconditional to conditional based on downlink data expectation. By adjusting this parameter, the system maintains connectivity recovery capability for actual data scenarios while improving network efficiency by avoiding unnecessary registration procedures in data-less scenarios

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP2421321B1Methods and mobile station for reestablishing a connection by way of NAS procedures
Publication Date: 2017.12.27 BLACKBERRY LTD
  • EP2421321B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2421321B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2421321B1 patent drawingFigure 3A

AI summary

Example methods and apparatus to conditionally invoke network recovery are disclosed. A disclosed example method in a wireless device involves detecting a radio resource connection failure and identifying whether downlink data is expected. The disclosed example method also includes initiating a registration procedure when downlink data is expected.