Heuristic Paging in Wireless Tracking Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication networks face inefficiencies in paging mobile devices, as broadcasting page messages to multiple base stations consumes network resources and energy, especially when the device is not actively connected, leading to potential mislocation of the device and increased resource usage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a heuristic-based paging system where the mobility management entity (MME) maintains a list of actively communicating base stations and uses location information to selectively send page requests, prioritizing the most likely areas where the mobile device is located, thereby reducing unnecessary resource usage and improving the probability of successful contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If page messages are broadcast to multiple base stations to ensure device location, then the reliability of device location is improved, but the network resource consumption and energy usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the base stations into multiple subsets based on location information and communication history. Instead of broadcasting to all base stations uniformly, the system divides the search space into segments (first subset, second subset, third subset) and pages them in a structured manner, reducing overall resource consumption while maintaining location reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobility management entity performs preliminary actions by maintaining a list of actively communicating base stations and using location information to predict where the mobile device is most likely to be found. This preliminary analysis allows the system to prioritize paging efforts in the most probable locations before exhausting all possible base stations.
2Reliability
If page requests are sent to all base stations in the tracking area, then the completeness of device search is improved, but the network load and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the base stations into ordered subsets based on location information and communication history. The system pages the first subset (most likely locations) before the second subset, and only after exhausting the first subset does it proceed to the second and third subsets. This segmented approach ensures completeness while reducing average paging time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by initially paging only the most likely base stations (first subset) rather than all base stations simultaneously. If the device is not found in the first subset, the system then expands to the second and third subsets. This partial action strategy reduces average paging time while maintaining the ability to search completely if necessary.
3Productivity
If location information is used to select base stations for paging, then the network resource efficiency is improved, but the device complexity for maintaining location data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobility management entity performs self-service by autonomously maintaining the list of actively communicating base stations and using stored location information to automatically determine which base stations to page. The system uses its own stored data (communication history, location information) to make paging decisions without requiring complex external analysis or manual configuration, thereby achieving efficiency while limiting complexity to manageable levels.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for paging devices in a communication network. A network device providing mobility management through control messaging can be assigned a number of cell sites in a tracking area. The network device such as a mobility management entity (MME) can use a criteria or heuristic based implementation to provide a hierarchy for contacting a mobile device with a page. The criteria or heuristic based implementation can page a subset of the total number of cell sites in a tracking area and expand the subset after unsuccessful attempts to page the mobile device. The implementation can also be tailored to offer a range of options for page requests received by a network device, which can be based on such things as the application sending the page request.