Mobility Management Unit Timer Reconfiguration for Terminal Triggering

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

In cellular wireless communication systems, terminal trigger messages are often lost due to the expiration of effective timers before back-off timers, leading to unsuccessful triggering of terminals, especially during congestion control scenarios.

Innovation Solution

A method and system where a mobility management unit receives a terminal trigger message and reconfigures the effective timer value to be longer than the back-off timer value, ensuring the trigger message is reserved until the back-off timer expires, thereby improving the success rate of terminal triggering.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the effective timer value is kept shorter than the back-off timer value to enable faster message expiration and resource release, then the system resource utilization is improved, but the trigger message may be lost before the back-off timer expires, leading to failed terminal triggering

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem resource utilizationVSAvoidtrigger message delivery reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the effective timer value adjustable rather than fixed. The mobility management unit dynamically modifies the effective timer value based on the back-off timer value, setting it to match or exceed the back-off timer duration. This dynamic adjustment ensures the trigger message remains valid throughout the terminal's back-off period while allowing resource release after congestion control resolves, thus maintaining both reliability and productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Reliability

If the effective timer value is extended to match or exceed the back-off timer value to ensure trigger message availability, then the terminal triggering success rate is improved, but the system resource release is delayed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveterminal triggering success rateVSAvoidresource release delay
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The effective timer value is dynamically set based on the back-off timer value received in the congestion control message. When congestion control is active, the effective timer is extended to match or exceed the back-off timer duration, ensuring trigger message availability. Once congestion control ends, the timer automatically expires and resources are released, thus balancing reliability improvement with timely resource release.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If the mobility management unit modifies the effective timer value in response to congestion control, then the trigger message is preserved until back-off timer expiration, but the complexity of timer management increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetrigger message preservationVSAvoidtimer management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The mobility management unit uses feedback from the congestion control message (which includes the back-off timer value) to automatically adjust the effective timer value. When a congestion control message is received, the unit modifies the effective timer to match or exceed the back-off timer duration. This feedback-driven approach automates timer management, reducing manual intervention complexity while ensuring reliable trigger message preservation throughout the congestion control period.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP2779778B1Method and system for effective time control of terminal trigger message
Publication Date: 2017.07.26 ZTE CORP
  • EP2779778B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2779778B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2779778B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method for controlling effective time of a terminal trigger message is disclosed. The method includes: a mobility management unit receives a terminal trigger message from a Machine Type Communication (MTC) application server; and in a scenario of congestion control, the mobility management unit determines that a time value of a back-off timer is longer than a time value of an effective timer related to the terminal trigger message, and reconfigures the time value for the effective timer related to the terminal trigger message. A system for controlling effective time of a terminal trigger message is further disclosed. With the present disclosure, before the back-off timer of a terminal expires, a network can reserve the trigger message to avoid an unsuccessful trigger of the terminal, thus improving a success rate of triggering the terminal.