Shared-RAN Paging Coordination for Multi-Network User Equipment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In a shared radio access network scenario, existing paging mechanisms fail to ensure normal paging for user equipment accessing multiple networks, leading to high power consumption and inefficiencies due to separate network paging and incomplete responses.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus are developed to ensure normal paging in a shared radio access network by coordinating paging across multiple networks, allowing user equipment to efficiently respond to paging messages from different networks while minimizing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate network paging is performed for each network in a shared-RAN scenario, then paging coverage for each network is ensured, but power consumption increases and paging efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines paging messages from multiple networks into a single unified paging message. The network device receives paging messages from different networks (first network and second network) and generates one consolidated paging message that includes paging indicators for both networks, thereby reducing the number of separate paging transmissions and lowering power consumption while maintaining reliable paging coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified paging message serves multiple functions simultaneously: it pages user equipment for the first network, pages user equipment for the second network, and provides paging indicators that enable the user equipment to determine which network is initiating the paging. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate paging procedures for each network.
2Reliability
If separate network paging is performed for each network in a shared-RAN scenario, then paging coverage for each network is ensured, but paging efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple paging operations into a single unified paging message transmission. Instead of separately paging for the first network and second network, the system creates one paging message that handles both networks simultaneously, thereby improving paging efficiency by reducing the total number of paging cycles and minimizing network resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The network device acts as an intermediary that receives paging messages from multiple source networks, processes them into a unified format, and transmits a single consolidated paging message to the user equipment. This intermediary function streamlines the paging process and improves overall paging efficiency by eliminating redundant transmissions.
3Reliability
If user equipment monitors paging for multiple networks separately, then paging responses are received for each network, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The unified paging message provides multi-functional information to the user equipment: it contains paging indicators for both the first network and the second network, enabling the user equipment to monitor and respond to paging from multiple networks through a single message reception event. This eliminates the need for separate monitoring procedures and significantly reduces power consumption.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
This application provides a paging method and apparatus. The paging method may be applied to a shared radio access network (share radio access network, shared-RAN) scenario, and includes: User equipment receives, over a first network, a first message that is sent by an access apparatus and that is used to indicate that the user equipment accesses at least a second network. The user equipment responds to the paging of the second network. Responding to the paging of the second network includes: accessing the second network with the assistance of the first network by using the access apparatus, or accessing the second network over the second network by using the access apparatus. According to the paging method provided in the embodiments of this application, one of the two different networks supported by the access apparatus can assist the other network in paging the user equipment.