Node and method for buffering downlink data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016262041-A1
Application number	US-201514655008-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 16, 2015
Priority date	Jun 25, 2014
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Example embodiments presented herein are directed towards a mobility management node and SGW or Gn/Gp-SGSN, and corresponding methods therein, for downlink data buffering in a wireless communications network. Such buffering is useful when the wireless device is in a power saving state e.g. PSM or eDRX. Thus, since the downlink data is buffered, there is no longer a need for multiple Downlink Data Notifications to be sent.

First claim

1 . A method, in a mobility management node, for downlink data buffering in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
receiving, from a Serving Gateway, SGW, or a Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node, SGSN, a Downlink Data Notification, DDN, for a downlink data packet for a wireless device in an idle mode; determining if the wireless device is also in a power saving state; and if the wireless device is in a power saving state, sending, to the SGW or the SGSN, a DDN Acknowledge with one or more of a cause code, a flag and a buffer time value indicating that the downlink data packet is to be buffered in memory.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the buffer time value, the buffer time value representing a time in which the downlink data packet is to be buffered in the SGW or SGSN.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining if the wireless device is in a power saving state and/or the determining the buffer time valve is based on one or more of:
a duration of time the wireless device is in a power saving state; a time remaining in a power saving state; a subscribed Access Point Name, APN; subscription parameters; a received power saving schedule; user equipment capability parameters; and a configuration within the mobility management node.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the power saving state is a Power Saving Mode, PSM, an Extended Discontinued Reception, eDRX, idle mode, or a connected mode.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising setting a page pending flag, said flag indicating that paging is needed for the wireless device to establish an S1-U connection for buffered downlink data to be delivered.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the buffer time value in the mobility management node, said buffer time value indicating that data is being buffered and paging is needed for the wireless device to establish an S1-U connection for buffered downlink data to be delivered.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the wireless device or a base station serving the wireless device, a deferred paging capability or power saving state capability.

8 . A mobility management node for downlink data buffering in a wireless communications network, the mobility management node comprising:
a receiver configured to receive, from a Serving Gateway, SGW, or a Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node, SGSN, a Downlink Data Notification, DDN, for a downlink data packet for a wireless device in an idle mode; a processing circuitry configured to determine if the wireless device is also in a power saving mode; and if the wireless device is in a power saving mode, a transmitter is configured to send, to the SGW or the SGSN, a DDN Acknowledge with one or more of a cause code and a buffer time value indicating that the downlink data packet is to be buffered in memory.

9 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine the buffer time value, the buffer time value representing a time in which the downlink data packet is to be buffered in the SGW or SGSN.

10 . The mobility management node of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine if the wireless device is in the sleep mode and/or to determine the buffer time value based on any one or more of:
a duration of time the wireless device is in a power saving state; a time remaining in a power saving state; a subscribed Access Point Name, APN; subscription parameters; a received power saving schedule; user equipment capability parameters; and a configuration within the mobility management node.

11 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the power saving state is a Power Saving Mode, PSM, an Extended Discontinued Reception, eDRX, idle mode, or a connected mode.

12 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to set a page pending flag, said flag indicating that paging is needed for the wireless device to establish an S1-U connection for buffered downlink data to be delivered.

13 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to store the buffer time value in the mobility management node, said buffer time value indicating that data is being buffered and paging is needed for the wireless device to establish an S1-U connection for buffered downlink data to be delivered.

14 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, from the wireless device or a base station serving the wireless device, a deferred paging capability or sleeping capability.

15 . The mobility management node of claim 8 , wherein the mobility management node is a Mobility Management Entity, MME, a Gn/Gp-Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node, Gn/Gp-SGSN, or a S4 Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node, S4-SGSN

16 . A method, in a Serving Gateway, SGW, or a Gn/Gp-Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node, Gn/Gp-SGSN, for downlink data buffering in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
sending, to a mobility management node, a Downlink Data Notification, DDN, for a downlink data packet for a wireless device in an idle mode; receiving, from the mobility management node, a DDN Acknowledgement comprising one or more of a flag, a cause code and a buffer time value indicating the downlink data packet is to be buffered in memory; and buffering the downlink data packet within the SGW or Gn/Gp-SGSN until a connection with the wireless device has been established for the downlink data packet to be delivered to the wireless device or until a time indicated by the buffer time value has expired.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the DDN Acknowledgement is a DDN reject message, the method further comprising determining if the wireless device is also in a power saving state.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining the buffer time value, the buffer time value representing a time in which the downlink data packet is to be buffered in the SGW or Gn/Gp-SGSN.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the determining if the wireless device is in a power saving state and/or the determining the buffer time valve is based on one or more of:
a duration of time the wireless device is in a power saving state; a time remaining in a power saving state; a subscribed Access Point Name, APN; subscription parameters; a received power saving schedule; user equipment capability parameters; and a configuration within the SGW or SGSN node.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the downlink data packet is a first downlink data packet and wherein the wireless device is in a power saving state during the buffering of the first downlink data packet, the method further comprising:
receiving, from a Packet Data Network Gateway, PGW, a further downlink data packet for the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is in the power saving state; and buffering the further downlink data packet.

21 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising sending, to an application server, an Internet Control Message Protocol, ICMP, control message, said message comprising a timestamp indicating a time remaining for which the downlink data will be buffered.

22 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising receiving, from the mobility manage

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Rönneke Hans
• Hedman Peter

Classifications

• H04W76/28

  Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX] · CPC title

• H04W52/0212

  managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is leader and terminal is follower · CPC title

• H04W52/0209

  in terminal devices · CPC title

• H04W52/0219

  where the power saving management affects multiple terminals · CPC title

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title