System and method to conduct idle mode paging channel monitoring within a cellular wireless
View Patent ↗A method and system to determine when a wireless terminal has been paged by a servicing base station. An encoded paging burst is received on a paging channel and then decoded to produce a decoded paging burst. The decoded paging burst is processed to determine if it is a null page. When the encoded paging burst is a null page, it is processed to produce a null page pattern. The wireless terminal may then enter a sleep mode or reduced functionality mode for a predetermined period of time. The wireless terminal awakes from the sleep mode to receive additional encoded paging bursts. Processing the additional encoded paging bursts produces a processed encoded paging burst, which is compared to the null page pattern. When compared favorably, the encoded paging burst is considered a null page, allowing the wireless terminal to re-enter the sleep mode without fully decoding the paging burst.
1. A method to determine when a wireless terminal has been paged by a servicing base station, the method comprises:
entering a sleep mode for a sleep mode period;
awakening from the sleep mode to receive an encoded paging burst on the paging channel;
processing the additional encoded paging burst to produce a processed encoded paging burst, wherein the processed encoded paging burst comprises a plurality of soft decision bits;
comparing the processed encoded paging burst to a null page pattern, wherein when the comparisons exceeds a comparison threshold, determining that the additional encoded paging burst is a null page.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the processed encoded paging burst to a null page pattern comprises each bit of the null page pattern to a corresponding soft decision bit of the processed encoded page burst to produce a plurality of comparisons.
3. The wireless terminal of claim 1 , wherein the null page pattern and the processed encoded paging burst each comprise a plurality of soft decision bits.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the encoded paging burst includes at least equalizing the additional encoded paging burst to produce a plurality of soft decision bits.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprises, when the number of comparisons does not exceed the comparison threshold, determining that that the wireless terminal has been paged.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the processed encoded paging burst and the null page pattern meet a similarity threshold when the additional encoded paging burst is a null page.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the sleep mode period ranges between about 0.5 second to about 2.0 seconds.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless terminal awakens from the sleep mode at the expiration of a sleep mode period to receive as least one paging burst.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless terminal operates according to the GSM standard.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the encoded paging burst to produce a null page pattern comprises:
determining an encoding process employed by the servicing base station for the paging burst; and
re-encoding the decoded paging burst using a determined encoding process to produce the null page pattern.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the encoded paging burst to produce a null page pattern comprises:
equalizing the encoded paging burst to produce a plurality of soft decisions;
generating a bit pattern based upon the plurality of soft decisions; and
using the bit pattern as the null page pattern.
12. A wireless terminal that comprises:
a Radio Frequency (RF) front end;
a baseband processor communicatively coupled to the RF front end;
an enCOder/DECoder (CODEC) processing module communicatively coupled to the baseband processor;
wherein during a first time period, the RF front end, the baseband processor, and the CODEC processing module are operable to:
enter a sleep mode for a sleep mode period;
awaken from the sleep mode period;
receive an encoded paging burst on a paging channel;
decode the encoded paging burst to produce a decoded paging burst, wherein the processed encoded paging burst comprises a plurality of soft decision bits;
compare each bit of a null page pattern to a corresponding soft decision bit of the processed encoded page burst to produce a plurality of comparisons; and
when the number of comparisons exceeds a comparison threshold, determine that the additional encoded paging burst is a null page.
13. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein the RF front end, the baseband processor, and the CODEC processing module are operable to reenter the sleep mode upon determining the encoded paging burst is a null page.
14. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein the CODEC processing module is operable to, when the comparison is unfavorable, decode the processed encoded paging burst.
15. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein in processing the encoded paging burst, the baseband processor is operable to equalize the encoded paging burst to produce a plurality of soft decision bits.
16. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein the baseband processor is operable to, when the comparison is unfavorable, assume that the wireless terminal has been paged.
17. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein the baseband processor is operable to determine that the comparison is favorable when the processed encoded paging burst and the null page pattern meet a similarity threshold.
18. The wireless terminal of claim 12 , wherein the sleep mode period ranges between about 0.5 second to about 2.0 seconds.
19. The wireless terminal of claim 12 wherein the null page pattern and the processed encoded paging burst each comprise a plurality of soft decision bits.
20. The wireless terminal of claim 19 , wherein:
the baseband processor is operable to compare each soft decision bit of the null page pattern to a corresponding soft decision bit of the processed encoded page burst to produce a plurality of comparisons; and
when the number of comparisons exceeds a comparison threshold, the baseband processor is operable to determine that the additional encoded paging burst is a null page.
21. A wireless terminal that comprises:
a Radio Frequency (RF) front end;
a baseband processor communicatively coupled to the RF front end;
wherein during a first time period, the RF front end and the baseband processor are operable to:
produce a null page pattern; and
enter a sleep mode for a sleep mode period; and
awaken from the sleep mode to receive an encoded paging burst on the paging channel;
process the encoded paging burst to produce a processed encoded paging burst;
compare each bit of the null page pattern to a corresponding soft decision bit of the processed encoded page burst to produce a plurality of comparisons; and
when the number of comparisons exceeds a comparison threshold, the baseband processor is operable to determine that the additional encoded paging burst is a null page.