Method and system for reducing the size of a paging zone in a broadband wireless network

1. A method for reducing a paging zone for a mobile station in a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system including a plurality of base stations capable of supporting a plurality of application types, the method comprising:

determining a radius of the paging zone;

receiving a location update for the mobile station;

receiving a call setup request for the mobile station, the call setup request associated with an application type; and

reducing the radius of the paging zone,

wherein the step of reducing the radius of the paging zone is determined by the following parameters: the application type, a speed of the mobile station and an amount of time elapsed since receiving the location update,

wherein the step of reducing the radius of the paging zone further comprises:

assigning a multiplier function to each supported application type, the multiplier function a function of normalized time;

multiplying the radius of the paging zone by the multiplier function assigned to the application type associated with the call setup request; and

determining the reduced radius at the time elapsed since receiving the location update.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supported application types include delay sensitive applications, delay neutral applications, and delay tolerant applications.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiplier function includes at least one of a unitary multiplier function, a linear multiplier function, a gradual multiplier function and a slow multiplier function.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a delay sensitive application is assigned a unitary multiplier function.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein a delay neutral application is assigned one of a linear multiplier function and a slow multiplier function.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein a delay tolerant application is assigned a slow multiplier function.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein time is normalized by an average amount of time elapsed between location updates.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location update is received from the mobile station responsive to the mobile station moving outside of the paging zone.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a page to the mobile station using all base stations located within the reduced paging zone.

10. A network controller for use in a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system including a plurality of base stations capable of supporting a plurality of application types, the network controller comprising:

a communication interface operable to:

receive a location update for the mobile station; and

receive a call setup request for the mobile station, the call setup request associated with an application type; and

a processor electrically coupled to the communication interface, the processor operable to:

determine a radius of a paging zone for a mobile station; and

reduce the radius of the paging zone,

wherein the step of reducing the radius of the paging zone is determined by the following parameters: the application type, a speed of the mobile station and an amount of time elapsed since receiving the location update,

wherein the processor reduces the radius of the paging zone by:

assigning a multiplier function to each supported application type, the multiplier function a function of normalized time;

multiplying the radius of the paging zone by the multiplier function assigned to the application type associated with the call setup request; and

determining the reduced radius at the time elapsed since receiving the location update.

11. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein a delay sensitive application is assigned a unitary multiplier function.

12. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein a delay neutral application is assigned one of a linear multiplier function and a slow multiplier function.

13. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein a delay tolerant application is assigned a slow multiplier function.

14. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein time is normalized by an average amount of time elapsed between location updates.

15. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein the communication interface receives the location update for the mobile station responsive to the mobile station moving outside of the paging zone.

16. The network controller of claim 10 , wherein the communication interface is further operable to send a page to the mobile station using all base stations located within the reduced paging zone.

17. A wireless communication system comprising:

at least one mobile station;

a plurality of base stations, each base station capable of supporting a plurality of application types for the at least one mobile station; and

a network controller electrically connected to the plurality of base stations, the network controller operable to:

determine a first radius of a paging zone;

receive a location update from the mobile station;

receive a call setup request for the mobile station, the call setup request associated with an application type; and

reduce the radius of the paging zone,

wherein the step of reducing the radius of the paging zone is determined by the following parameters: the application type, a speed of the mobile station and an amount of time elapsed since receiving the location update,

wherein the network controller reduces the radius of the paging zone by:

assigning a multiplier function to each supported application type, the multiplier function a function of normalized time;

multiplying the radius of the paging zone by the multiplier function assigned to the application type associated with the call setup request; and

determining the reduced radius at the time elapsed since receiving the location update.