System and method for low overhead paging in a wireless communications system

1. A method for operating a communications device, the method comprising:

receiving a compressed paging group (PG) map, wherein the compressed PG map comprises a plurality of indicator bits;

applying a modulo paging rule to a PG identifier (PG_ID) of the communications device, wherein applying the modulo paging rule to the PG_ID comprises dividing the PG_ID by a total number of paging groups to produce a remainder value;

identifying one of the indicator bits in the compressed PG map based on the remainder value, wherein the identified indicator bit is located at a position within the compressed PG map that corresponds to the remainder value; and

initiating a location update if the identified indicator bit of the compressed PG map is not set to a specified value of either zero (0) or one (1).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the paging rule is expressible as PG_ID modulo N,

where N is a number of total paging modulo(X,N) returns an integer remainder of X divided by N.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a type indication that indicates a format of the compressed PG map.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the identified indicator bit of the compressed PG map is set to the specified value, the method further comprises:

sending a response message to a controller, wherein the response message requests a traffic channel; and

notifying a user of the communications device of an incoming call.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the location update comprises:

notifying a controller serving the communications device; and

receiving an updated paging group identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications device is operating in an idle mode, and the method further comprises, waking up to listen for an incoming page.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein waking up comprises turning on a radio receiver.

8. A method for operating a base station operation, the method comprising:

applying a modulo paging rule to a paging group identifier (PG ID) of the base station, wherein applying the modulo paging rule comprises dividing the PG ID by a total number of paging Stoups to obtain a remainder value;

setting one of a plurality of indicator bits in a compressed paging group (PG) map to a specified value of zero (0) or one (1), wherein the set indicator bit is located based on the remainder value; and

broadcasting the compressed PG map to a mobile station, wherein receiving the compressed PG map causes the mobile station to initiate a location update if the set indicator bit is not set to indicate a certain value.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising broadcasting a type field to the mobile station along with the compressed PG map, wherein the type field indicates the total number of paging groups.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the certain value is a one (1) or a zero (0).

11. A base station for providing low overhead paging the base station comprising:

a processor; and

a computer readable medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:

apply a modulo paging rule to a paging group identifier (PG_ID) of the base station, wherein applying the modulo paging rule comprises dividing the PG_ID by a total number of paging groups to obtain a remainder value;

set one of a plurality of indicator bits in a compressed paging group (PG) map to a specified value of zero (0) or one (1), wherein the set indicator bit is located based on the remainder value; and

broadcast the compressed PG map to a plurality of communications devices serviced by the base station, wherein receiving the compressed PG map causes one or more of the plurality of communications devices to initiate a location update if the set indicator bit is not set to indicate a certain value.

12. The base station of claim 11 , wherein the programming further includes instructions to broadcast a type indication specifying the number of paging groups along with the compressed PG map.

13. The base station of claim 12 , wherein the type indication and the compressed PG map are broadcast over a single channel.

14. The base station of claim 12 , wherein the type indication and the compressed PG map are broadcast separate channels.

15. The base station of claim 12 , wherein the type indication and the compressed PG map are broadcast over a primary broadcast channel, a secondary broadcast channel, or both.

16. The base station of claim 12 , wherein the type indication is a three-bit value appended to the compressed PG map.

17. The base station of claim 11 , wherein the modulo paging rule is expressible as:

PG_ID modulo N,

where N is the number of total paging groups, and modulo(X,N) returns an integer remainder of X divided by N.

18. The base station of claim 17 , wherein the set indicator bit is set to a one (1) value.

19. The base station of claim 11 , wherein one or more of the communications devices are serviced by a primary controller, or a secondary controller in a paging group to which the primary controller also belongs.

20. The base station of claim 11 , wherein the certain value is a one (1) or a zero (0).