Methods and systems for concurrent paging of mobile users in cellular networks

Abstract

Methods for concurrent paging, in a cellular system having a number of users, where the users are paged to determine a location of each user, are disclosed. The paging from one cell to one of the users occurs within one of a number of time slots. The time slot in which one of the users is paged from one of the cells is a characteristic of that cell and that user. An array encompassing the totality of the characteristics time slots constitutes a search schedule. One method comprises minimizing a characteristic function of paging performance, the function depending on the search schedule and the probability of finding a user in a cell, and, determining, from the minimization of the characteristic function, the search schedule. Two other methods for determining a search schedule, which are more computationally efficient and which reduce the paging cost, the simple heuristic and the conditional probability heuristic, are disclosed.