Base station and communication method for machine to machine communications

Abstract

A base station and method include dividing machine to machine devices into a plurality of groups and paging each group during paging listening windows corresponding to each paging group during a coordinated paging cycle. A machine to machine device wakes up at a coordinated paging cycle selected from a number of coordinated paging cycles and sends uplink data following receipt of the number of coordinated paging cycles corresponding to the reporting period.

1 . A method comprising:
 dividing machine to machine devices into a plurality of groups;   paging each group during paging listening windows corresponding to each paging group during a coordinated paging cycle.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the paging is performed by a controller in a base station of a cell. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the coordinated paging cycle includes 4096 superframes and wherein there are 128 paging groups. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein machine to machine devices are assigned to groups as a function of a machine to machine reporting interval. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein paging includes a page including an ID of a particular machine to machine device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the page includes a report code identifying whether or not the machine to machine device should send an uplink report. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the page report code indicates to send an uplink report when a specified number of paging cycles has been reached corresponding to a reporting interval of the machine to machine device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising:
 receiving an uplink report from a machine to machine device; and 
 forwarding the uplink report to a machine to machine device server. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising paging a machine to machine device with a paging cycle less than the coordinated paging cycle to indicate a downlink message is available to the machine to machine device. 
     
     
         10 . A machine readable storage device having coded stored thereon to cause a machine to implement a method, the method comprising:
 waking up at a coordinated paging cycle selected from a number of coordinated paging cycles; and   sending uplink data following receipt of the number of coordinated paging cycles corresponding to the reporting period.   
     
     
         11 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 10  and wherein the method further comprises receiving a page sent at a group paging offset during each coordinated paging cycle, and wherein the uplink data is sent following a paging offset within the coordinated paging cycle corresponding to one of a plurality of paging groups. 
     
     
         12 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 11  wherein the page includes a machine to machine device ID and a report code. 
     
     
         13 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 12  wherein the uplink data is sent in response to a paging report code instructing the machine to machine device to send a report. 
     
     
         14 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 10  wherein the method further comprises sending a reporting interval from which a coordinated paging cycle is selected. 
     
     
         15 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 10  wherein the method further comprises receiving pages for downlink data at a paging cycle that is shorter than the coordinated paging cycle for uplink data. 
     
     
         16 . The machine readable storage device of  claim 10  and further comprising a a machine to machine device having a processor to execute the code stored on the machine readable storage device. 
     
     
         17 . A system comprising:
 a base station comprising physical layer circuitry to communicate with mobile devices and machine to machine devices within a cell; and   a coordinated paging controller to divide machine to machine devices into a plurality of groups and page each group during paging listening windows corresponding to each paging group during a coordinated paging cycle.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the coordinated paging cycle includes 4096 superframes and wherein there are 128 paging groups. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17  wherein paging includes a page including an ID of a particular machine to machine device and a report code identifying whether or not the machine to machine device should send an uplink report. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the page report code indicates to send an uplink report when a specified number of paging cycles has been reached corresponding to a reporting interval of the machine to machine device. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the page report code is a one bit code. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the coordinated paging controller further receives an uplink report from a machine to machine device and forwards the uplink report to a machine to machine device server. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the coordinated paging controller further pages a machine to machine device with a paging cycle less than the coordinated paging cycle to indicate a downlink message is available to the machine to machine device. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23  wherein a down link page action code is a one bit code. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the base station is an eNB operating in accordance with a 3GPP LTE specification. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the base station is a WiMAX base station operating in accordance with an IEEE 802.16 specification. 
     
     
         27 . A machine to machine device programmed to wake up at a coordinated paging cycle selected from a number of coordinated paging cycles and send uplink data following receipt of the number of coordinated paging cycles corresponding to the reporting period. 
     
     
         28 . The machine to machine device of  claim 27  wherein the machine to machine device is further programmed to receive a page sent at a group paging offset during each coordinated paging cycle and to send the uplink data following a paging offset within the coordinated paging cycle corresponding to one of a plurality of paging groups. 
     
     
         29 . The machine to machine device of  claim 28  wherein that page includes a machine to machine device ID and a report code. 
     
     
         30 . The machine to machine device of  claim 28  wherein the machine to machine device further receives pages for downlink data at a paging cycle that is shorter than the coordinated paging cycle for uplink data.