1. Field
The present invention relates to communications systems. Specifically, the present invention relates to methods of providing quick pages in a wireless communication system.
2. Background
In a wireless communications system a base station pages a mobile station indicating that a call is pending. The paging signal is transmitted on a separate channel, referred to as a paging channel. While the paging channel may be implemented on a separate carrier frequency, in a spread spectrum system, such as a Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, type system, a unique code is applied to paging messages, thus providing a paging channel.
The base station generates pages in response to instructions received from a Base Station Controller, BSC. In one embodiment, the BSC also instructs the base station to send a Quick Page, QP, signal. The OP signal is transmitted on a separate Quick Page Channel, QPCH. The quick page message may be one bit or may be a message made up of multiple bits.
A problem exists in generating QP messages when a mobile station is in soft handoff. During soft handoff, the BSC instructs those base stations in a neighborhood around the mobile station to transmit a QP message. After sending the QP message, each base station is instructed to page the mobile station. For each base station, the mobile station has an assigned paging slot. The loading of the base stations in the neighborhood may prevent one or all of the base stations from sending the corresponding page during the assigned paging slot. Therefore, there is a need for a method of providing quick pages while a mobile station is in soft handoff.
According to one aspect, in a wireless communication system having a base station controller and a plurality of base stations, a method includes receiving a paging instruction from the base station controller at a base station of the plurality of base stations, the paging instruction specifying a number of paging repetitions; and transmitting a quick paging message to a target recipient of the paging instruction for the number of paging repetitions.
According to another aspect, in a wireless communication system having a base station controller and a plurality of base stations, a base station includes means for receiving a paging instruction from the base station controller at a base station of the plurality of base stations, the paging instruction specifying a number of paging repetitions, and means for transmitting a quick paging message to a target recipient of the paging instruction for the number of paging repetitions. In still another aspect, in a wireless communication system having a base station controller and a plurality of base stations, a mobile station includes a means for receiving a plurality of quick paging messages from the plurality of base stations, a means for receiving a first paging message from a first of the plurality of base stations, a means for receiving a second paging message from a second of the plurality of base stations, and a means for responding to at least one of the first and second paging messages.