Session Setup In An Energy-Efficient Cellular Wireless Telecommunications System

Abstract

The present invention provides a random access procedure for establishment of a data connection between a terminal and a SA-cell in an energy-efficient network, such as e.g. a BCG2 network, wherein the total session setup time is shortened. An information request message (IRM) transmission from the mobile terminal is used for selecting the SA-cell that will serve the mobile terminal (i.e. set-up a data session with this SA-cell) and is simultaneously used for performing a ‘contention-free-like’ random-access procedure towards all candidate SA-cells. In this way performing a RACH SA procedure after selecting a SA cell becomes unnecessary, the random access time is shortened and the uplink resources (at the selected SA-cell) and the uplink transmissions from the terminal are more effectively used.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . In a telecommunication system comprising a decision unit, a LA-cell, a plurality of SA-cells and a terminal, a method for facilitating establishment of a data connection between the terminal and at least one of the plurality of the SA-cells, the method comprising:
 while the terminal is in an idle mode and is camping on the LA-cell:   establishing a signaling connection between the terminal and the LA-cell;   transmitting configuration data from the LA-cell to the terminal via the signaling connection;   transmitting the configuration data from the LA-cell to the plurality of SA-cells;   broadcasting a signal from the terminal in accordance with the configuration data;   determining in each of the plurality of SA-cells one or more properties of the signal, the properties being indicative of propagation conditions between the terminal and each of the plurality of SA-cells; and   providing a report to the decision unit from each of the plurality of SA-cells, the report comprising data indicative of at least a portion of the determined properties.