Method and System for Signaling Release Cause Indication in a UMTS Network

Abstract

A method and system for processing signaling release indication cause between user equipment and a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of: monitoring, at the user equipment, whether a signaling connection release indication should be sent to the wireless network; appending, at the user equipment, a cause for the signaling connection release indication to the signaling connection release indication; sending the appended signaling connection release indication to the wireless network; receiving the signaling connection release indication at the wireless network; and filtering said cause to determine whether to raise an alarm.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a wireless network and from a user equipment (UE), a signaling connection release indication, wherein the signaling connection release indication includes a cause for the signaling connection release indication, wherein the cause indicates an end of packet switched (PS) data session; and   in response to determining that the cause included in the received signaling connection release indication is indicative of a radio resource control (RRC) state or mode transition request, processing, at the wireless network, the received signaling connection release indication.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the RRC state or mode transition request is a transition to a battery efficient state or mode, and the battery efficient state or mode transition is an idle state or mode transition or one of the following RRC Connected states: Cell_FACH, Cell_PCH, or URA_PCH. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving a second signaling connection release indication, wherein the second signaling connection release indication includes a second cause, and the second cause is an abnormal condition.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the abnormal condition is an expiry of a timer at the UE. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the timer is selected from one of the following: an attachment failure timer, a routing area update timer, or a GPRS mobility management (GMM) service request timer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the signaling connection release indication is received on an uplink DCCH using AM Radio Link Control (RLC). 
     
     
         27 . A wireless network node, comprising:
 at least one processor;   one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor, wherein the programming instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:   receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a signaling connection release indication, wherein the signaling connection release indication includes a cause for the signaling connection release indication, wherein the cause indicates an end of packet switched (PS) data session; and   in response to determining that the cause included in the received signaling connection release indication is indicative of a radio resource control (RRC) state or mode transition request, processing, at the wireless network node, the received signaling connection release indication.   
     
     
         28 . The wireless network node of  claim 27 , wherein the RRC state or mode transition request is a transition to a battery efficient state or mode, and the battery efficient state or mode transition is an idle state or mode transition or one of the following RRC Connected states: Cell_FACH, Cell_PCH, or URA_PCH. 
     
     
         29 . The wireless network node of  claim 27 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a second signaling connection release indication, wherein the second signaling connection release indication includes a second cause, and the second cause is an abnormal condition.   
     
     
         30 . The wireless network node of  claim 29 , wherein the abnormal condition is an expiry of a timer at the UE. 
     
     
         31 . The wireless network node of  claim 30 , wherein the timer is selected from one of the following: an attachment failure timer, a routing area update timer, or a GPRS mobility management (GMM) service request timer. 
     
     
         32 . The wireless network node of  claim 27 , wherein the signaling connection release indication is received on an uplink DCCH using AM Radio Link Control (RLC). 
     
     
         33 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause a computer to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, at a wireless network and from a user equipment (UE), a signaling connection release indication, wherein the signaling connection release indication includes a cause for the signaling connection release indication, wherein the cause indicates an end of packet switched (PS) data session; and   in response to determining that the cause included in the received signaling connection release indication is indicative of a radio resource control (RRC) state or mode transition request, processing, at the wireless network, the received signaling connection release indication.   
     
     
         34 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 33 , wherein the RRC state or mode transition request is a transition to a battery efficient state or mode, and the battery efficient state or mode transition is an idle state or mode transition or one of the following RRC Connected states: Cell_FACH, Cell_PCH, or URA_PCH. 
     
     
         35 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 33 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a second signaling connection release indication, wherein the second signaling connection release indication includes a second cause, and the second cause is an abnormal condition.   
     
     
         36 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 35 , wherein the abnormal condition is an expiry of a timer at the UE. 
     
     
         37 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 36 , wherein the timer is selected from one of the following: an attachment failure timer, a routing area update timer, or a GPRS mobility management (GMM) service request timer. 
     
     
         38 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 33 , wherein the signaling connection release indication is received on an uplink DCCH using AM Radio Link Control (RLC).