TITLE Method and apparatus

Some embodiments relate to the release of an apparatus and in particular but not exclusively to the release of a user equipment by a base station.

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as fixed or mobile communication devices, base stations, servers and/or other communication nodes. A communication system and compatible communicating entities typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. For example, the standards, specifications and related protocols can define the manner how various aspects of communication shall be implemented between communicating devices. A communication can be carried on wired or wireless carriers. In a wireless communication system at least a part of communications between stations occurs over a wireless link.

Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMN) such as cellular networks, satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). A wireless system can be divided into cells or other radio coverage or service areas. A radio service area is provided by a station. Radio service areas can overlap, and thus a communication device in an area can typically send signals to and receive signals from more than one station.

A user can access the comm u nication system by means of an appropriate communication device. A communication device of a user is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or terminal. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting arrangement for enabling communications with other parties. Typically a communication device is used for enabling receiving and transmission of communications such as speech and data. In wireless systems a communication device provides a transceiver station that can communicate with another communication device such as e.g. a base station and/or another user equipment. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station , for example a base station, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

An example of communication systems is an architecture that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). This system is often referred to as the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (U MTS) radio-access technology. A further development of the LTE is often referred to as LTE- Advanced. The various development stages of the 3GPP LTE specifications are referred to as releases.

In certain situations, a network may become overloaded. This may occur when an emergency situation occurs or when there are a large number of users at a festival. If a network becomes overloaded, emergency calls or call with a high priority may be dropped or may not be possible to make.

There is provided according to a first aspect a method comprising: receiving at a user equipment in a connected mode a message, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released.

The method may cause said connection to be released. The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The method may comprise determining if there is an on-going emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released.

The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode. A computer program product may be configured to perform the method.

There is provided according to a second aspect a method comprising: causing a message to be sent to a user equipment in a connected mode, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released. The method may cause said connection to be released. The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The method may comprise determining if there is an on-going emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released.

The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode. A computer program product may be configured to perform the method.

There is provided according to a third aspect an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving at a user equipment in a connected mode a message, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released.

The apparatus may cause said connection to be released. The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to further perform: determining if there is an ongoing emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released.

The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode. A user equipment comprising the apparatus

There is provided according to a fourth aspect an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: causing a message to be sent to a user equipment in a connected mode, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released.

The apparatus may cause said connection to be released The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to further perform: determining if there is an ongoing emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released.

The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode. A base station may comprise the apparatus. There is provided according to a fifth aspect an apparatus comprising: means for receiving at a user equipment in a connected mode a message, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released.

The apparatus may comprise means for causing said connection to be released. The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The apparatus may comprise means for determining if there is an on-going emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released.

The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode.

There is provided according to a sixth aspect an apparatus comprising: means for causing a message to be sent to a user equipment in a connected mode, said message being one broadcast message or a paging messaging, said message comprising information indicating that a connection is to be released.

The apparatus may comprise means for causing said connection to be released. The information indicating that a connection may be released may be a command that the connection may be released. The connection to be released may be determined based on the stored information in the user equipment. The information indicating that a connection may be released may comprise information from which it may be determined that said connection may be released. The apparatus may comprise means for determining if there is an on-going emergency or priority call and if not said connection may be caused to be released. The connection may be caused to be released if said user equipment is at least one of having only one or more default bearers, and/or has no dedicated scheduling request and/or had uplink out of synchronisation. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a quality of service indication. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on allocation and/or retention priority information. The connection may be caused to be released in dependence on a presence or absence of an emergency application.

The message may comprise identity information associated with said user equipment. The identity information may comprise at least one of group identity information and individual identity information. The broadcast message may comprise a warning or alert message. The connected mode may comprise a radio resource connected mode.

Reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a network according to some embodiments; Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a mobile communication device according to some embodiments;

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a control apparatus according to some embodiments; and

Figure 4 shows a method of an embodiment.

In the following certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to a wireless or mobile communication system serving mobile communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 to 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

In a wireless communication system mobile communication devices or user equipments (UE) 102, 103, 105 are provided wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. In the Figure 1 example two overlapping access systems or radio service areas of a cellular system 100 and 1 10 and three smaller radio service areas 1 15, 1 17 and 1 19 provided by base stations 106, 107, 1 16, 1 18 and 120 are shown. Each mobile communication device and station may have one or more radio channels open at the same time and may send signals to and/or receive signals from more than one source. It is noted that the radio service area borders or edges are schematically shown for illustration purposes only in Figure 1 . It shall also be understood that the sizes and shapes of radio service areas may vary considerably from the shapes of Figure 1 . A base station site can provide one or more cells. A base station can also provide a plurality of sectors, for example three radio sectors, each sector providing a cell or a subarea of a cell. All sectors within a cell can be served by the same base station.

Base stations are typically controlled by at least one appropriate controller apparatus so as to enable operation thereof and management of mobile communication devices in communication with the base stations. In Figure 1 control apparatus 108 and 109 is shown to control the respective macro level base stations 106 and 107. The control apparatus of a base station can be interconnected with other control entities. The control apparatus is typically provided with memory capacity and at least one data processor. The control apparatus and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units.

In Figure 1 stations 106 and 107 are shown as connected to a wider communications network 1 13 via gateway 1 12. A further gateway function may be provided to connect to another network. The smaller stations 1 16, 1 1 8 and 120 can also be connected to the network 1 13, for example by a separate gateway function and/or via the controllers of the macro level stations. In the example, stations 1 16 and 1 18 are connected via a gateway 1 1 1 whilst station 120 connects via the controller apparatus 108.

A possible mobile comm un ication device for transm itting and retransmitting information blocks towards the stations of the system will now be described in more detail in reference to Figure 2 showing a schematic, partially sectioned view of a communication device 102. Such a communication device is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or terminal. An appropriate mobile communication device may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include a mobile station (MS) such as a mobile phone or what is known as a 'smart phone', a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility, personal data assistant (PDA) provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combinations of these or the like. A mobile communication device may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and so on. Users may thus be offered and provided numerous services via their communication devices. Non-limiting examples of these services include two-way or multi- way calls, data communication or multimedia services or simply an access to a data communications network system, such as the I nternet. Users may also be provided broadcast or multicast data. Non-limiting examples of the content include downloads, television and radio programs, videos, advertisements, various alerts and other information. The mobile device 102 may receive signals over an air interface 207 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 2 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 206. The transceiver apparatus 206 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

A wireless communication device can be provided with a Multiple Input / Multiple Output (MI MO) antenna system. MIMO arrangements as such are known. MIMO systems use multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver along with advanced digital signal processing to improve link quality and capacity. Although not shown in Figures 1 and 2, multiple antennas can be provided, for example at base stations and mobile stations, and the transceiver apparatus 206 of Figure 2 can provide a plurality of antenna ports. More data can be received and/or sent where there are more antenna elements. A station may comprise an array of multiple antennas. Signalling and muting patterns can be associated with Tx antenna numbers or port numbers of MIMO arrangements.

A mobile device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform , including control of access to and comm unications with access systems and other commun ication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204. The user may control the operation of the mobile device by means of a suitable user interface such as key pad 205, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. A display 208, a speaker and a microphone can be also provided. Furthermore, a mobile communication device may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for con necting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto.

Figure 3 shows an example of a control apparatus for a communication system, for example to be coupled to and/or for controlling a station of an access system, such as a base station. In some embodiments base stations comprise a separate control apparatus. In other embodiments the control apparatus can be another network element. The control apparatus 109 can be arranged to provide control on communications in the service area of the system. The control apparatus 109 can be configured to provide control functions in association with generation and communication of request and instructions in view of reception of information blocks, retransmissions and other related information by means of the data processing facility in accordance with certain embodiments described below. For this purpose the control apparatus 109 comprises at least one memory 301 , at least one data processing unit 302, 303 and an input/output interface 304. Via the interface the control apparatus can be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The control apparatus 109 can be configured to execute an appropriate software code to provide the control functions. It shall be appreciated that similar component can be provided in a control apparatus provided elsewhere in the system for controlling reception of sufficient information for decoding of received information blocks.

The communication devices 102, 103, 105 can access the communication system based on various access techniques, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), or wideband CDMA (WCDMA). Other examples include time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and various schemes thereof such as the interleaved frequency division multiple access (I FDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA) and so on.

A n on-limiting example of the recent developments in communication system architectures is the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (U MTS) that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). As explained above, further development of the LTE is referred to as LTE- Advanced. Non-limiting examples of appropriate LTE access nodes are a base station of a cellular system, for example what is known as NodeB (NB) in the vocabulary of the 3GPP specifications. The LTE employs a mobile architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Base stations of such systems are known as evolved or enhanced Node-Bs (eN Bs) and may provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user devices. Other examples of radio access system include those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).

A user equipment may be in a RRC (radio resource control) connected mode or an

RRC idle mode. In the RRC idle mode, the user equipment has no connection with the base station. When the user equipment is in the RRC connected mode, the user equipment will be connected to the base station.

Generally in the idle mode, a UE will not have an RRC connection and thus a base station will have no information about the UE in idle mode. A UE will receive communications for a base station via a paging mechanism or the UE can request RRC connection when it has UL packets in the buffer. In contrast, when the UE is in the RRC connected mode, the cell in which the UE is located is known by the base station and/or network. In the connected mode, the base station and/or network may maintain information about the UE. A UE in the connected mode may be assigned an RNTI (radio network temporary identifier) or other identifier. Increasing numbers of smart phone applications require a user equipment to be kept in the RRC connected mode. Alternatively or additionally, to minimise service activation delay, the user equipment may be kept in the RRC connected mode. When in the RRC connected mode, to provide an always on function, instead of sending the user equipment to the RRC idle mode when there is no outstanding data, the user equipment may be kept in the RRC connected mode but in a discontinuous reception DRX state.

However, situations may occu r when excessive signalling from a l l th e user equipment in the RRC connected state will cause emergency and/or higher priority calls to drop. This excessive traffic may be for example caused by the occurrence of an emergency situation or where there is large number of people together for example at a public festival. On the radio access network RAN side, the RACH (random access channel) may be a bottleneck with the limitations of the RACH (physical random access channel) resources and base station msg3 processing capability.

A msg3 is a layer 3 message which is sent by a user equipment as part of the access procedure. This message may be sent using assigned resources. This message may include identity information such as a cell RNTI.

A base station will reply to the msg3 message with a unique identity for the UE.

For connected user equipment, when there is no data communication for a relatively long time, uplink U L synchronisation may be lost and PUCCH (physical uplink control channel) resources including dedicated scheduling request (D-SR) may be released. When new data arrives in the u plink, contention base RACH is then initiated by the user equipment.

Access class barring ACB may be used to reduce network loading but this is only applied to user equipment in the idle mode. Accordingly, ACB may not block RACH access from a user equipment in the RRC-connected mode. Accordingly, the use of ACB may not help in the significant reduction of the RACH load, particularly when burst traffic from user equipment in a connected mode dominates the traffic.

It has been suggested that an access class barring or a service specific access class barring SSAC be applied to user equipment in the RRC connected mode, in the case of network overload.

In some embodiments, when it is determined that there is excessive signalling from user equipment in the RRC connected mode, a paging message may be used to release a group of user equipment.

In some embodiments, information which will cause the release is provided in the paging message. This information may be a release indication. When the user equipment receives a paging message with the release indication or the like, the user equipment will release the RRC connection. In some embodiments, it may be configurable as to which user equipment use this paging message to provide the release indication.

Alternatively or additionally, the user equipment to be released may be limited to those without the dedicated scheduling request, those in an uplink out of sync situation and/or those only with the default bearer. Alternatively or additionally, any suitable parameter or condition may be used to determine if a user equipment is to be released.

I n an alternative embodiment, a group identity is allocated to a group of user equipment. This group identity may be for example the group RNTI (rad io network temporary identifier). The base station will release the group of user equipment via a paging message scheduled by the PDCCH (packet data control channel) addressed to the group- RNTI. Alternatively or additionally, the base station may release a group of user equipment via a paging message scheduled by the PDCCH and addressed to paging-RNTI. Th e group-RNTI may be put into the paging message. The paging RNTI may be derived from the IMSI of the subscriber to be paged and may be constructed from the node B.

The paging message may be a broadcast message. The U E may check for this paging message in a slot which may be calculated from system information parameters and the I MSI of the UE. Embodiments may use a group communication in order to release a large portion of RRC con nections. These com mu n ications may be mach ine type communications.

Alternatively or additionally, an ETWS (earthquake and tsunami warning system) or a CMAS (commercial mobile alert service) notification or the content of such notification, may be used to release the RRC connection. The earthquake and tsunami warning system is provided for example in Japan. This allows a network operator to provide cell broadcast services which deliver warnings for impending earthquakes and or tsunamis. The warning may be such that not only is the user will warned of the earthquake and tsunami but additionally the broadcast itself will release or cause the release of any RRC connection that the user equipment may have. This may be achieved by the receipt of the warning itself and/or may be achieved by information included with the warning. This may be applied as described above to user equipment in dependence on one or more parameter values and/or conditions.

The earthquake and tsunami warning system is one example of a warning system. The commercial mobile alert system is provided in the US and is sometimes referred to as wireless emergency alert. This system similarly allows the broadcast of alerts from for example the President of the USA, the weather service and the emergency service organisations. The alerts are sent to mobile operators who then broadcast these alerts to their customers using the cell broadcast mechanism. In Europe, an alert system is being developed by the European telecommunications standards Institute ETSI . This will allow for example, a country, to configure their own system to meet their specific requirements.

It should be appreciated that these systems are examples of warning systems and in different countries, different warning systems may be used. It should be appreciated that alternative or additional warning or alert systems may also be provided in addition to the options discussed previously.

In some embodiments, the release indication may only be sent to or applied by user eq ui pment wh ich do not have emergency calls or a priority cal l on goi ng. I n one embodiment this may be controlled by the base station so that the base station only sends messages to those user equipment in the RRC-connected mode which are to be released. In alternative embodiments, the release message may be sent to all user equipment in the RRC connected mode and the user equipment will make the decision as to whether or not it has an on-going emergency call or priority call. If the user equipment does not have such a call, then the connection is released. Otherwise, the connection will be maintained.

In some embodiments, the release indication may be sent on ly to those user equipment which are in the RRC connected mode but have default bearers. Alternatively, the message may be received by the user equipment and the user equipment makes a determination as to whether or not the RRC connection should be released based on whether it has only default bearer or not.

In some embodiments, the user equipment which are selected for the release, in the

RRC connected mode may be dependent on the QCI (quality of service class identifier) bearers. In other words, the RRC connection may be released for all user equipment which do not have the QCI equal to n. By way of example only n may be 1.

Again, this may be controlled by the base station selecting those user equipment with the necessary QCI bearer for release. Alternatively, the message may be received by the user equipment and the user equipment makes a determination as to whether or not the RRC connection should be released.

In some embodiments, the user equipment which are to have their RRC connected state released may be those user equipment with a particular allocation/retention priority. The allocation/retention priority indicates the priority allocation and retention of the service data flow. The allocation/retention priority resolves complexities in demand for network resources. The attention/retention priority may be used to prioritise allocation of resources during bearer establishment and modification. For example, in a congestion situation, an allocation/retention priority which is relatively low may be dropped. In some embodiments, the release indication for RRC connected user equipment may be applicable only to the user equipment having a relatively low allocation/retention priority. In some embodiments, the network may provide this allocation/retention priority to the user equipment during for example radio bearer setup.

In some embodiments, the applicability of the release indication may be for user equipment having or not having certain applications. For example, an RRC connection may be released for all user equipment which do not have a bulletin board service for an emergency situation.

It should be appreciated in that in any of the situations described above, a user equipment may be explicitly identified to release an RRC connection. For example, the base station may include identifying information for a particular user equipment which causes the user equipment to release the connection. This messaging may be specific to each user equipment or a message identifying a group of user equipment may be provided.

Alternatively or additionally, information may be included in the paging message. This information is provided to the user equipment will allow the user equipment to determine whether or not it should release its RRC connection.

In some embodiments, the messaging from the base station will allow a user equipment to determine that it is a candidate for the releasing of the RRC connection. This may be via identity information such as by individual identity information or group identity information and/or by at least one parameter value or condition.

The candidate user equipment may determine if it is to release a connection based on one or more conditions and/or parameter values. This may refer to the state of the RRC connection or a CQI or the like. This information which allows the user equipment to determine if the RRC connection is to be released or not may be provided by the base station or may be stored in the user equipment.

I n some embodi ments, the paging with the release indication may work in dependence on the paging with the group RNTI. For example, it may be scheduled by the PDCCH addressed to the P-RNTI (paging RNTI).

A base station may decide to send paging messages to a certain percentage of user equipment in dependence on the load. A paging message which is already used the disaster situations such as for example

ETWS or CMAS may include a release indication at the same time such that a certain percentage of user equipment are pushed to the idle state to allow emergency and/or high priority calls may get through.

By pushing the user equipment to the idle mode, the existing ACB may be provided for access control. In this way, the need to introduce a complicated ACB for connected mode user equipment may be avoided. In for example disaster situations, RACH resources and/or base station resources for handling msg3 messaging may not be the only bottleneck. In some embodiments, the user equipment is moved from the RRC connected mode to the RRC idle state in a simple manner. In this way, the load on the network may be reduced quickly.

It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the overhead may be reduced as compared to techniques such as sending RRC connection release messages to individual UE. A user equ ipment may monitor the PDCCH for paging in all paging occasions, regardless of whether or not it is in the DRX mode. It may therefore be easier and quicker for the base station to release the user equipment.

Reference is now made to figure 4 which shows a method in an embodiment.

In step S1 , the base station notes an emergency or overload condition. It should be appreciated that the base station may itself judge that there is an emergency or overload condition and/or receive information that there is an overload condition present.

In step S2, the base station determines which user equipment in the RRC connected mode is to be released i.e. put into the RRC idle mode. It should be appreciated that in this step, the base station may identify the specific user equipment which are to be released and/or may identify one or more conditions which if satisfied or not satisfied indicates that the RRC connected mode to be released. By way of example, this may be any one or more of the specific conditions listed previously, that it is a user equipment having only default bearers, user equipment not having a D-SR, user equipment in U L out-of-synch, a user equipment does not having an emergency call or priority call on going, the QCI bearer value, the allocation/retention priority and/or the presence of a particular application.

In some embodiments one or more of these conditions may be identified. The base station may identify the particular user equipment based on one or more of these conditions and/or may merely identify the one or more conditions which need to be satisfied by a user equipment for the RRC connection to be released.

I n step S3, the base station sends a paging message with a release indication information. This release indication information may specifically identify a user equipment or a group of user equipment and that it is to be released. Alternatively or additionally, the release information may include information relating to one or more conditions identified in step S2. In step S4, the user equipment receives the paging message.

In step S5, the user equipment determines that the RRC connected mode is to be released, based on information in the paging message and/or based on the information stored in the UE. Where the release information comprises condition information, the user equipment may check to see whether or not it satisfies the condition for releasing the RRC connected mode or if the RRC connected mode is to be maintained. Where for example there is identity information, the user equipment may determine if that identity information applies to that user equipment (e.g. the user equipment's own identity or a group identity and the user equipment belongs to that group). If the RRC connected mode is to be released, then the RRC connection is released.

I n the alternative, the paging message may be replaced by a warning or alert message.

In some embodiments the releasing of the connection may be performed by the user equipment alone. In some embodiments the releasing of the connection may be performed by the base station alone. In some embodiments the releasing of the connection may be performed by the user equipment in combination with the base station.

An appropriately adapted computer program code product or products may be used for implementing the embodiments, when loaded on an appropriate data processing apparatus, for example for determining geographical boundary based operations and/or other control operations. The program code product for providing the operation may be stored on , provided and embodied by means of an appropriate carrier medium . An appropriate computer program can be embodied on a computer readable record medium. A possibility is to download the program code product via a data network. I n general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the inventions may thus be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments of the invention, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.