Methods and Apparatus for Paging an Inactive UE in a Wireless Network

In case of an UE in an inactive state (RRC disconnected but Core Network connected), the Core Network cannot page the UE because this one is formally connected. The UE is therefore paged at RAN-level. In detail, the first Base Station that receives downlink data or control signalling for the UE, pages the UE. If the UE does not reply, the first Base Station requests second Base Stations to page the UE. If not found the request is enlarged from the second BS to further Base stations and so on until either the UE is found or a maximum number of hops is reached. The Base Stations trace then backwards the information that the UE has been paged until the first BS.