Electronic devices for receiving pushed data

• US 10,237,823 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2018
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Fiennes, Hugo
• Primary Examiner(s): Akonai, Olumide Ajibade
• Application Number:
  US15/918,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20180206191A1
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3293 by switching to a less power-consuming processor, e.g. sub-CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0241 where no transmission is received, e.g. out of range of the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/38 triggered by timers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Mobile devices such as cellular telephones are provided that communicate with wireless networks. Cellular telephone network equipment may communicate with a cellular telephone over a data connection. The cellular telephone may have an internet protocol (IP) address that allows data to be provided to the cellular telephone over the data connection. To conserve resources and release unused IP addresses, the cellular telephone network equipment may deactivate inactive data connections after a period of inactivity. A baseband processor within a mobile device may periodically send User Datagram Protocol (UDP) keep-alive packets over the data connection to ensure that the data connection remains active. The keep-alive packets may be directed to a packet sink server or may be associated with a black hole route. An applications processor in the telephone may remain in sleep mode during keep-alive packet transmission to conserve power.

Claims

1. An apparatus configurable for operation in a mobile device, the apparatus comprising a baseband processor and an applications processor, the apparatus configured to perform a method comprising steps that include:

by the applications processor;

providing to the baseband processor a timeout value for sending a keep-alive packet to a cellular network;

providing the keep-alive packet to the baseband processor; and

entering a low-power mode,

wherein;

the baseband processor is configured to send the keep-alive packet after the timeout value over a data connection between the mobile device and the cellular network while the applications processor is in the low-power mode, and

the timeout value is based at least in part on a time of at least one previous network interaction between the mobile device and the cellular network.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a timer for sending the keep-alive packet expires when no push data notification is received from the cellular network for at least a continuous time period corresponding to the timeout value.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timeout value is further based at least in part on a level of service for a user of the mobile device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timeout value is further based at least in part on a date and/or a time of day.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timeout value is further based at least in part on network traffic conditions of the cellular network.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the steps further include:

obtaining, by the mobile device from a network server, information regarding the at least one previous network interaction between the mobile device and the cellular network.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the timeout value is further based at least in part on an inactivity timeout value used by the cellular network to deactivate the data connection.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applications processor enters the low-power mode when the applications processor is not actively used.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the keep-alive packet is sent to a network server having an associated Internet Protocol (IP) address.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the associated IP address is determined based on a domain name server (DNS) lookup operation after establishing the data connection.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the keep-alive packet includes the associated IP address of the network server.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein communication of the keep-alive packet over the data connection preserves network resources associated with the data connection.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the network resources comprise an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with mobile device.

14. A mobile device configured to communicate with a cellular network, the mobile device comprising a baseband processor and an applications processor, the baseband processor and the applications processor configured to perform a method comprising steps that include:

by the applications processor;

sending a first keep-alive packet over a data connection between the mobile device and the cellular network while the applications processor is not in a low-power mode;

providing a second keep-alive packet to the baseband processor before entering the low-power mode; and

entering the low-power mode,

wherein;

the baseband processor is configured to send the second keep-alive packet over the data connection between the mobile device and the cellular network while the applications processor is in the low-power mode.

15. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the steps further include:

by the applications processor;

providing to the baseband processor a connection timeout value to use to determine when to send the second keep-alive packet to the cellular network.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the connection timeout value is based at least in part on an inactivity timeout value used by the cellular network to deactivate the data connection.

17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the connection timeout value is based at least in part on when the first keep-alive packet was sent to the cellular network.

18. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the second keep-alive packet comprises a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet.

19. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein:

the second keep-alive packet includes one or more of;

an Internet Protocol (IP) source address,

an IP destination address,

a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) source port number;

or a UDP destination port number; and

the baseband processor is configured to retransmit the second keep-alive packet while the applications processor is in the low-power mode.

20. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the second keep-alive packet is addressed to a packet sink server that discards incoming packets.

21. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the second keep-alive packet is addressed to a router associated with a black hole route.

22. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the baseband processor is configured to retransmit the second keep-alive packet to prevent the cellular network from deactivating the data connection with the mobile device.

23. A mobile device configured to communicate with a cellular network, the mobile device comprising a baseband processor and an applications processor, the baseband processor and the applications processor configured to perform a method comprising steps that include:

by the applications processor;

providing to the baseband processor a timeout value for a timer for sending a keep-alive packet to the cellular network;

providing the keep-alive packet to the baseband processor; and

entering a low-power mode,

wherein;

the baseband processor is configured to send the keep-alive packet after expiration of the timer over a data connection between the mobile device and the cellular network while the applications processor is in the low-power mode, and

the timeout value is based at least in part on a time of at least one previous network interaction between the mobile device and the cellular network.

24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein expiration of the timer occurs when no push data notification is received from the cellular network for at least a continuous time period corresponding to the timeout value.

25. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the timeout value is further based at least in part on an inactivity timeout value used by the cellular network to deactivate the data connection.