State synchronization of access routers

• US 20070078999A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Park, Vincent, Tsirtsis, George, Corson, M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,066,344 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/27 between access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/12 between location registers or mobility servers

Abstract

Embodiments describe synchronizing access routers with wireless terminal state information. According to an embodiment is a wireless terminal that transmits a message that includes an address for at least two access routers. State change information can optionally be included in the message. According to another embodiment is an access router that receives a state change notification from a wireless device or another access router. The state change notification is updated in the access router. An acknowledgment confirming the updated state change may be sent to the wireless terminal. Dynamic state synchronization is provided with minimal communication with wireless terminal.

Claims

1. A method for state change synchronization with multi-party handshake, comprising:

sending a first message to a first access router, the first message including a first indicator for the first access router and at least a second indicator for at least a second access router; and

receiving an acknowledgment of the first message from the at least a second access router.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving from the first access router, before the sending a first message, a notification of a state change.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising including in the first message a state of a wireless terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the state is at least one of a condition of a link, a terminal identification, a security key, a quality of service configuration, an authorization parameter, and a timer associated with system use.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a pre-defined period has elapsed before the acknowledgment of the first message is received; and

resending the first message if the pre-defined period has elapsed before the acknowledgment is received.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access router is one of a base station;

an access point, a packet data serving node (PDSN), and a gateway general packet radio services (GPRS) support node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein sending a first message is over an air link.

8. An apparatus that facilitates state synchronization of access routers, comprising:

a processor that transmits a communication to a first access router, the communication includes a first address for a first access router and at least a second address for at least a second access router; and

a receiver that receives a completion message from the at least a second access router.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a memory that stores information related to a plurality of access routers in communication with the apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

an indicator that determines whether a specified period has elapsed before the completion message is received, the processor sends a second communication if the specified period has elapsed before the completion message is received.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the communication includes a state of the apparatus.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor transmits the communication in response to a notification received from the first access router.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor includes an address of the apparatus in the communication.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the completion message is an acknowledgment of the communication.

15. An apparatus for state change synchronization, comprising:

means for conveying a first message to a first access router, the first message including a first address of the first router address and at least a second address of at least a second access router; and

means for accepting at least a subset of the first message from the second access router.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for receiving a state change notification.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for transmitting a state of the wireless terminal along with the first message.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for including in the first message a return address for the apparatus.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for tracking an expiration of a specified period;

means for determining if the subset of the first message is received from the second access router; and

means for conveying a second message to the first access router if the specified period has expired and the subset of the first message is not received from the second access router.

20. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for updating a plurality of access routers with state change information, the instructions comprising:

communicating a message to a first access router, the message including a state change of a wireless terminal, an address of the first access router, and at least a second address of at least a second access router; and

receiving an acknowledgment of the message from the second access router.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions further comprising including a return address for the wireless terminal in the message.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions further comprising:

monitoring a defined interval until the acknowledgment is received;

identifying an expiration of the message if the defined interval passes before the acknowledgment is received; and

sending a second message to the first access router, the second message including the state change of a wireless terminal, the address of the first access router, and the at least a second address of the at least a second access router.

23. A processor that executes computer-executable instructions for communicating a state change to a plurality of access routers, the instructions comprising:

conveying a message to a first access router, the message including a first address of the first router address, at least a second address of at least a second access router, and a return address for a wireless device, and

acquiring at least a subset of the message from the second access router.

24. The processor of claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprising appending a changed state of the wireless device to the message prior to conveying the message to the first access router.

25. The processor of claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprising:

determining if the subset of the message is acquired before a specified interval has elapsed;

transmitting a second message to the first access router if the specified interval has elapsed, the message including the first address, the second address, and the return address; and

receiving at least a subset of the second message from the second access router.

26. A method for updating a plurality of access routers with terminal state information comprising:

receiving at a first access router a message including a first address for a second access router and at least a second address for at least a third access router; and

routing at least a subset of the message to one of the second and the third access router.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising sending a state change notification to a wireless device, the message received at the first access router is a response to the sent state change notification.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising removing a first access router address from the message before routing the subset of the message to the second access router.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising appending the message with a state of a wireless device before sending the subset of the message to the second access router.

30. An apparatus that facilitates performance consistency of a wireless user device, comprising:

a processor that accepts a message from a wireless user device, the message including a first indicator for a first access router, a second indicator for a second access router, and at least a third indicator for at least a third access router;

a memory that stores information related to a state change of the wireless device; and

a transmitter that transmits at least a subset of the message and the state change to the second access router.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a notifier that notifies the wireless device that a state change has occurred.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising an identifier that identifies the state change of the wireless device.

33. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a modifier that marks the first indicator as synchronized prior to the transmitter transmitting the subset of the message to the second access router.

34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the access router is at least one of a base station;

an access point, a packet data serving node (PDSN), and a gateway general packet radio services (GPRS) support node.

35. An apparatus for synchronizing access routers with wireless terminal state change information, comprising:

means for acquiring a message from a wireless terminal, the message including a first address for a first access router, a second address for a second access router, at least a third address for at least a third access router, and a destination address for the wireless terminal; and

means for communicating at least a subset of the message to the second access router.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for removing the first address for the first access router from the message; and

means for appending a state change of the wireless terminal to the message.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for notifying the wireless terminal of a state change;

means for maintaining the state change for a subsequent communication with the wireless terminal.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the state is one of a terminal identification, a quality of service configuration, an authorization parameter, a timer associated with system use, and a condition of a link.

39. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for state synchronization between a plurality of access routers utilizing multi-party handshake, the instructions comprising:

accepting at a first access router a communication from a wireless terminal, the communication including a wireless terminal address, a first indicator for the first access router, a second indicator for a second access router, and at least a third indicator for a third access router; and

transmitting at least a subset of the communication to the second access router.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprising removing the first indicator from the communication prior to transmitting the communication to the second access router.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprising conveying a state change notification to the wireless terminal, the communication is accepted in response to the conveyed state change notification.

42. A processor that executes computer-executable instructions for state change synchronization, the instructions comprising:

receiving a message, the message including a first address of a first access router, a second address of a second access router, and at least a third address of a third access router; and

conveying at least a subset of the message to the second access router.

43. The processor of claim 42, wherein the instructions further comprising notifying the wireless terminal of a state change, the message received in response to the notification.

44. The processor of claim 43, wherein the instructions further comprising:

storing the state change in a retrievable format;

and applying the stored state change during a subsequent communication.

45. The processor of claim 42, wherein the instructions further comprising:

removing the first address from the message; and

including a state change of the wireless terminal and a destination address for the wireless terminal in the message prior to conveying the message to the second access router.

46. A method for uniformly updating a plurality of access routers with wireless terminal state information, comprising:

receiving a first message at a first access router, the message including a first indicator for the first access router and at least a second indicator for at least a second access router and a state of a wireless terminal; and

sending at least a subset of the first message to the second access router.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the first message including an address of the wireless terminal.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising maintaining the state of the wireless terminal at the first access router.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising marking the first indicator for the first access router as synchronized prior to sending the subset of the first message to the second access router.

50. The method of claim 46, wherein the state of a wireless terminal is at least one of a quality of service configuration, an authorization parameter, a terminal identification, a condition of a link, and a timer associated with system use.

51. The method of claim 46, wherein the access router is one of a base station;

an access point, a packet data serving node (PDSN), and a gateway general packet radio services (GPRS) support node.

52. An apparatus that facilitates state information synchronization between access routers, comprising:

a processor that receives a communication, the communication including a state of a wireless device, a first address for a first access router, and at least a second address for at least a second access router;

a memory that stores information related to the state of the wireless device; and

a transmitter that transmits at least a portion of the communication to the second access router.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, further comprising a modifier that marks the first address for the first access router as synchronized prior to the communication being transmitted to the second access router.

54. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the information stored is a change to the state of the wireless device.

55. An apparatus that facilitates performance consistency of a wireless device, comprising:

means for accepting at a first access router a message from a second access router, the message including a changed state of a wireless device, a first address for the first access router, and at least a second address for at least a third access router; and

means for conveying at least a subset of the message to the third access router.

56. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising:

means for capturing the changed state of the wireless device; and

means for applying the changed state to a subsequent communication with the wireless device.

57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the message further comprising an identifier of the wireless device.

58. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for state synchronization among access routers, the instructions comprising:

acquiring at a first access router a communication, the communication including a first identification of the first access router and a second identification of at least a second access router, and a state of a wireless device; and

transmitting at least a subset of the communication to the second access router.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 58, wherein the instructions further comprising storing the state of the wireless device at the first access router.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 58, wherein the instructions further comprising one of removing the first identification from the communication or marking the first identification as synchronized prior to transmitting the subset of the communication.

61. A processor that executes computer-executable instructions for synchronizing wireless terminal state changes, the instructions comprising:

receiving at a first access router a message that includes a state change for a wireless terminal, a first address for the first access router and at least a second address for at least a second access router; and

transmitting at least a subset of the message to the at least a second access router.

62. The processor of claim 61, wherein the instructions further comprising storing information about the state change in a retrievable format at the first access router, the state change information is included in the subset of the message.

63. A method for updating an access router with wireless terminal state information, comprising:

receiving a message at a first access router, the message including a first access router indicator and a state of a wireless terminal; and

sending an acknowledgment of the first message to the wireless terminal.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising storing the state of the wireless terminal in a storage media of the first access router.

65. The method of claim 63, further comprising:

determining if a second access router indicator is include in the message; and

communicating at least a subset of the message to the second access router if the message includes the second access router indictor, before the sending an acknowledgment.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein the first message is received from a second access router.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein the acknowledgment is a subset of the first message that includes the state of the wireless terminal.

68. The method of claim 63, wherein the state of a wireless terminal is at least one of a terminal identification, a quality of service configuration, an authorization parameter, and a timer associated with system use.

69. The method of claim 63, wherein the access router is one of a base station;

an access point, a packet data serving node (PDSN), and a gateway general packet radio services (GPRS) support node.

70. An apparatus that synchronizes an access router with wireless device state information, comprising:

a processor that receives a message that includes a wireless device state information; and

a memory that stores the wireless device state information in a retrievable format;

a transmitter that transmits at least a subset of the message to the wireless device as an acknowledgment of successful receipt of the message.

71. The apparatus of claim 70, further comprising a modifier that marks as synchronized an address for a first access router included in the message prior to the subset of the message being transmitted to the wireless device.

72. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the message is received at an access router in communication with the wireless device.

73. An apparatus that facilitates synchronization of wireless state information at an access router, comprising:

means for accepting at a first access router a communication from a second access router, the message including an address of the first access router and a state of a wireless device; and

means for transmitting an acknowledgment of the communication to the wireless device.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, further comprising:

means for maintaining the state of the wireless terminal at the first access router; and

means for applying the state of the wireless device during a subsequent communication with the wireless device.

75. The apparatus of claim 73, further comprising means for removing the address of the first access router from the message prior to transmitting the acknowledgment to the wireless device.

76. The apparatus of claim 73, further comprising:

means for determining if the message includes a second address for a third access router; and

means for communicating at least a subset of the message to the third access router.

77. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for providing a uniform wireless terminal user experience, the instructions comprising:

receiving a message at a first access router that includes a first access router address and a state change for a wireless device; and

conveying at least a subset of the message to the wireless device.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the instructions further comprising maintaining a record of the state change in a retrievable format at the first access router.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 78, wherein the instructions further comprising:

receiving a subsequent communication for the wireless device;

retrieving the maintained state change record; and

applying the retrieved state change record to the subsequent communication.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the instructions further comprising appending the subset of the message with an acknowledgment of the received communication.

81. A processor that executes computer-executable instructions for state synchronization of an access router, the instructions comprising:

accepting at a first access router a message that includes an address of the first access router and a changed state for a wireless device; and

outputting to the wireless device at least a subset of the message.

82. The processor of claim 81, wherein the instructions further comprising modifying the message to mark the address of the first access router as synchronized.

83. The processor of claim 81, wherein the instructions further comprising modifying the message to include an acknowledgment that the message was received at the first access router.