APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR ACCESS POINT NAME (APN) BASED CONGESTION CONTROL DURING A PACKET DATA PROTOCOL (PDP) CONTEXT ACTIVATION PROCEDURE

• US 20120170453A1
• Filed: 12/02/2011
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: TIWARI, Kundan
• Granted Patent: US 8,885,468 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 Management of setup rejection or failure

Abstract

A mobile communication device wirelessly connected to a service network with a default Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context active for an Access Point Name (APN) is provided. In the mobile communication device, a wireless module performs wireless transmissions and receptions to and from a service network, and a controller module transmits a request message for activating a secondary PDP context associated with the APN to the service network via the wireless module. Also, the controller module receives a rejection message indicating no resource available or congestion for the APN and a value of a back-off timer from the service network via the wireless module, and retransmits the request message to the service network via the wireless module in response to the value of the back-off timer being zero.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device, wirelessly connected to a service network with a default Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context active for an Access Point Name (APN), comprising:

a wireless module performing wireless transmissions and receptions to and from a service network; and

a controller module transmitting a request message for activating a secondary PDP context associated with the APN to the service network via the wireless module, receiving a rejection message indicating no resource available or congestion for the APN and a value of a back-off timer from the service network via the wireless module, and retransmitting the request message to the service network via the wireless module in response to the value of the back-off timer being zero.

2. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the controller module further, in response to the value of the back-off timer being a deactivation value, does not retransmit the request message or transmit another request message for activating another PDP context associated with the APN until the mobile communication device is powered off or a subscriber identity card coupled to the mobile communication device is replaced or removed.

3. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the controller module further starts the back-off timer with the value, in response to the value of the back-off timer being a non-zero and non-deactivation value, and does not retransmit the request message or transmit another request message for activating another PDP context associated with the APN until the back-off timer is expired or a subscriber identity card coupled to the mobile communication device is replaced or removed.

4. An APN-based congestion control method for a mobile communication device wirelessly connected to a service network with a default PDP context active for an APN, comprising:

transmitting a request message for activating a secondary PDP context associated with the APN to the service network;

receiving a rejection message indicating no resource available or congestion for the APN and a value of a back-off timer from the service network; and

retransmitting the request message to the service network in response to the value of the back-off timer being zero.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising not retransmitting the request message or transmitting another request message for activating another PDP context associated with the APN until the mobile communication device is powered off or a subscriber identity card coupled to the mobile communication device is replaced or removed, in response to the value of the back-off timer being a deactivation value.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising starting the back-off timer with the value, in response to the value of the back-off timer being a non-zero and non-deactivation value, and not retransmitting the request message or transmitting another request message for activating another PDP context associated with the APN until the back-off timer is expired or a subscriber identity card coupled to the mobile communication device is replaced or removed.

7. A mobile communication device, comprising:

a wireless module performing wireless transmissions and receptions to and from a service network; and

a controller module transmitting a first request message for activating a default or secondary PDP context associated with an APN to the service network via the wireless module, starting a back-off timer with a value in response to receiving a rejection message corresponding to the first request message from the service network via the wireless module, receiving a second request message for activating a default or secondary PDP context associated with the APN from the service network via the wireless module when the back-off timer is running, and transmitting a response message corresponding to the second request message to the service network via the wireless module.

8. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the controller module further stops the back-off timer in response to the response message being the first request message retransmitted, and transmits a third request message for activating another default or secondary PDP context associated with the APN to the service network via the wireless module after the back-off timer has been stopped.

9. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the controller module further continues the running of the back-off timer in response to the response message being the first request message retransmitted, and does not proactively initiate any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN until the back-off timer is expired.

10. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the controller module does not initiate any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN in response to the response message being a rejection message comprising a rejection cause.

11. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the rejection cause indicates an unspecified cause, and the rejection message further comprises one or both of the APN and a timer Information Element (IE) indicating the remaining time of the back-off timer.

12. The mobile communication device of claim 11, wherein the service network does not initiate any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN in response to receiving the response message until the remaining time of the back-off timer has elapsed.

13. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the rejection cause indicates that the APN is congested and the back-off timer is still running, and the rejection message further comprises the APN.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising not initiating any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN in response to the response message being a rejection message comprising a rejection cause.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the rejection cause indicates an unspecified cause, and the rejection message further comprises one or both of the APN and a timer Information Element (IE) indicating the remaining time of the back-off timer.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the service network does not initiate any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN in response to receiving the response message until the remaining time of the back-off timer has elapsed.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the rejection cause indicates that the APN is congested and the back-off timer is still running, and the rejection message further comprises the APN.

14. An APN-based congestion control method for a mobile communication device during a PDP context activation procedure, comprising:

transmitting a first request message for activating a default or secondary PDP context associated with an APN to the service network;

starting a back-off timer with a value in response to receiving a rejection message corresponding to the first request message from the service network;

receiving a second request message for activating a default or secondary PDP context associated with the APN from the service network when the back-off timer is running; and

transmitting a response message corresponding to the second request message to the service network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising stopping the back-off timer in response to the response message being the first request message retransmitted, and transmitting a third request message for activating another default or secondary PDP context associated with the APN to the service network via the wireless module after the back-off timer has been stopped.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising continuing the running of the back-off timer in response to the response message being the first request message retransmitted, and not proactively initiating any PDP context activation procedure associated with the APN until the back-off timer is expired.