Deactivating Elevated Priority Public Data Network Connections In User Equipment

• US 20140349602A1
• Filed: 05/30/2013
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Majumdar, Soma, Chimakurthi, Lakshmi Siva Koteswararao
• Granted Patent: US 9,282,579 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A user equipment establishes an elevated priority data connection and one or more non-elevated priority data connections. The elevated priority data connection may be an emergency public data network (PDN) connection. The user equipment may determine that one or more deactivation criteria for the emergency PDN connection is satisfied while the emergency PDN connection and at least one non-emergency PDN connection of the user equipment are active. Deactivation criteria may include expiration of a Periodic Tracking Area Update timer. In response, the user equipment may locally deactivate the emergency PDN connection and send a deactivation indication to the operator network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

in a user equipment;

establishing a non-elevated priority data connection;

establishing an elevated priority data connection;

identifying a deactivation criterion for deactivating the elevated priority data connection;

determining that the deactivation criterion is satisfied; and

when the elevated and non-elevated priority data connections are active upon determining the deactivation criterion is satisfied;

deactivating the elevated priority data connection.

2. The method of claim 1, where deactivating the elevated priority data connection comprises:

locally deactivating the elevated priority data connection in the user equipment.

3. The method of claim 2, where locally deactivating the elevated priority data connection in the user equipment comprises:

removing a data entry associated with the elevated priory data connection from a connection data structure maintained by the user equipment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a deactivation indication for the elevated priority data connection to an operator network after deactivating the elevated priority data connection.

5. The method of claim 4, where sending the deactivation indication comprises:

initiating a registration procedure with the network operator indicating that the elevated priority data connection has been locally deactivated.

6. The method of claim 1, where determining that the deactivation criterion is satisfied comprises:

obtaining a periodic timing value from an operator network; and

determining that a timer maintained according to the periodic timing value has expired.

7. The method of claim 1, where determining that the deactivation criterion is satisfied comprises:

determining that a threshold time has elapsed since establishing of the elevated priority data connection.

8. The method of claim 1, where determining that the deactivation criterion is satisfied comprises:

determining that a threshold time has elapsed since a voice call was performed over the elevated priority data connection.

9. The method of claim 1, where determining that the deactivation criterion is satisfied comprises:

determining that the elevated priority data connection has been inactive for longer than an inactivity time threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, where the elevated priority data connection comprises an emergency data connection.

11. A device comprising:

a memory storing a deactivation criterion; and

system logic in communication with the memory, the system logic configured to;

read the deactivation criterion from the memory;

establish a non-elevated priority data connection with the operator network;

establish an elevated priority data connection with an operator network;

determine that the deactivation criterion is satisfied while the elevated and non-elevated priority data connections are active, and in response;

deactivate the elevate priority data connection while maintaining the non-elevated priority data connection.

12. The device of claim 11, where the system logic is configured to deactivate the elevate priority data connection while maintaining the non-elevated priority data connection by:

locally deactivating the elevated priority data connection in the user equipment; and

communicating to the operator network that the elevated priority data connection has been deactivated and that the non-elevated priority data connection has not been deactivated.

13. The device of claim 11, where the deactivation criterion is satisfied when a threshold time has elapsed since the elevated priority data connection was established.

14. The device of claim 11, where the deactivation criterion is satisfied when the elevated priority data connection has been inactive for longer than an inactivity time threshold

15. The device of claim 11, where the deactivation criterion is satisfied when a periodic timer expires, the periodic timer maintained according to a periodic timing value obtained from the operator network.

16. A device comprising:

a communication interface; and

system logic in communication with the communication interface, the system logic configured to;

obtain a periodic timer value from an operator network through the communication interface;

establish an emergency public data network (PDN) connection with the operator network through the communication interface;

maintain a timer based on the period timer value obtained from the operator network;

determine that the emergency PDN connection and at least one non-emergency PDN connection are active upon expiration of the timer, and in response;

locally deactivate the emergency PDN connection; and

send an deactivation indication to the operator network that the emergency PDN has been locally deactivated.

17. The device of claim 16, where the system logic is configured to send the deactivation notification by:

sending a periodic tracking area request message to the operator network.

18. The device of claim 17, where the periodic tracking area update request message indicates the emergency PDN connection is inactive and that the at least one non-emergency PDN connection is active.

19. The device of claim 16, where the system logic is configured to send the deactivation indication to the operator network by:

establishing a non-emergency connection with the operator network to send the deactivation indication.

20. The device of claim 16, where the system logic is configured to send the deactivation indication to allow the operator network to synchronize deactivation of the emergency PDN connection on the operator network.