Apparatus and method for data transmission in a wireless communications network

• US 7,907,938 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Issued: 03/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Brok, Jacco
• Primary Examiner(s): MIZRAHI, DIANE D
• Application Number:
  US11/514,739
• Publication Number:
  US 20080056225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,657 Days
• Field of Search: 455/450, 455/411, 455/419, 455/432, 455/433, 455/502, 455/412.1, 370/252, 370/311, 370/335, 370/338, 709/220, 713/151, 713/169, 713/201
• US Class Current: 455/412.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/10 Flow control between communication endpoints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Non-urgent data messages of an IP based application hosted by a cellular device are only transmitted when a predetermined condition is met. A data message may be: a presence report; a check for new email sent by an email client to a server; and a keep-alive message sent to a server, but this is not an exhaustive list of the relevant types of data message. The predetermined condition, may, for example, be met when the first of the following occurs: the airlink is open; a maximum delay time has elapsed; a store for non-urgent messages is full; and a maximum number of messages is stored. The invention reduces the number of times when the airlink is open, thus preventing the 3 to 10 seconds additional open time for each occurrence. This saves battery life for the cellular device. The invention is also applicable to other types of messaging in which small data messages are periodically transmitted over an airlink.

Claims

1. A method of data transmission across an airlink in a wireless communications network, including:

a device providing a data message for transmission by a transmitter;

a processor designating the urgency of the message; and

, when the message is designated as non-urgent, storing the message in a store until a predetermined condition is met, whereupon the message is transmitted by the transmitter.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data message is associated with an Internet Protocol application.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including:

monitoring the airlink to determine when the airlink is open, and arranging for a non-urgent data message to be transmitted by the transmitter only when the airlink is open.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein monitoring the airlink is carried out by an application to determine when to transmit messages of the application.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that the airlink is open.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that a maximum delay time has elapsed.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein a non-urgent data message is associated with an application and the application marks the message with a maximum allowed delay time.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a non-urgent data message is associated with an application and the application marks the message to designate the urgency of the message.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that the store for storing non-urgent data messages is full.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that a maximum number of non-urgent messages is held in the store.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when the predetermined condition is met, all the stored messages in the store are transmitted by the transmitter.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is met when the first of the following occurs:

the airlink is open;

a maximum delay time has elapsed;

the store for non-urgent messages is full; and

a maximum number of messages is stored.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of a plurality of data messages is associated with a respective predetermined condition.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data message is one of;

a presence report;

a check for new email sent by an email client to a server; and

a keep-alive message sent to a server.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a message is deemed to be non-urgent when the message is included in a particular class of messages.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including determining the urgency of data messages associated with an application and intended to be sent at intervals over a period of time.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data message is for transmission by a cellular device.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data message is for transmission by a battery-powered device.