Connection close packet transmission method and apparatus

• US 9,137,748 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Park, Yongseok, Hong, Youngki, Kim, Killyeon
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOM, SHICK C
• Application Number:
  US13/757,232
• Publication Number:
  US 20130201889A1
• Time in Patent Office: 956 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/02 Power saving arrangements in wired systems H04L12/12; signaling of mobile application services, e.g. low battery notifications H04W4/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A connection close-related packet transmission method and apparatus is provided for improving power saving efficiency of a power-constrained mobile terminal. The connection close-related packet transmission method includes establishing a radio connection with a server; determining whether a preconfigured connection close timeout elapses without connection activity after the connection establishment; buffering, when the connection close timeout elapses, a connection close-related packet; and transmitting, when another packet transmission is predicted, the connection-related packet to the server. The connection close-related packet transmission method and apparatus is advantageous in power saving efficiency of a power-constrained mobile terminal.

Claims

1. A connection close-related packet transmission method of a terminal, the method comprising:

establishing a connection with a server;

determining whether a preconfigured connection close timeout elapses after establishing the connection;

buffering, when the preconfigured connection close timeout elapses, a connection close-related packet generated in response to a release of a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection;

transmitting, when a preconfigured buffering timeout elapses without transmission of the connection close-related packet after buffering the connection close-related packet, the buffered connection close-related packet to the server; and

transmitting, when a next packet transmission is predicted, the buffered connection close-related packet to the server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the next packet is a data packet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal comprises a radio communication unit for performing radio communication.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising turning off, when a preconfigured inactivity timeout elapses without data communication through the radio communication unit, power to the radio communication unit.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the preconfigured inactivity timeout is set to a value less than the preconfigured buffering timeout.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, when a number of buffered connection close-related packets is greater than a predetermined threshold value, the buffered connection close-related packets to the server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection is the TCP connection, and the connection close-related packet is TCP Finish (FIN) packet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein transmitting the buffered connection close-related packet comprises transmitting, when a TCP Synchronization (SYN) packet transmission is required for a new connection, the buffered FIN packet.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the connection comprises establishing one of Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection and Security Socket Layer (SSL) connection with the server, and the connection close-related packet is a close notify alert message packet.

10. A connection close-related packet transmission apparatus for mobile communication, the apparatus comprising:

a radio communication unit which establishes a connection with a server;

a connection close timer which determines whether a preconfigured connection close timeout elapses after the connection establishment; and

a control unit which controls to buffer, when the preconfigured connection close timeout elapses, a connection close-related packet generated in response to a release of a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection,

wherein the radio communication unit transmits, when a preconfigured buffering timeout elapses without transmission of the connection close-related packet after buffering the connection close-related packet, the buffered connection close-related packet to the server, and transmits, when a next packet transmission is predicted, the buffered connection close-related packet to the server.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the next packet is a data packet.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control unit turns off, when a preconfigured inactivity timeout elapses without data communication through the radio communication unit, power to the radio communication unit.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the preconfigured inactivity timeout is set to a value less than the preconfigured buffering timeout.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the radio communication unit transmits, when a number of buffered connection close-related packets is greater than a predetermined threshold value, the buffered connection close-related packets to the server.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the connection is the TCP connection, and the connection close-related packet is TCP Finish (FIN) packet.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the radio communication unit transmits, when a TCP Synchronization (SYN) packet transmission is required for a new connection, the buffered FIN packet.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the radio communication unit establishes one of Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection and Security Socket Layer (SSL) connection with the server, and the connection close-related packet is a close notify alert message packet.