State synchronization of access routers

• US 9,313,784 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2013
• Issued: 04/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Corson, Mathew Scott, Tsirtsis, Georgios, Park, Vincent Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, MAHENDRA R
• Application Number:
  US13/777,458
• Publication Number:
  US 20130208709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,141 Days
• Field of Search: 455/67.11, 455/534, 455/432.1, 455/524, 455/502, 370/338, 370/331, 370/312, 370/401, 370/468, 370/404
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 a state change synchronization with multi-party handshake, the method comprising:

sending, from a wireless terminal, a first message to a first access router, wherein the first message includes a first indicator that identifies the first access router and a second indicator that identifies a second access router; and

receiving, at the wireless terminal, an acknowledgment of the first message from the second access router,

wherein the wireless terminal is an end node, and

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the wireless terminal, and the first message indicates that there is the state change.

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

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

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the state of the wireless terminal is at least one of a condition of a link between the wireless terminal and the first access router, 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, by the wireless terminal, whether a pre-defined period has elapsed before the acknowledgment of the first message is received; and

resending, from the wireless terminal, the first message to the first access router if the pre-defined period has elapsed before the acknowledgment is received.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first 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, and

wherein the second 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 the first message comprises sending the first message over an air link.

49. The method of claim 1, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless terminal can communicate without a handoff.

8. An apparatus that facilitates a state synchronization among a plurality of access routers, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to transmit a communication to a first access router, wherein the communication includes a first address of a first access router and a second address of a second access router; and

a receiver configured to receive a completion message from the second access router,

wherein the apparatus a wireless terminal which is an end node, and

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the apparatus, and the communication indicates that there is the state change.

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

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a monitor configured to determine whether a specified period has elapsed before the completion message is received,

wherein the processor is configured to send a second communication to the first access router if the specified period has elapsed before the completion message is received,

wherein the second communication indicates that there is the state change.

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

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the communication in response to a notification of the state change received from the first access router.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to include an address of the apparatus in the communication.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the completion message is an acknowledgment of the communication indicating that the first and second access routers have been updated with state change information of the wireless terminal.

50. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among the plurality of access routers with which the apparatus can communicate without a handoff.

15. An apparatus for a state change synchronization, the apparatus comprising:

means for conveying a first message to a first access router, wherein the first message includes a first address of the first access router and a second address of a second access router; and

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

wherein the apparatus is a wireless terminal which is an end node, and

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the apparatus, and the first message indicates that there is the state change.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for receiving a notification of the state change from the first access router prior to conveying the first message to the first access router.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for transmitting a state of the apparatus 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,

wherein the second message indicates that there is the state change.

51. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the apparatus can communicate without a handoff.

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

communicating, from a wireless terminal, a message to a first access router, wherein the message includes a state change of the wireless terminal, a first address of the first access router, and a second address of a second access router; and

receiving, at the wireless terminal, an acknowledgment of the message from the second access router,

wherein the wireless terminal is an end node.

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

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

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, from the wireless terminal, a second message to the first access router, wherein the second message includes the state change of the wireless terminal, the first address of the first access router, and the second address of the second access router.

52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among the plurality of access routers with which the wireless terminal can communicate without a handoff.

53. The processor of claim 23, claim 20, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among the plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.

23. A processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for communicating a state change to a plurality of access routers, wherein the instructions comprise:

conveying a message to a first access router, wherein the message includes a first address of the first access router, a second address of a second access router, and a return address of a wireless device, and

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

wherein the processor is a processor of the wireless device which is an end node, and

wherein the state change is a change in a state of the wireless device, and the message to the first access router indicates that there is the state change.

24. The processor of claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprise 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 comprise:

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, wherein the second message includes 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, the method comprising:

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

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

wherein the wireless device is an end node,

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the wireless device, and the message received from the wireless device indicates that there is the state change, and

wherein the subset of the message routed to the second and/or the third access router includes the second address and/or the third address.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising sending a state change notification to the wireless device, wherein 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, at the first access router, the first address from the message before routing the subset of the message to the second access router such that the subset of the message comprises the message with the first address removed.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising appending the message with a state of the wireless device before sending the subset of the message routed to the second and/or to the third access router such that the subset of the message includes the state of the wireless device.

54. The method of claim 26, wherein the first access router, the second access router and the third access router are among the plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for a state synchronization between a plurality of access routers utilizing multi-party handshake, wherein the instructions comprise:

accepting, at a first access router, a communication from a wireless terminal, wherein the communication includes a wireless terminal address, a first indicator that identifies the first access router, a second indicator that identifies a second access router, and a third indicator that identifies a third access router; and

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

wherein the wireless terminal is an end node,

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the wireless terminal, and the communication accepted from the wireless terminal indicates that there is the state change, and

wherein the subset of the message transmitted to the second access router includes the state of the wireless terminal and the second and third indicators.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the instructions further comprise removing the first indicator, at the first access router, from the communication prior to transmitting the subset of the communication to the second access router.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the instructions further comprise conveying a state change notification to the wireless terminal, wherein the communication is accepted in response to the conveyed state change notification.

55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the first access router, the second access router and the third access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless terminal can communicate without a handoff.

33. A processor that executes computer-executable instructions for a state change synchronization, wherein the instructions comprise:

receiving a message from a wireless terminal, wherein the message includes a first address of a first access router, a second address of a second access router, and a third address of a third access router; and

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

wherein the wireless terminal is an end node,

wherein the processor is a processor of the first access router,

wherein a state change is a change in a state of the wireless terminal, and the message received from the wireless terminal indicates that there is the state change, and

wherein the subset of the message conveyed to the second access router includes the second and third addresses.

34. The processor of claim 33, wherein the instructions further comprise notifying the wireless terminal of the state change, and the message is received in response to the notification.

35. The processor of claim 34, wherein the instructions further comprise:

storing the state change in a retrievable format; and

applying the stored state change during a subsequent communication.

36. The processor of claim 33, wherein the instructions further comprise:

removing the first address from the message; and

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

56. The processor of claim 33, wherein the first access router, the second access router and the third access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless terminal can communicate without a handoff.

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

a processor configured to receive a communication from a previous access router, wherein the communication includes a state of a wireless device, a first address of a first access router, and a second address of a second access router;

a memory configured to store information related to the state of the wireless device; and

a transmitter configured to transmit at least a portion of the communication to the second access router,

wherein the wireless device is an end node,

wherein the apparatus is the first access router, and

wherein the portion of the communication transmitted to the second access router includes the second address and the state of the wireless device.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising a modifier configured to mark the first address of the first access router as synchronized prior to the portion of the communication being transmitted to the second access router.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the information stored is a change to the state of the wireless device.

57. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for state synchronization among access routers, wherein the instructions comprise:

acquiring a communication at a first access router from a previous access router, wherein the communication includes a first identification of the first access router and a second identification of a second access router, and a state of a wireless device; and

transmitting, from the first access router, at least a subset of the communication to the second access router,

wherein the wireless device is an end node, and

wherein the portion of the communication transmitted to the second access router includes the second identification and the state of the wireless device.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the instructions further comprise storing the state of the wireless device at the first access router.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the instructions further comprise one of removing the first identification from the communication and marking the first identification as synchronized prior to transmitting the subset of the communication.

58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.

43. An apparatus that facilitates a state synchronization of a second access router, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to receive a message that from a first access router, wherein the message includes a wireless device state information of a wireless device;

a memory configured to store the wireless device state information in a retrievable format; and

a transmitter configured to transmit at least a subset of the message to the wireless device as an acknowledgment of a successful receipt of the message,

wherein the wireless device is an end node, and

wherein the apparatus is the second access router.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising a modifier configured to mark as synchronized an address of the second access router included in the message prior to the subset of the message being transmitted to the wireless device.

45. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the second access router in communication with the wireless device.

59. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.

46. A processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for a state synchronization of an access router, wherein the instructions comprise:

accepting, at a second access router, a message from a first access router, wherein the message includes an address of the second access router and a changed state of a wireless device; and

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

wherein the wireless device is an end node, and

wherein the processor is a processor of the second access router.

47. The processor of claim 46, wherein the instructions further comprise modifying the message to mark the address of the second access router as synchronized.

48. The processor of claim 46, wherein the instructions further comprise modifying the message to include an acknowledgment that the message was successfully received at the first access router.

60. The processor of claim 46, wherein the first access router and the second access router are among a plurality of access routers with which the wireless device can communicate without a handoff.