Method and apparatus for efficiently maintaining communications connectivity for a plurality of applications

• US 9,525,742 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2012
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Olvera-Hernandex, Ulises, Shah, Yogendra C., Howry, Dolores F., Wang, Peter S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, Jung-Jen
• Application Number:
  US14/125,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20140226562A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,652 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/145 avoiding end of session, e.g. keep-alive, heartbeats, resumption message or wake-up for inactive or interrupted session
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/182 Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy

Abstract

A method and apparatus are described for maintaining communications connectivity for client applications that send keep-alive messages and network applications that send client-alive (i.e., “are you there?”) messages. The client applications may register with a client proxy provided in an operating system (OS) of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and indicate a respective keep-alive message signaling rate. The network applications may register with a network proxy provided in an OS of a network node and indicate a respective client-alive message signaling rate. The client proxy and/or the network proxy may, respectively, register and prioritize keep-alive and/or client-alive message requirements, determine an optimal signaling rate based on the respective keep-alive and/or client-alive message signaling rates, and generate proxy messages, (i.e., an application layer proxy keep-alive message and/or a network layer proxy client-alive message), associated with the keep-alive and/or client-alive messages. The proxy messages may be transmitted at the optimal signaling rate.

Claims

1. A method of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) maintaining communications connectivity for a plurality of applications and reducing unnecessary message transmissions, the method comprising:

providing a client proxy to interface with a plurality of client applications and a first protocol stack, wherein the WTRU contains the plurality of client applications, the client proxy, and the first protocol stack, and wherein each of the client applications sends keep-alive messages at a respective signaling rate;

each of the client applications registering with the client proxy and indicating a respective keep-alive message signaling rate;

the client proxy determining an optimal signaling rate based on the respective keep-alive message signaling rates indicated by the client applications;

the client proxy generating an application layer proxy keep-alive message associated with the client application keep-alive messages;

the client proxy forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack;

the first protocol stack transmitting the application layer proxy keep-alive message at the optimal signaling rate;

providing a network proxy in a network node to interface with a second protocol stack and the client proxy;

the second protocol stack receiving the application layer proxy keep-alive message and forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the network proxy; and

the network proxy managing the re-creation and distribution of the client application keep-alive messages based on information included in the application layer proxy keep-alive message and registration information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the client proxy transforming the application layer proxy keep-alive message into an access stratum (AS) layer message prior to forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the client proxy transforming the application layer proxy keep-alive message into a non-access stratum (NAS) layer message prior to forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first protocol stack receiving a positive acknowledgement (ACK) message indicating that the application layer proxy keep-alive message was received;

the first protocol stack forwarding the ACK message to the client proxy; and

the client proxy forwarding the ACK message to the client applications according to their respective keep-alive message signaling rates.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the client proxy interfaces with at least one of an access stratum (AS) layer and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer of the first protocol stack.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the client proxy embedding additional data into the application layer proxy keep-alive message.

7. A method of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) maintaining communications connectivity for a plurality of applications and reducing unnecessary message transmissions, the method comprising:

providing a client proxy to interface with a plurality of client applications and a first protocol stack, wherein the WTRU contains the plurality of client applications, the client proxy, and the first protocol stack, and wherein each of the client applications send keep-alive messages at a respective signaling rate;

each of the client applications registering with the client proxy and indicating a respective keep-alive message signaling rate;

the client proxy determining an optimal signaling rate based on the respective keep-alive message signaling rates indicated by the client applications, wherein the optimal signaling rate is associated with a greatest common divisor time for time periods or time intervals associated with the respective registered keep-alive message signaling rates of the respective client applications;

the client proxy generating an application layer proxy keep-alive message associated with the client application keep-alive messages;

the client proxy forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack; and

the first protocol stack transmitting the application layer proxy keep-alive message at the optimal signaling rate.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the client proxy transforming the application layer proxy keep-alive message into an access stratum (AS) layer message prior to forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the client proxy transforming the application layer proxy keep-alive message into a non-access stratum (NAS) layer message prior to forwarding the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

the first protocol stack receiving a positive acknowledgement (ACK) message indicating that the application layer proxy keep-alive message was received;

the first protocol stack forwarding the ACK message to the client proxy; and

the client proxy forwarding the ACK message to the client applications according to their respective keep-alive message signaling rates.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the client proxy interfaces with at least one of an access stratum (AS) layer and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer of the first protocol stack.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising the client proxy embedding additional data into the application layer proxy keep-alive message.

13. A method of a network node maintaining communications connectivity for a plurality of application servers and reducing unnecessary message transmissions, the method comprising:

providing a network proxy in the network node to interface with a plurality of application servers and a first protocol stack, wherein each of the application servers send client-alive messages at a respective signaling rate, and wherein the network node contains the network proxy and the first protocol stack;

each of the application servers registering with the network proxy and indicating a respective client-alive message signaling rate;

the network proxy determining an optimal signaling rate based on the respective client-alive message signaling rates indicated by the application servers;

the network proxy generating a network layer proxy client-alive message associated with the application server client-alive messages;

the network proxy forwarding the network layer proxy client-alive message to the first protocol stack;

the first protocol stack transmitting the network layer proxy client-alive message at the optimal signaling rate;

providing a client proxy in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to interface with a second protocol stack and the network proxy;

the second protocol stack receiving the network layer proxy client-alive message and forwarding the network layer proxy client-alive message to the client proxy; and

the client proxy managing the re-creation and distribution of the application server client-alive messages based on information included in the network layer proxy client-alive message and registration information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the network proxy interfaces with at least one of an access stratum (AS) layer and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer of the first protocol stack.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

the network proxy and the client proxy managing a commonly shared downlink proxy client-alive session at an access stratum (AS) or non-access stratum (NAS) layer;

the network proxy translating a specific proxy client-alive message format into an AS or NAS layer message;

the network proxy transmitting the AS or NAS layer message to the client proxy; and

the client proxy translating the AS or NAS layer message back to the specific proxy client-alive message format.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

the network proxy capturing a specific application client-alive message format while registering a network application;

the network proxy translating the specific client-alive message format into an access stratum (AS) or non-access stratum (NAS) layer message;

the network proxy transmitting the AS or NAS layer message to the client proxy; and

the client proxy translating the AS or NAS layer message back to the specific client-alive message format.

17. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:

a first protocol stack; and

a processor including a client proxy configured to interface with a plurality of client applications and the first protocol stack;

wherein each of the client applications are configured to send keep-alive messages at a respective signaling rate, register with the client proxy and indicate a respective keep-alive message signaling rate;

wherein the client proxy is configured to determine an optimal signaling rate based on the respective keep-alive message signaling rates indicated by the client applications;

wherein the client proxy is configured to generate an application layer proxy keep-alive message associated with the client application keep-alive messages, and forward the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the first protocol stack;

wherein the first protocol stack is configured to transmit the application layer proxy keep-alive message at the optimal signaling rate;

wherein a network proxy in a network node is configured to interface with a second protocol stack and the client proxy;

wherein the second protocol stack is configured to receive the application layer proxy keep-alive message and to forward the application layer proxy keep-alive message to the network proxy; and

wherein the network proxy is configured to manage the re-creation and distribution of the client application keep-alive messages based on information included in the application layer proxy keep-alive message and registration information.

18. The WTRU of claim 17, wherein the first protocol stack is configured to receive a positive acknowledgement (ACK) message indicating that the application layer proxy keep-alive message was received, and forward the ACK message to the client proxy, and the client proxy is configured to forward the ACK message to the client applications according to their respective keep-alive message signaling rates.