METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZING ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY

• US 20100322124A1
• Filed: 06/23/2009
• Published: 12/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Lepisto, Eero, Luoma, Kristian, Alakontiola, Jukka, Halla-Aho, Tero
• Granted Patent: US 9,313,800 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/569 of the traffic information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An approach is provided for optimizing energy consumption for wireless always-on connections. A radio management module buffers non-real time data and schedules the transmission of the non-real time data by a wireless device. The module also determines a communication type for carrying the non-real time data and initiates transmission of the non-real time data based on the schedule and the determined communication type.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

buffering non-real time data for transmission over a radio network;

scheduling transmission of the non-real time data by a wireless device;

determining a communication type for carrying the non-real time data; and

initiating transmission of the non-real time data based on the scheduling and the determined communication type.

2. A method of claim 1, wherein the communication type is either a keep-alive message or a payload message.

3. A method of claim 1, wherein the determined communication type is a keep-alive message, and the method further comprising:

delaying transmission of a next keep-alive message after making the determination to carry the non-real time data in the keep-alive message.

4. A method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the non-real time data is scheduled according to an active state of a radio used by the wireless device to communicate over the radio network, and wherein the active state is triggered by transmission of a real-time message unrelated to the non-real time data.

5. A method of claim 2, further comprising:

designating a common keep-alive message to represent a plurality of keep-alive messages corresponding respectively to a plurality of applications;

determining whether data corresponding to one or more of the plurality of applications associated with the common keep-alive message has been transmitted within a maximum time interval for transmitting the common keep-alive message; and

initiating transmission of the common keep-alive message if no data has been transmitted within the maximum time interval.

6. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating transmission of the non-real time data to an application server to occur concurrently with reception of application data from the application server.

7. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

buffer non-real time data for transmission over a radio network,

schedule transmission of the non-real time data by a wireless device,

determine a communication type for carrying the non-real time data, and

initiate transmission of the non-real time data based on the scheduling and the determined communication type.

8. An apparatus of claim 7, wherein the communication type is either a keep-alive message or a payload message

9. An apparatus of claim 7, wherein the determined communication type is a keep-alive message, and the apparatus is further caused to:

delay transmission of a next keep-alive message after making a determination to carry the non-real time data in the keep-alive message.

10. An apparatus of claim 7, wherein the transmission of the non-real time data is scheduled according to an active state of a radio used by the wireless device to communicate over the radio network, and wherein the active state is triggered by transmission of a real-time message unrelated to the non-real time data.

11. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

designate a common keep-alive message to represent a plurality of keep-alive messages corresponding respectively to a plurality of applications;

determine whether data corresponding to one or more of the plurality of applications associated with the common keep-alive message has been transmitted within a maximum time interval for transmitting the common keep-alive message; and

initiate transmission of the common keep-alive message if no data has been transmitted within the maximum time interval.

12. An apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

initiate transmission of the non-real time data to an application server to occur concurrently with reception of application data from the application server.

13. An apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone further comprising:

user interface circuitry and user interface software configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile phone through use of a display and configured to respond to user input; and

a display and display circuitry configured to display at least a portion of a user interface of the mobile phone, the display and display circuitry configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile phone.

14. A method comprising:

receiving a common keep-alive message, the common keep-alive message representing a plurality of keep-alive messages corresponding respectively to a plurality of applications; and

initiating reset of a keep-alive timer corresponding to the plurality of applications based on reception of the common keep-alive message,

wherein the keep-alive timer tracks a maximum time interval between data transmissions to maintain one or more data connections for the plurality of applications associated with the common keep-alive message.

15. A method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving data from one or more of the plurality of applications corresponding to the common keep-alive message; and

initiating reset of the keep-alive timer based on reception of the data.

16. A method of claim 14, wherein one or more of the plurality of applications support transmission of non-real time data, and the method further comprising:

buffering the non-real time data for transmission over a radio network; and

initiating transmission of the non-real time data to the wireless device to occur concurrently with the reception of the data from the wireless device.

17. A method of claim 14, wherein the non-real time data is transmitted according to a predetermined schedule shared with the wireless device.

18. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

receive a common keep-alive message, the common keep-alive message representing a plurality of keep-alive messages corresponding respectively to a plurality of applications, and

initiate reset of a keep-alive timer corresponding to the plurality of applications based on reception of the common keep-alive message,

wherein the keep-alive timer tracks a maximum time interval between data transmissions to maintain one or more data connections for the plurality of applications associated with the common keep-alive message.

19. An apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

receive data from one or more of the plurality of applications corresponding to the common keep-alive message; and

initiate reset of the keep-alive timer based on reception of the data.

20. An apparatus of claim 18, wherein one or more of the plurality of applications support transmission of non-real time data, and the apparatus is further caused to:

buffer the non-real time data for transmission over a radio network; and

initiate transmission of the non-real time data to the wireless device to occur concurrently with the reception of the data from the wireless device.