Wireless datagram transaction protocol system

• US 6,965,564 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2003
• Issued: 11/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: America Online Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coffman, Stephen Blaine
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mills, Donald L
• Application Number:
  US10/371,335
• Publication Number:
  US 20040160957A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,005 Days
• Field of Search: 370/230, 370/231, 370/235, 370/236.2, 370/277, 370/282, 370/311
• US Class Current: 370/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1809 Selective-repeat protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1832 Details of sliding window management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/187 Details of sliding window management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0222 in packet switched networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems are provided for sequencing, delivery acknowledgement, and throttling of data packets over a network layer, such as UDP and SMS. To support devices with limited battery resources, the invention incorporates asymmetric retry logic and/or acknowledgements with overlapping ranges, to minimize the transmissions required for the device. The sender of a data-bearing frame does not need to wait for a frame to be acknowledged before sending the next, such that many frames can be “in flight” at once.

Claims

1. A datagram protocol system between a device and a server, the device comprising a power source, comprising:

DATA frames having an associated sequence number;

INIT frames exchanged between the device and the server to exchange a starting sequence number and to set a window size for throttling communication of the DATA frames, wherein the device is responsible for sending the first INIT frame to the server;

READY frames exchanged between the device and the server to acknowledge receipt of an INIT frame;

ACK frames having a sequence number which refers to a DATA frame having a matching associated sequence number, an ACK frame sent in response to each DATA frame received;

WINDOW frames having a sequence number, wherein the server sends a WINDOW frame to the device if any DATA frame sent from the server to the device is not ACK'"'"'d within a server ACK time, and wherein the device sends a WINDOW frame to the server if the device outbound window is closed for more than a device WINDOW closed time;

RETRY frames to be sent by a receiver of a sequence of DATA frames to a sender of the sequence of DATA frames, wherein each RETRY frame comprises information regarding a plurality of DATA frames within the sequence of DATA frames, wherein the information comprises an identification of DATA frames within the sequence that need to be resent, and an identification of DATA frames within the sequence that have been received, wherein the server sends a RETRY frame to the device for any of reasons comprising a receipt of a WINDOW frame from the device, and a server time out waiting for a missing DATA from the device, and wherein the device sends a RETRY frame to the server in response to a receipt of a WINDOW, frame from the server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the device is a wireless device.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

RESET frames, comprising a first RESET frame which is sendable from the device to the server, wherein a receipt of the first RESET frame at the server prompts a Stopped State, and a second RESET frame which is sendable from the server to the device upon receipt of the first RESET frame at the server, wherein a receipt of the second RESET frame at the device allows the device to initiate a reset.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an ERROR frame which is sendable from the server to the device to inform the device of a protocol error.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises, a count of sequential DATA frames received immediately prior to the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises a count of sequential DATA frames received immediately after the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises an AT TOP field indicating if there are no sequential DATA frames missed prior to the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the RETRY frames further comprises a sequence number which refers to a DATA frame in a sequence of DATA frames, at least one count of missing frames starting with the sequence number, and at least one count of sequential received frames following the count of missing frames.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the device is any of a portable computer, a portable phone, a personal digital assistant, and an electronic game device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the device and the server communicate over a TDMA based wireless packet network.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the TDMA based wireless packet network is a GPRS wireless network.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the device and the server communicate over a CDMA based wireless packet network.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the CDMA based wireless packet network is a 1xRTT wireless network.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the device is an IEEE 802.11 compliant device.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the device is a BLUETOOTH®

compliant device.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is connected to a local area network.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is connected to a wireless local area network.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is connected to the Internet.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the server comprises a second device.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a comparison of stored energy between the device and the second device.

21. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a determination of power sources for the device and the second device.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a communication of priority between the device and the second device.

23. A datagram protocol system between a device comprising a power source and a server, comprising:

DATA frames comprising data, each of the DATA frames comprising a sequence number associated with the DATA frame;

an acknowledgement ACK frame sent from a receiver of each DATA frame to a sender of the DATA frame, the ACK frame comprising an acknowledgement of receipt of the DATA frame; and

an asymmetrical RETRY logic between the device and the server which minimizes power consumption of the power source, the asymmetrical RETRY logic comprising RETRY frames to be sent by a receiver of a sequence of DATA frames to a sender of the sequence of DATA frames, wherein each RETRY frame comprises information regarding a plurality of DATA frames within the sequence of DATA frames, wherein the information comprises an identification of DATA frames within the sequence that need to be resent, and an identification of DATA frames within the sequence that have been received.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the device is a wireless device.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

WINDOW frames having a sequence number, wherein the server sends a WINDOW frame to the device if any DATA frame sent from the server to the device is not ACK'"'"'d within a server ACK time, and wherein the device sends a WINDOW frame to the server if the device outbound window is closed for more than a device WINDOW closed time.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the RETRY logic comprises RETRY frames to specify the sequence numbers of DATA frames that need to be resent, and to indicate which of the DATA frames have been received, wherein the server sends a RETRY frame to the device for any of reasons comprising a receipt of a WINDOW frame from the device, and a server time out waiting for a missing DATA from the device, and wherein the device sends a RETRY frame to the server only in response to a receipt of a WINDOW frame from the server.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

RESET frames, comprising a first RESET frame which is sendable from the device to the server, wherein a receipt of the first RESET frame at the server prompts a Stopped State, and a second RESET frame which is sendable from the server to the device upon receipt of the first RESET frame at the server, wherein a receipt of the second RESET frame at the device allows the device to initiate a reset.

28. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

an ERROR frame which is sendable from the server to the device to inform the device of a protocol error.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises a count of sequential DATA frames received immediately prior to the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

30. The system of claim 23, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises a count of sequential DATA frames received immediately after the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein each of the ACK frames further comprises an AT TOP field indicating if there are no sequential DATA frames missed prior to the DATA frame corresponding to the acknowledgement sequence number.

32. The system of claim 23, wherein each of the RETRY frames further comprises a sequence number which refers to a DATA frame in a sequence of DATA frames, at least one count of missing frames starting with the sequence number, and at least one count of sequential received frames following the count of missing frames.

33. The system of claim 23, wherein the device is any of a portable computer, a portable phone, a personal digital assistant, and an electronic game device.

34. The system of claim 23, wherein the device and the server communicate over a TDMA based wireless packet network.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the TDMA based wireless packet network is a GPRS wireless network.

36. The system of claim 23, wherein the device and the server communicate over a CDMA based wireless packet network.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the CDMA based wireless packet network is a 1xRTT wireless network.

38. The system of claim 23, wherein the device is an IEEE 802.11 compliant device.

39. The system of claim 23, wherein the device is a BLUETOOTH®

compliant device.

40. The system of claim 23, wherein the server is connected to a local area network.

41. The system of claim 23, wherein the server is connected to a wireless local area network.

42. The system of claim 23, wherein the server is connected to the Internet.

43. The system of claim 23, wherein the server comprises a second device.

44. The system of claim 43, further comprising:

a comparison of stored energy between the device and the second device.

45. The system of claim 43, further comprising:

a determination of power sources for the device and the second device.

46. The system of claim 43, further comprising:

a communication of priority between the device and the second device.

47. An acknowledgement frame associated with sequential DATA frames, the acknowledgement frame sent by a recipient to a sender of one of the sequential DATA frames, the recipient comprising any of a device and a server, the acknowledgement frame comprising:

an acknowledgement sequence number which refers the received DATA frame, the DATA frame having an associated sequence number which matches the acknowledgement sequence number;

a count of sequential DATA frames within the sequence received at the recipient immediately before the DATA frame having the matching sequence number; and

a count of sequential DATA frames within the sequence received at the recipient immediately after the DATA frame having the matching sequence number.

48. The acknowledgement frame of claim 47, further comprising:

an AT TOP field indicating if there are no sequential DATA frames within the sequence missed at the recipient prior to the received DATA frame having the matching sequence number.