Method of reducing delay in push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) by predicting need for connection setup
The present invention relates to a method of reducing setup delay for an uplink message from a user terminal (UT) in a delay sensitive service in a radio telecommunications system, such as a push to talk service (PoC), by predicting that delay sensitive data is about to be transmitted, sending, as a response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem (BSS) in order to set up an early uplink radio connection, and transmitting the delay sensitive data via the early uplink connection. There is also provided a user terminal (UT) and a radio telecommunications system.
1. A method of reducing setup delay for an uplink message from a user terminal (UT) in a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) service in a radio telecommunications system, the method comprising:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication the user terminal making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted, the delay sensitive data being push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data;
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and then
transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
wherein the act of predicting comprises recognizing reception of a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) response signal allowing the user to transmit a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message.
2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the connection setup signal is a signal that causes minimal load on the telecommunications system.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the connection setup signal in a GSM/GPRS telecommunications system is a RTCP message.
4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the connection setup signal in a GSM/GPRS telecommunications system is a RTP packet.
5. The method according to claim 4 wherein an RTP payload table of a context field indicates that the RTP packet is a NO_DATA packet.
6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the connection setup signal in a GSM/GPRS telecommunications system is a ICMP packet.
7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising making the prediction prior to the user terminal requesting transmission of the delay sensitive push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the connection set up signal before the delay sensitive data is placed into a sending buffer at a radio layer.
9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection when a PoC button is activated.
10. The method according to claim 9 wherein the PoC button is either a hardware button or a software controlled button.
11. A method of reducing setup delay for an uplink message from a user terminal (UT) in a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) service in a radio telecommunications system, the method comprising:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication the user terminal making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted, the delay sensitive data being push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data;
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and then
transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
wherein the act of predicting comprises recognizing reception of a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) request signal indicating that a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message is addressed to the terminal.
12. A method of reducing setup delay for an uplink message from a user terminal (UT) in a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) service in a radio telecommunications system, the method comprising:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication the user terminal making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted, the delay sensitive data being push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data;
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and then
transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
wherein the act of predicting comprises estimating end of a received push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message.
13. A method of reducing setup delay for an uplink message from a user terminal (UT) in a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) service in a radio telecommunications system, the method comprising:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication the user terminal making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted, the delay sensitive data being push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data;
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and then
transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
wherein the act of predicting comprises making an estimation of probability that the user will reply to a received push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message in each specific situation, the estimation of the reply probability being based on parameters selected from a group of: originating user, numbers of users in a group message, time of day, a setting in the user terminal, position, and a user activity factor.
14. A user terminal for use in a radio telecommunications system, the user terminal comprising:
a communications processor comprising a setup delay reducing function configured to perform the acts of:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication, making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted; and
a transmitter configured to perform acts of:
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and
after sending of the connection setup signal, transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission;
wherein the act of predicting comprises recognizing reception of a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) response signal allowing the user to transmit a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message.
15. The user terminal according to claim 14 wherein the connection setup signal is one of a RTCP message and a RTP packet.
16. The user terminal according to claim 14 wherein the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) function is arranged to trigger the transmission of the connection setup signal prior to the user terminal requesting transmission of the delay sensitive push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) data.
17. A user terminal according to claim 14 , wherein the setup delay reducing function is arranged to send the connection set up signal before the delay sensitive data is placed into a sending buffer at a radio layer.
18. A radio telecommunications system comprising:
at least one user terminal;
a base station subsystem configured to provide a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) service to the at least one user terminal; and
wherein the at least one user terminal comprises:
a communications processor comprising a setup delay reducing function configured to perform the acts of:
sensing an indication of an anticipated push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission from the terminal;
on basis of the sensed indication, making a prediction that delay sensitive data is to be transmitted; and
a transmitter configured to perform acts of:
sending, in response to the prediction, a connection setup signal from the terminal to a basestation subsystem in order to set up an early uplink radio connection for the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission; and
after sending of the connection setup signal, transmitting the delay sensitive data over the early uplink connection in conjunction with the push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmission;
wherein the act of predicting comprises making an estimation of probability that the user will reply to a received push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) message in each specific situation, the estimation of the reply probability being based on parameters selected from a group of: originating user, numbers of users in a group message, time of day, a setting in the user terminal, position, and a user activity factor.
19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the setup delay reducing function is arranged to send the connection set up signal before the delay sensitive data is placed into a sending buffer at a radio layer.