Granted Patent B2

US 8,098,592 · App. 10/818,102 · Granted Jan 17, 2012

Abstract

Claims (47)

1. A method, comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a mobile switching center of a cellular network, a request for a transfer of a file to a mobile communication device, wherein the request is received over a fundamental channel from the mobile communication device;

initiating, by the mobile switching center, the transfer of the file from a packet network to the mobile communication device through the mobile switching center and a cellular base station of the cellular network;

making one or more determinations of status, for one or more packet network resources that handle the transfer of the file, during the transfer of the file, wherein the one or more packet network resources comprise one or more supplemental channels allocated for the transfer, wherein the transfer of the file is broken up into a plurality of sub-sessions over the one or more supplemental channels;

determining a time interval based on a quality of service level of a user of the mobile communication device;

estimating, at instances of the time interval during the transfer of the file, a time period that remains for the transfer of the file based on the one or more determinations of status;

wherein the step of making the one or more determinations of status comprises the step of:

determining a status for the one or more supplemental channels for the transfer of the file.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains comprises the step of:

estimating the time period that remains for the transfer of the file upon a start of a non-initial sub-session of the plurality of sub-sessions.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains upon the end of the time interval comprises the steps of:

retrieving a stored user preference of the user of the mobile communication device from a mobile subscriber database of the cellular network;

determining the time interval based on the stored user preference.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains comprises the step of:

estimating the time period that remains upon a change in the status for one or more of the one or more packet network resources that handle the transfer of the file.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more determinations of status comprise one or more current determinations of status, wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains comprises the step of:

estimating the time period that remains based on the one or more current determinations of status and one or more prior determinations of status for the one or more packet network resources.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of making the one or more determinations of status comprises the step of:

determining a status for one or more of a radio frequency power for the transfer of the file, a Walsh code for the transfer of the file, and a packet pipe for the transfer of the file.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains comprises the steps of:

performing one or more estimations of time periods for the transfer of the file;

communicating one or more of the one or more estimations of the time periods to the user of the mobile communication device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the step of:

determining an activation status of a time estimation feature for the user of the mobile communication device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

estimating a total time period for the transfer of the file based on a transmission size of the file.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of estimating the time period that remains comprises the step of:

estimating the time period that remains based on the one or more determinations of status and a transmission size that remains for the transfer of the file.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a mobile switching center of a cellular network that initiates a transfer of a file from a packet network, through the mobile switching center and a cellular base station of the cellular network, to a mobile communication device;

wherein the file is requested by a user of the mobile communication device over a fundamental channel;

wherein the mobile switching center makes one or more determinations of status for one or more packet network resources that handle the transfer of the file, during the transfer of the file;

wherein the one or more packet network resources comprise one or more supplemental channels allocated for the transfer;

wherein the one or more determinations of status comprise a determination of status for the one or more supplemental channels for the transfer of the file;

wherein the transfer of the file is broken up into a plurality of sub-sessions over the one or more supplemental channels;

wherein the mobile switching center determines a time interval based on a quality of service level of the user of the mobile communication device;

wherein the mobile switching center estimates a time period that remains for the transfer of the file based on the one or more determinations of status at instances of the time interval during the transfer of the file.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the mobile switching center estimates the time period that remains upon a change in the status for one or more of the one or more packet network resources.

13. An article, comprising:

one or more computer-readable signal-bearing media;

means in the one or more media for receiving, by a mobile switching center of a cellular network, a request for a transfer of a file to a mobile communication device, wherein the request is received over a fundamental channel from the mobile communication device;

means in the one or more media for initiating, by the mobile switching center, the transfer of the file from a packet network to the mobile communication device through the mobile switching center and a cellular base station of the cellular network;

means in the one or more media for making one or more determinations of status, for one or more packet network resources that handle the transfer of the file, during the transfer of the file, wherein the one or more packet network resources comprise one or more supplemental channels allocated for the transfer, wherein the transfer of the file is broken up into a plurality of sub-sessions over the one or more supplemental channels; and

means in the one or more media for determining a time interval based on a quality of service level of a user of the mobile communication device;

means in the one or more media for estimating, at instances of the time interval during the transfer of the file, a time period that remains for the transfer of the file based on the one or more determinations of status;

wherein the means in the one or more media for making the one or more determinations of status comprises:

means in the one or more media for determining a status for the one or more supplemental channels for the transfer of the file.

Assignments (11)