Flow control buffering
View Patent ↗A method and system for improved buffering during a flow control event, the system comprising: a mobile station having a mobile timer; a radio network communicating wirelessly with the mobile station and including: a base station; and a packet control function (PCF) capable of interrupting the flow of data to the wireless device during the flow control event; a packet data serving node (PDSN) communicating with the PCF and having a buffer to store data received for the mobile station during the flow control event, the buffer having a buffer timer; and a push function communicating with the PDSN and having a retry timer to indicate when to resend an unacknowledged packet; wherein the system coordinates the buffer timer with either the mobile timer or the retry timer to eliminate redundant messages.
1. A method of improved buffering during a flow control event in a network having a mobile station and a packet data serving node ‘PDSN’ having a buffer, comprising:
receiving packets at the PDSN;
buffering the received packets at the PDSN;
receiving at the PDSN a control message comprising a timer value from a push function in the network or the mobile station; and
setting a buffer timer of the buffer in the PDSN with the timer value, wherein, during a flow control event, packets older than the set value are discarded.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the buffer timer occurs at an establishment of a point to point protocol session or at a change in a point to point protocol session.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control message further comprises a value for a maximum number of packets that can be transmitted before an acknowledgement is received.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises information about an air interface used by the mobile station.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises an indication of the mobile station type.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timer value is a mobile timer value received from the mobile station.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timer value is provisioned on the mobile station.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timer value received from the push function.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the buffer timer comprises:
querying a database from the PDSN for a stored timer value; and
setting the timer value with the stored timer value from the database.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the database is part of an authorization and accounting ‘AAA’ database.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the database receives the stored timer value from the push function.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the buffer timer with a timer value comprises:
receiving a flow control event message from a packet control function ‘PCF’ at the PDSN;
forwarding the buffer timer value from the PDSN to the push function; and
setting a retry timer value received from the push function.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein setting a retry timer comprises setting a retry timer value at the push function to a value greater than the buffer timer value.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the setting the retry timer delays the retry timer value based on a type of service for the mobile station.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the setting the retry timer delays the retry timer value based on a processing delay of the mobile station.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the PDSN ignores a flow control timer value received from a packet control function(PCF).
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a buffer indicator from a packet control function (PCF) telling the PDSN not to buffer; and
overriding the message from the PCF if the mobile station tells the PDSN to buffer.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the buffer timer further comprises utilizing a source Internet Protocol ‘IP’ address to adjust the buffer timer.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the buffer timer further comprises utilizing a protocol of a packet to adjust the buffer timer.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the buffer in the PDSN is a rolling buffer.
21. A system for improved buffering during a flow control event, the system comprising:
a mobile station having a mobile timer;
a packet control function ‘PCF’ capable of interrupting the flow of data to the mobile station during the flow control event;
a radio network communicating wirelessly with the mobile station and comprising:
a base station; and
a packet data serving node ‘PDSN’ for receiving a flow control event message from the PCF and having a buffer to store data received for the mobile station during the flow control event, the buffer having a buffer timer; and wherein the system is arranged to set the buffer timer with a timer value included in a control message to the PDSN sent from a push function or the mobile station, to discard packets older than the set timer value during a flow control event.
22. The system of any one of claim 21 , wherein the system further comprises:
a database, the database having retry timer values for a mobile station,
wherein the PDSN is arranged to query the database for the retry timer value and to set the buffer timer to discard data older than the retry timer value from the buffer during a flow control event.
23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the system is arranged to coordinate the buffer timer at establishment of a point to point protocol session.
24. The system of claim 21 , wherein the system is arranged to coordinate the buffer timer by adjusting the buffer timer based on an Internet Protocol ‘IP’ source address of a packet from the push function.
25. The system of claim 21 , wherein the system is arranged to coordinate the buffer timer by adjusting the buffer timer based on a protocol of a packet from the push function.