Method and apparatus to facilitate download scheduling

1. A method comprising:

at a mobile station:

receiving a first transmission from a remote source comprising information regarding downloadable content, wherein the information comprises:

addresses that can be used to download corresponding selections of downloadable content; and

characterizing information regarding at least some of the selections of downloadable content;

accessing locally developed information regarding downloading constraints;

determining when to automatically download only a portion of at least one of the selections of downloadable content as a function, at least in part, of both the characterizing information and the locally developed information such that power consumption experienced due to downloading the downloadable content is intentionally and automatically managed while simultaneously tending to ensure that downloadable content is downloaded and available for use at the mobile station on an as-needed basis.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the characterizing information comprises at least one of:

an absolute size of a given selection of downloadable content;

a relative size of a given selection of downloadable content;

a cost that is associated with downloading a given selection of downloadable content;

information corresponding to a predicted throughput rate that is associated with downloading a given selection of downloadable content;

a priority level that is associated with a given selection of downloadable content;

a priority level that is associated with a group to which a given selection of downloadable content belongs;

a time when a given selection of downloadable content will become available by downloading;

a time after which a given selection of downloadable content will be withdrawn;

a time after which a given selection of downloadable content will expire;

a time during which a given selection of downloadable content will likely be of a higher value to a user of the mobile station;

information corresponding to power requirements associated with a given selection of downloadable content;

information corresponding to power requirements associated with a group to which a given selection of downloadable content belongs.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the locally developed information comprises at least one of:

presently available communication channels by which the downloadable content can be downloaded;

a quantity of data per unit time as may be presently available via a particular presently available communication channel by which the downloadable content can be downloaded;

a cost that is associated with a presently available communication channel by which the downloadable content can be downloaded;

predicted availability of a given communication channel by which the downloadable content can be downloaded;

a present power capacity state of the mobile station;

a calculated future power capacity state of the mobile station;

at least one of a day and a time;

capacity status of a mobile station memory;

a power drain per unit of transferred data of a particular presently available communication channel by which the downloadable content can be downloaded.

4. A method comprising:

at a mobile station:

receiving a first transmission from a remote source comprising information regarding downloadable content, wherein the information comprises:

addresses that can be used to download corresponding selections of downloadable content; and

characterizing information regarding at least some of the selections of downloadable content;

accessing locally developed information regarding downloading constraints;

determining when to automatically download only a portion of at least one of the selections of downloadable content as a function, at least in part, of both the characterizing information and the locally developed information such that a mobile station memory as is available to store downloadable content tends to remain relatively full.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver;

a first memory operably coupled to the receiver and having stored therein a first transmission from a remote source comprising information regarding downloadable content, wherein the information comprises:

addresses that can be used to download corresponding selections of downloadable content; and

characterizing information regarding at least some of the selections of downloadable content;

a second memory having stored therein locally developed information regarding downloading constraints;

a scheduler that is responsive to the first memory and the second memory and that is configured and arranged to schedule when to automatically download only a portion of at least one of the selections of downloadable content as a function, at least in part, of both the characterizing information and the locally developed information, wherein the scheduler comprises means for determining when to automatically download at least a portion of at least one of the selections of downloadable content as a function, at least in part, of both the characterizing information and the locally developed information such that a mobile station memory as is available to store downloadable content tends to remain relatively full.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising:

synchronization means operably coupled to the receiver and to the first memory for facilitating the first transmission from the remote source.