Vacating low usage packet data sessions in a wireless communication system
View Patent ↗The present invention provides a method involving at least one mobile unit having at least one first session with a base station router. The method includes vacating at least one first session associated with the at least one mobile unit.
1. A method involving at least one mobile unit having at least one first session with a base station router, comprising:
vacating, at the base station router, said at least one first session associated with said at least one mobile unit in response to at least one activity level of said at least one first session decreasing so that substantially no memory is associated with said at least one first session while maintaining said at least one vacated first session; and
allocating memory to said at least one vacated first session in response to said at least one activity level of said at least one first session subsequently increasing.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein vacating said at least one first session comprises at least one of de-allocating memory associated with said at least one first session while retaining at least one session identifier for said at least one first session in a database or establishing said at least one first session associated with said at least one session identifier without allocating memory to said at least one first session.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein vacating said at least one first session comprises assigning said at least one session identifier to said at least one first session, each session identifier comprising information indicative of the corresponding first session and information indicating that substantially no memory is allocated to said at least one first session.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein assigning said at least one session identifier comprises assigning information indicative of one of a plurality of color codes and one of a plurality of sequence numbers, said one of the plurality of the sequence numbers being a valid sequence number for a transfer of said at least one first session across a subnet boundary.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein assigning said at least one session identifier comprises assigning information indicative of a color code, the color code indicating that a sequence number associated with the session is not to be checked for validity following transfers of said at least one first session across a subnet boundary.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein assigning said at least one session identifier comprises assigning a plurality of bits indicating that substantially no memory is allocated to said at least one first session, said plurality of bits also indicating one of a plurality of sequence numbers that is a valid sequence number for a transfer of said at least one first session across a subnet boundary.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein assigning said at least one session identifier comprises assigning information indicative of a color code, the method further comprising transmitting a plurality of messages including information indicative of a plurality of sequence numbers in response to a transfer of said at least one first session across a subnet boundary.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein vacating said at least one first session in response to said at least one activity level associated with said at least one first session decreasing comprises vacating said at least one first session in response to said at least one mobile unit failing to activate or use connections associated with said at least one first session for a predetermined period of time.
9. The method of claim 8 , comprising determining said at least one activity level associated with said at least one first session.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining said at least one activity level comprises determining said at least one activity level during the life of said at least one first session and when said at least one first session ends.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining said at least one activity level comprises:
determining at least one duration of said at least one first session;
determining whether at least one connection was established for said at least one first session; and
determining durations of any connections established for said at least one first session.
12. The method of claim 8 , comprising forming a list comprising information identifying said at least one first session and said at least one activity level and sorting the list based upon said at least one determined activity level, and wherein determining said at least one activity level comprises determining said at least one activity level by accessing the sorted list.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein vacating said at least one first session comprises vacating said at least one first session in response to determining that said at least one activity level decreased below a first threshold.
14. The method of claim 8 , comprising allocating memory to said at least one first session based on the determined activity level.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein allocating memory to said at least one first session comprises at least one of:
allocating slow-access non-resident memory to said at least one first session;
compressing memory allocated to said at least one first session; and
allocating fast-access resident memory to said at least one first session.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein vacating said at least one first session comprises vacating said at least one first session in response to at least one of a failure to authenticate said at least one first mobile unit, said at least one first mobile unit being a disallowed mobile unit, and said at least one first mobile unit being an invalid mobile unit.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein vacating said at least one first session comprises vacating said at least one first session based upon a determined system load.
18. The method of claim 1 , comprising receiving a request to establish at least one connection associated with said at least one first session.
19. The method of claim 18 , comprising establishing at least one second session associated with said at least one mobile unit.
20. The method of claim 19 , comprising allocating memory to said at least one second session.
21. The method of claim 20 , comprising establishing the requested connection using said at least one second session.
22. A method comprising:
changing a memory allocation for a session between a mobile unit and a base station router in response to changes in an activity level associated with the session, wherein the memory allocation is changed so that an access time for memory allocated to the session is shorter when the activity level associated with the session is higher, wherein changing the memory allocation for the session comprises vacating the allocated memory when the activity level associated with the session decreases below a threshold so that substantially no memory is associated with the session while maintaining the session.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein changing the memory allocation for the session comprises changing the memory allocation from relatively fast resident memory to relatively slow non-resident memory when the activity level associated with the session decreases.
24. The method of claim 22 , wherein changing the memory allocation for the session comprises changing the memory allocation from relatively slow non-resident memory to relatively fast resident memory when the activity level associated with the session increases.
25. The method of claim 22 , wherein changing the memory allocation for the session comprises compressing the allocated memory when the activity level associated with the session decreases and uncompressing the allocated memory when the activity level associated with the session increases.