Dynamic configuration of EV-DO-A slot cycle index based on communication application

1. A method comprising:

an access terminal receiving a user command to launch a particular communication application;

the access terminal identifying a desired slot cycle index at least in part by determining, among a set of slot cycle indexes respectively associated with a set of communication applications, wherein the set of communication applications comprises the particular communication application, which slot cycle index is associated with the particular communication application;

the access terminal sending a request message to an access node, requesting the desired slot cycle index;

the access terminal negotiating with the access node to agree on a negotiated slot cycle index;

wherein the negotiated slot cycle index is not equal to the desired slot cycle index, and wherein the negotiated slot cycle index is associated with a longer slot cycle than is the desired slot cycle index; and

the access terminal, in response to the value of the negotiated slot cycle index, not launching the particular communication application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access terminal comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a computer, a laptop computer, and a hybrid access terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access node comprises a radio network controller and at least one base transceiver station.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the access terminal sending the access node an indication of the particular communication application.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein, before receiving the user command, the access terminal was operating according to a first slot cycle index, wherein the particular communication application is associated with a second slot cycle index, and wherein the first slot cycle index is not equal to the second slot cycle index.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the access terminal checking for pages from the access node according to a slot cycle that is determined at least in part by the negotiated slot cycle index; and

the access node scheduling pages to the access terminal according to the same slot cycle.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the access terminal initially operating according to a default slot cycle index, wherein the default slot cycle index is associated with a default slot cycle, wherein the desired slot cycle index is associated with a desired slot cycle, and wherein the desired slot cycle is shorter than the default slot cycle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the desired slot cycle index and the negotiated slot cycle index equals 2, 1, 0, −1, or −2, wherein a slot cycle index of 2 corresponds to a slot cycle of 5.12 seconds, wherein a slot cycle index of 1 corresponds to a slot cycle of 2.56 seconds, wherein a slot cycle index of 0 corresponds to a slot cycle of 1.28 seconds, wherein a slot cycle index of −1 corresponds to a slot cycle of 0.64 seconds, and wherein a slot cycle index of −2 corresponds to a slot cycle of 0.32 seconds.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access terminal and the access node communicate with each other according to an Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) protocol.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of communication applications comprises at least one application selected from the group consisting of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application, a push-to-talk (PTT) application, a high-performance push-to-talk (HPPTT) application, an instant-messaging (IM) application, a streaming-video application, a streaming-audio application, a video-telephony application, a best-effort application, a web-browsing application, and a file transfer protocol (FTP) application.

11. An Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) access terminal comprising:

an EV-DO wireless-communication interface;

a processor; and

data storage comprising instructions executable by the processor to:

receive a user command to launch a particular communication application;

identify a desired slot cycle index at least in part by determining, among a set of slot cycle indexes respectively associated with a set of communication applications, wherein the set of communication applications comprises the particular communication application, which slot cycle index is associated with the particular communication application;

send a request message to an EV-DO access node, requesting the desired slot cycle index;

negotiate with the access node to agree on a negotiated slot cycle index

wherein the negotiated slot cycle index is not equal to the desired slot cycle index, and wherein the negotiated slot cycle index is associated with a longer slot cycle than is the desired slot cycle index: and

in response to the value of the negotiated slot cycle index, not launch the particular communication application.

12. The access terminal of claim 11 , wherein the access terminal comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a computer, a laptop computer, and a hybrid access terminal.

13. The access terminal of claim 11 , wherein, before receiving the user command, the access terminal was operating according to a first slot cycle index, wherein the particular communication application is associated with a second slot cycle index, and wherein the first slot cycle index is not equal to the second slot cycle index.