Radio-awareness of mobile device for sending server-side control signals using a wireless network optimized transport protocol

1. A mobile device which receives control signals over an alternate channel to an IP channel that is open, the mobile device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit having instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor, causes the mobile device to:

determine a timeout parameter corresponding to an amount of time a radio of the mobile device will be active;

receive the control signals over the alternate channel, without utilizing the IP channel, in response to determining that a timing specified by the timeout parameter has been reached or exceeded;

wherein receiving the control signals over the alternate channel does not utilize a cellular radio of the mobile device,

wherein the control signals are generated by a server that is aware of the mobile device's radio state and the mobile device's radio state is used by the server to select a communications channel for sending the control signals which does not cause the mobile device radio to power on or to otherwise switch on to a higher powered state.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the timeout parameter is set in an attribute appended to a transport packet in an optimized wireless protocol used by the mobile device to communicate with a server which sends the control signals.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, use of the alternate channel depends on whether the mobile device is roaming; wherein, when roaming, the IP channel is used for the control signals even after the timing has been reached or exceeded.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the amount of time the radio will be active is determined dynamically at run time.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the amount of time the radio will be active is determined from average values observed after transactions at the mobile device.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the control signals include indicators of whether locally cached elements are still valid.

7. The mobile device of claim 6 , wherein the control signals are sent from a host server or a proxy server that is configured to communicate with a local proxy on the mobile device.

8. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the channel utilized to receive the control signals includes Wifi when Wifi is available to the mobile device.

9. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein, the alternate channel includes short message service (SMS).

10. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the amount of time the radio will be active is determined in part based on network type, wherein the network type includes GSM or CDMA.

11. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the amount of time the radio will be active is determined in part by a host server generating the control signals.

12. A method for utilizing an alternate channel instead of an IP channel that is open to receive control signals generated by a host server, comprising:

determining a timeout parameter corresponding to an amount of time a radio of a mobile device will be active;

receiving the control signals over the alternate channel, without utilizing the IP channel, in response to determining that a timing specified by the timeout parameter has been reached or exceeded;

wherein-receiving the control signals over the alternate channel does not utilize a cellular radio of the mobile device,

wherein the control signals are generated by a server that is aware of the mobile device's radio state and the mobile device's radio state is used by the server to select a communications channel for sending the control signals which does not cause the mobile device radio to power on or to otherwise switch on to a higher powered state.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein, the timeout parameter is set in an attribute appended to a transport packet in an optimized wireless protocol used by the mobile device to communicate with a server which sends the control signals.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein, use of the alternate channel depends on whether the mobile device is roaming; wherein, when roaming, the IP channel is used for the control signals even after the timing has been reached or exceeded.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein, the amount of time the radio will be active is determined dynamically at run time.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein, the amount of time the radio will be active is determined from average values observed after transactions at the mobile device.

17. A system for communicating control signals over an alternate channel instead of an IP channel that is open, the system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit having instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:

determine a timeout parameter corresponding to an amount of time a radio of a mobile device will be active;

sending the control signals to the mobile device over the alternate channel, without utilizing the IP channel, in response to determining that a timing specified by the timeout parameter has been reached or exceeded;

wherein sending the control signals over the alternate channel does not utilize a cellular radio of the mobile device,

wherein the control signals are generated by a server that is aware of the mobile device's radio state and the mobile device's radio state is used by the server to select a communications channel for sending the control signals which does not cause the mobile device radio to power on or to otherwise switch on to a higher powered state.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising generating the control signals, wherein the control signals are for managing local cache on the mobile device.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the amount of time the radio of the mobile device is determined in part by network type, wherein the network type includes CDMA or GSM.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein selection of the alternate channel over the IP channel is based on roaming status of the mobile device, wherein when the mobile device is roaming, the control signals are communicated over the IP channel.

21. The system of claim 17 , wherein, the channel utilized to communicate the control signals includes Wifi when Wifi is available to the mobile device.

22. The system of claim 17 , wherein, the channel utilized to communicate the control signals includes SMS.

23. The system of claim 17 , further comprising determining a radio state of the mobile device based on the timeout parameter.