Method and apparatus to control HSDPA activation/de-activation

1. A method, at a network node, for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (“HSDPA”) de-activation, comprising:

determining whether a number of serving HSDPA cell changes of a user equipment (“UE”) communicating with the network node exceeds a threshold within a first time period;

deactivating HSDPA for the UE if the threshold is exceeded within the first time period, wherein deactivating HSDPA comprises deallocating HSDPA resources from the UE such that the UE no longer has HSDPA resources assigned thereto; and

after a second time period, activating HSDPA for the UE.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network node is a Radio Network Controller (“RNC”).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is one of a constant, a value received from a carrier, and a value received from a network operator.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after the deactivation of the HSDPA:

finding whether a number of serving HSDPA cell changes for the UE is below a second threshold for the second time period; and

activating HDSPA for the UE only if the number of serving HSDPA cell changes for the UE during the second time period is below the second threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second time period is one of a constant, a parameter signaled by the network, a function of network characteristics, and a function of HSDPA, cell change frequency.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises counting a number of MAC-HS RESET indications.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reactivating HSDPA for the UE based on at least one of network traffic, network load, and an amount of data intended for the UE.

8. A network element adapted for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) activation and de-activation, comprising:

a processor; and

a communication subsystem;

wherein the processor and the communication subsystem cooperate to:

determine whether a number of serving HSDPA cell changes of a user equipment (“UE”) communicating with the network node exceeds a threshold within a first time period; and;

deactivate HSDPA for the UE if the threshold is exceeded within the first time period, wherein deactivating HSDPA comprises deallocating HSDPA resources from the UE such that the UE no longer has HSDPA resources assigned thereto; and

after a second time period, activate HSDPA for the UE.

9. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the network node is a Radio Network Controller (“RNC”).

10. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the threshold is one of a constant, a value received from a carrier, and a value received from a network operator.

11. The network element of claim 8 , wherein after the deactivation of the HISDPA, the processor and the communication subsystem further cooperate to:

find whether a number of serving HSDPA cell changes for the UE is below a second threshold for the second time period;

activate HDSPA for the UE only if the number of serving HSDPA cell changes for the UE during the second time period is below the second threshold.

12. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the second time period is one of a constant, a parameter signaled by the network, a function of network characteristics, and a function of HSDPA cell change frequency.

13. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the determining comprises counting a number of MAC-HS RESET indications.

14. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the processor and the communication subsystem further cooperate to deactivate HSDPA for the UE based on at least one of network traffic, network load, and an amount of data intended for the UE.