Apparatus, and associated method, for facilitating communication of packet data in a packet radio communication system using interactions between mid-stack and upper-level layers
Apparatus, and an associated method, for facilitating communication of data in a packet radio communication system to effectuate a packet communication service in which packet data is communicated at a variable, selectable rate. A detector embodied at an RLP layer detects channel allocations and channel reaollcations, granted to the mobile station to effectuate the data communication service. A report is generated at the RLP layer and forwarded to the TCP layer. At the TCP layer, selection is made of the TCP window to match the rate at which data is provided to the RLP layer to the rate, based upon the channel allocations provided to the mobile station, at which the data is communicated therefrom.
1. In a communication station operable in a packet communication system to communicate packet data, the communication station defined in terms of logical layers having at least one mid-stack layer and at least one upper-level layer positioned thereabove, an improvement of apparatus for facilitating communication of the packet data, said apparatus comprising:
a detector embodied at the mid-stack layer, said detector for detecting channel allocations allocated to the communication station to communicate the packet data; and
a reporter embodied at the mid-stack layer and coupled to said detector, said reporter for reporting at least changes of the channel allocations detected by said detector to the upper-level layer.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the packet data communicated during operation of the packet communication system comprises packet data originated at the communication station, wherein the packet data originated at the communication station is upper-level formatted into a selected packet size at the upper-level layer and provided to the mid-stack layer, and wherein reports made by said reporter to the upper-level layer are, at least in part, determinative of the selected packet size.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a packet size selector embodied at the upper-level layer, said packet size selector adapted to receive the reports made by said reporter, and said packet size selector for selecting the selected packet size into which the packet data is formatted at the upper-level layer.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the selected packet size into which said packet size selector selects the packet data to be formatted is directly proportional, at least in a step-wise manner, to the channel allocation detected by said detector and reported by said reporter.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the selected packet size defines a window-size and wherein reports made by said reporter are determinative of the window size, the window-size of a greater length when the reports made by said reporter indicate the channel allocations to be of increasing allocation sizes.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the selected packet size defines a window size and wherein reports made by said reporter are determinative of the window size, the window size of a lesser length when the reports made by said reporter indicate the channel allocations to be of decreasing allocation sizes.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein reports made by said reporter are of values representative of the channel allocations detected by said detector.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the channel allocations allocated to the communication station are dynamically re-allocable during communication of the packet data and wherein said detector further detects re-allocations of the channel allocations during the communication of the packet data.
9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein reports made by said reporter are further made during the communication of the packet data.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the packet communication system comprises a packet radio communication system and wherein the at least one mid-stack layer comprises an RLP (Radio Link Protocol) layer, said detector and said reporter embodied at the RLP layer.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the at least one upper-level layer comprises a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) layer and wherein reports made by said reporter are made to the TCP layer.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the packet data communicated during operation of the packet radio communication system comprises packet data originated at the communication station, wherein the packet data originated at the communication station is TCP-formatted into a selected packet size at the TCP layer, and wherein reports made by said reporter to the TCP layer are, at least in part, determinative of the selected packet size of the TCP-formatted packet data.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a TCP-packet size selector embodied at the TCP layer, said TCP-packet size selector adapted to receive reports made by said reporter and for selecting the packet size of TCP-formatted data formed at the TCP layer.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a TCP packet formatter adapted to receive indications of selection made by said TCP-packet size selector, said TCP packet formatter for formatting the packet data responsive to the indications of the selections.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the packet communication system comprises a cellular communication system that provides CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) packet data services at selectable data rates and wherein the channel allocations detected by said detector are of the data rates at which the data services are permitted to be performed.
16. A method for facilitating communication of packet data in packet communication system having a communication station, the communication station defined in terms of logical layers having at least one mid-stack layer and at least one upper-level layer positioned thereabove, said method comprising:
detecting at the mid-stack layer channel allocations allocated to the communication station to communicate the packet data; and
reporting to the upper level layer at least changes of the channel allocations detected during said operation of detecting to the upper level layer.
17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the operation of selecting the packet size of packet data formed at the upper level layer based on the changes of the channel allocations reported.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the operation of formatting, at the upper level layer, the packet data of sizes responsive to selection made during said operation of selecting.
19. The method of claim 16 further comprising the operation, prior to said operation of detecting, of notifying the communication station of the channel allocation.
20. The method of claim 16 wherein the mid-stack layer comprises an RLP (Radio Link Protocol) layer and wherein said operations of detecting and reporting are performed at the RLP layer.