Keep-Alive Message Frequency Negotiation for Mobile WTRU Battery Life
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile data applications on wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) generate frequent 'keep-alive' and status update messages, leading to battery drainage and signaling traffic congestion, as these messages are often sent autonomously by multiple applications without synchronization, causing excessive idle-active state transitions and increased energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
A negotiation and synchronization function (NSF) and a buffering and caching function (BCF) are implemented in a packet data network gateway or similar node to collect and negotiate keep-alive message frequencies with application servers, synchronizing message sending across applications and buffering priority messages, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If applications send frequent keep-alive messages autonomously, then application session continuity is maintained, but battery life is reduced and signaling traffic congestion occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network node (PGW or SGW) as an intermediary between applications and application servers. This intermediary collects keep-alive message requirements from multiple applications, negotiates frequencies with application servers, and coordinates message timing. By acting as a mediator, the network node enables session continuity to be maintained while reducing the total number of messages sent and coordinating them to occur during active states, thus preserving battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual keep-alive message streams into a coordinated communication pattern. The network node aggregates keep-alive requirements from multiple applications and negotiates a unified frequency with application servers. Multiple applications share common keep-alive timing, and the system combines message scheduling across different applications to reduce redundant transmissions during idle states while maintaining session continuity.
2Reliability
If applications send frequent keep-alive messages autonomously, then application session continuity is maintained, but signaling traffic congestion occurs in the core network
Solution Approach 1:
The network node serves as an intermediary that consolidates signaling traffic. Instead of each application independently sending keep-alive messages to application servers, the network node aggregates these requirements and manages a coordinated communication pattern. This intermediary function reduces the total volume of signaling traffic in the core network while ensuring application session continuity is maintained through proper frequency negotiation and timing coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual keep-alive signaling streams into a coordinated communication pattern managed by the network node. By combining message scheduling across different applications and negotiating unified frequencies with application servers, the system reduces redundant signaling traffic in the core network while maintaining session continuity for all applications.
3Loss of information
If applications send frequent status update messages, then real-time status information is provided to users, but energy consumption increases due to idle-active state transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic action by negotiating and enforcing specific frequencies for keep-alive and status update messages. Instead of applications sending messages continuously or at arbitrary intervals, the network node establishes periodic transmission schedules with application servers. Messages are sent at negotiated frequencies during active states, reducing unnecessary transmissions during idle states while maintaining real-time status information delivery to users.
4Reliability
If multiple applications send keep-alive messages independently, then each application maintains its session, but synchronized coordination is lost leading to excessive message frequency
Solution Approach 1:
The network node acts as an intermediary that coordinates keep-alive message timing across multiple applications. It collects session maintenance requirements from each application, negotiates frequencies with application servers, and synchronizes message timing. This intermediary function ensures individual application sessions are maintained while introducing synchronized coordination that reduces overall message frequency and improves efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The network node provides universal coordination functionality for multiple applications simultaneously. It handles keep-alive message negotiation, frequency coordination, and timing synchronization for diverse applications in a unified manner. This multi-functional approach maintains individual application sessions while applying coordinated message scheduling across all applications, improving overall message frequency efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus are described for negotiating “keep-alive” message frequencies of applications running on a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). A node may include a negotiation and synchronization function (NSF) configured to collect information including frequencies of keep-alive messages required by application servers for different applications running on the WTRU, and send a keep-alive message frequency negotiation request message to the application servers to negotiate for a more proper frequency for each application on behalf of the WTRU. The node may further include a buffering and caching function (BCF) configured to cache and buffer application specific attributes including an indication of whether each of the applications needs to send periodic keep-alive messages to an associated application server. The node may be a packet data network gateway, a negotiation and caching gateway, or a serving gateway.