Patent · US Expired

Signal prioritization in a communications system

US7941175B1 · kind B1 · utility

11Cited by
8References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 20, 1999
Grant dateMay 10, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 20, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W72/1221
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus enables lower priority (e.g., access response) messages to be transmitted instead of higher priority (e.g., paging) messages when the lower priority messages become too backlogged in an environment in which the two types of messages share a given capacity. In other words, when an overload situation is detected, the shared capacity is regulated by ensuring that the lower priority messages have at least some bandwidth. For example, if (i) the lower priority messages reach a predetermined number or (ii) a particular lower priority message has been waiting a predetermined period of time, then at least a portion of the higher priority messages are diverted (e.g., delayed or deleted). In one embodiment, the higher priority messages that are initially diverted are a lowest priority subset of the higher priority messages. In another embodiment, a highest priority subset of the lower priority messages are transmitted first as capacity is made available.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.