Exchanging data associated with a communication session within a communications system

Abstract

In an embodiment, a communications device exchanges, between first and second access terminals, higher priority data in association with a communication session of a first type and also lower priority data in association with a communication session of a second type. If the communications device determines a transition of the first access terminal to a lower data-rate environment, the communication device reduces a size of data packets exchanged between the first access terminal and an application server for the communication session of the second type. If the communications device determines an upcoming data packet is a low-data packet (e.g., a silence packet), the low-data packet is suppressed. If the communications device determines that the first access terminal has attempted transmission of a set of last or near-last data packets in the sequence, the communications device re-transmits the set of last or near-last data packets without waiting for ACKs.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of exchanging data between a first access terminal and a second access terminal in a communications system, comprising:
 exchanging, between the first and second access terminals, higher priority data in association with a communication session of a first type and also lower priority data in association with a communication session of a second type, the communication sessions of the first and second types being arbitrated by an application server;   determining that a first data packet to be sent in an upcoming timeslot from the first access terminal to the second access terminal for the communication session of the first type corresponds to a low-data packet of a given type;   suppressing transmission of the upcoming data packet; and   transmitting a second data packet from the first access terminal to the second access terminal for the communication session of the second type in the upcoming timeslot in place of the first data packet.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the exchanging, determining, suppressing and scheduling steps are each performed by the first access terminal. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the transmitting step corresponds to a transmission of the second data packet by the first access terminal to the application server on a reverse-link. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the exchanging, determining, suppressing and scheduling steps are each performed by the application server. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the transmitting step corresponds to a transmission of the second data packet, received from the first access terminal, that is transmitted by the application server to the second access terminal on a downlink. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communication session of the first type corresponds to a streaming or real-time communication session and the communication session of the second type corresponds to a file-transfer session. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communication session of the first type corresponds to a voice call and the low-data packet corresponds to a silence packet. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the second access terminal is configured to interpret receipt of consecutive data packets for the communication session of the second type as an indication of an implicit silence packet. 
     
     
         9 . A method of exchanging data between a first access terminal and a second access terminal in a communications system, comprising:
 transmitting a sequence of data packets that originate from the first access terminal and are targeted to the second access terminal in association with a file-transfer session being arbitrated by an application server;   determining that the first access terminal has attempted transmission of a set of last or near-last data packets in the sequence; and   after an initial attempt to transmit the set of last or near-last data packets in the sequence, re-transmitting the set of last or near-last data packets in the sequence without waiting for the second access terminal to acknowledge receipt of the initial attempt to transmit the set of last or near-last data packets in the sequence.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the transmitting, determining and re-transmitting steps are each performed by the first access terminal. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the transmitting step corresponds to a transmission of the sequence of data packets by the first access terminal to the application server on a reverse-link. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 upon receipt of a set of acknowledgments to the initially transmitted and/or re-transmitted set of last or near-last data packets, tearing down a traffic channel (TCH) associated with the file-transfer session.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein transmitting, determining and re-transmitting steps are each performed by the application server. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the transmitting step corresponds to a transmission of the sequence of data packets, received from the first access terminal, that are transmitted by the application server to the second access terminal on a downlink. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 upon receipt of a set of acknowledgments to the initially transmitted and/or re-transmitted set of last or near-last data packets, stopping the re-transmitting step.   
     
     
         16 . A communications device configured to exchange data between a first access terminal and a second access terminal in a communications system, comprising:
 logic configured to exchange, between the first and second access terminals, higher priority data in association with a communication session of a first type and also lower priority data in association with a communication session of a second type, the communication sessions of the first and second types being arbitrated by an application server;   logic configured to determine that a first data packet to be sent in an upcoming timeslot from the first access terminal to the second access terminal for the communication session of the first type corresponds to a low-data packet of a given type;   logic configured to suppress transmission of the upcoming data packet; and   logic configured to transmit a second data packet from the first access terminal to the second access terminal for the communication session of the second type in the upcoming timeslot in place of the first data packet.   
     
     
         17 . The communications device of  claim 16 , wherein the communications device corresponds to the first access terminal. 
     
     
         18 . The communications device of  claim 16 , wherein the communications device corresponds to the application server.