Power mode aware packet communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Packet communication method and system in which a packet destined for a terminal is provided service according to a service table indexed by packet classification and the terminal's power mode. The service table may specify for a connection a predetermined quality of service or discarding the packet. For a power mode having an alerting (i.e., paging) mechanism, the service may include alerting the terminal. The service table may also include a network edge point's own service requests and service requests from terminals, provisioning servers, and handoff sources. For a multicast or broadcast packet, as each terminal may be in a different power mode, the associated service in the service table may therefore be different for each terminal. In that case, the packet is provided with service so that any given terminal is provided with at least the quality of service specified in the service table. Thus, a multicast or broadcast packet is discarded when the service specified for all terminals is 'discard.' Each terminal is alerted, however, if the associated service includes alerting the terminal. During handoff, a part of service table associated with the terminal can be transferred from the handoff source to the handoff destination.