Method and apparatus for polling in a wireless communication system

A method for transmitting data from a local transmitter to a remote receiver, comprising:

• transmitting a radio link control command from the local transmitter to the remote receiver;
• transmitting a polling command without requiring transmission of user-plane data in response to detecting a polling event, wherein transmitting the polling command comprises transmitting a protocol data unit with zero-length data and a header portion of a previously transmitted protocol data unit;
• and
• receiving a status protocol data unit.

A computer program product for transmitting data from a local transmitter to a remote receiver, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:
• a first set of codes for causing a computer to transmit a radio link command from the local transmitter to the remote receiver;
• and
• a second set of codes for causing the computer to transmit a polling command without requiring transmission of user-plane data in response to detecting a polling event, wherein the polling command is smaller than the radio link command, and wherein transmitting the polling command comprises at least one of transmitting a radio link control status protocol data unit and transmitting a radio link control polling protocol data unit.

An apparatus for transmitting data to a remote receiver, comprising:

• a memory;
• a local transmitter for transmitting a radio link command contained in the memory to the remote receiver;
• and
• a polling component for generating and causing the local transmitter to transmit a polling command without requiring transmission of user-plane data in response to detecting a polling event, wherein the polling command is smaller than the radio link command, and wherein transmitting the polling command comprises at least one of transmitting a radio link control status protocol data unit and transmitting a radio link control polling protocol data unit.

An apparatus for transmitting data to a remote receiver, comprising:

• a memory;
• a local transmitter for transmitting a radio link command contained in the memory to the remote receiver;
• a polling component for generating and causing the local transmitter to transmit a polling command without requiring transmission of user-plane data in response to detecting a polling event, wherein transmitting the polling command comprises transmitting a protocol data unit with zero-length data and a header portion of a previously transmitted protocol data unit;
• and
• a local receiver for receiving a radio link control status protocol data unit from the remote receiver.

A computer program product for receiving data from a transmitter, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:
• a first set of codes for causing a computer to receive a radio link command from the transmitter;
• and
• a second set of codes for causing the computer to receive a polling command without requiring reception of user-plane data, wherein the polling command is smaller than the radio link command, and wherein receiving the polling command comprises at least one of receiving a radio link control status protocol data unit and receiving a radio link control polling protocol data unit.

An apparatus for receiving data from a remote transmitter, comprising:

• a memory;
• a receiver for receiving a radio link command from the remote transmitter and for receiving a polling command without requiring reception of user-plane data, wherein receiving the polling command comprises receiving a protocol data unit with zero-length data and a header portion of a previously received protocol data unit;
• a local transmitter;
• and
• a status component for generating and causing the local transmitter to transmit a status protocol data unit in response to the polling command.