Patent ID: 8490174
Filing Date: 2013-07-16
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of operating a mobile communications device positioned within an internal network, the internal network being separated from one or more external networks by network address translation (NAT) and/or a firewall, comprising: establishing NAT and/or firewall settings by which the mobile communications device can be contacted through the NAT and/or firewall from the one or more external networks, the NAT and/or firewall settings configured to be disabled after a threshold period of traffic inactivity; and refraining from transmitting keep-alive packets from the mobile communications device based on an expectation that one or more assisting wireless communications devices within the internal network will be instructed to transmit the keep-alive packets on behalf of the mobile communications device so as to maintain the established NAT and/or firewall settings for the mobile communications device.