Patent ID: 6912214

Claim:
In a wireless access network having a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Packet Control Function (PCF), and a Packet Data Service Node (PDSN) providing a packet-data session with a packet-data network, a method of optimizing the use of packet-resources by eliminating a hanging packet-data connection when a Mobile Station (MS) performs a power-down while the packet-data session is in a dormant state, said method comprising the steps of: sending a message from the BSC to the MSC indicating that the MS has powered down; determining in the MSC that the packet-data session is dormant; sending an instruction from the MSC to the BSC to release network resources associated with the packet-data session; sending an instruction from the BSC to the PCF to tear down the associated resources; and releasing the packet-data connection by the PDSN in response to the tearing down of the resources by the PCF.