Patent ID: 8351453

Claim:
A method to allocate shared resources of a high speed packet access channel, the method comprising: providing information to a user device describing a first plurality of service options for exchanging data associated with a first application or service over the high speed packet access channel, wherein the information comprises a first plurality of costs based on an availability of the shared resources; allocating at least a portion of the shared resources of the high speed packet access channel to the user device for exchanging data associated with the first application or service according to a first service option selected from the first plurality of service options; providing a second plurality of costs to the user device for a second plurality of service options for continuing to exchange data associated with the same first application or service over the high speed packet access channel, the second plurality of service options specified in signaling received from the user device; and reallocating a different portion of the shared resources of the high speed packet access channel to the user device in response to the user device selecting a second service option from the second plurality of service options for continuing to exchange data associated with the same first application or service over the high speed packet access channel, wherein the availability of the shared resources is based on a determined amount of shared resources under consideration for allocation in response to a plurality of service requests from a plurality of user devices, and the method further comprises determining the plurality of costs based on at least one of: a percentage utilization of the shared resources being allocated to service the plurality of service requests; a subscription plan associated with the user device; an amount of revenue to be generated by allocation of the shared resources to service the plurality of service requests; or an overall service delivery quality resulting from allocating the shared resources to service the plurality of service requests.