Patent ID: 7136968

Claim:
A method for maintaining cache consistency of a mobile communication terminal in communication with a communication server in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: broadcasting an invalidation bit pattern (IBP) from the communication server to the mobile communication terminal, the IBP comprising a plurality of bits, at least one bit representing whether or not a corresponding cached data for a mobile communication transaction is invalidated after a first broadcast period, wherein the mobile communication terminal receives the IBP whether or not a disconnection in communication between the mobile communication terminal and the communication server occurs; determining whether or not the disconnection in communication between the mobile communication terminal and the communication server occurred based on a time stamp of the IBP; updating invalidated cached data based on updated information included in the IBP, if it is determined that the disconnection did not occur; and updating a first portion of the cached data based on updated information included in the IBP, if it is determined that the disconnection did occur; wherein the mobile communication terminal comprises a cache for caching transaction data, wherein an IBP comprises a time stamp t 1 , and wherein t 2 represents time when a last IBP was received by the mobile communication terminal, the method further comprising replacing a first portion of the cached data by a most recent transaction data provided by the communication server, if the difference between t 1 and t 2 is greater than a threshold value.