Patent ID: 7466983

Claim:
A method of handling messages at a node within a packet-switched communication system for avoiding overloading of a processor within said node, said messages transmitted by a plurality of subscriber stations being served by said node, comprising the steps of: a) receiving a message having an information element indicating the message's type; b) determining whether of the message type associated with said received message is a first type or a second type; and c) in response to a determination that the determined message type is the first type, processing the received message within said node; d) otherwise, in response to a determination that the determined message type is the second type, determining the total frequency of messages received by said node for said message type; determining whether the determined total frequency for said message type exceeds a threshold associated with said message type; handling the message in a normal way if the total frequency does not exceed the threshold; and discarding and not further processing the message by said node to avoid overloading the processor capacity if the total frequency exceeds the threshold; wherein the method is carried out by a serving general packet radio service support node (SGSN) after the SGSN is re-started or by a base station system (BSS) after the BSS is re-started.