Patent ID: 8098592

Claim:
A method, comprising the steps of: receiving, by a mobile switching center of a cellular network, a request for a transfer of a file to a mobile communication device, wherein the request is received over a fundamental channel from the mobile communication device; initiating, by the mobile switching center, the transfer of the file from a packet network to the mobile communication device through the mobile switching center and a cellular base station of the cellular network; making one or more determinations of status, for one or more packet network resources that handle the transfer of the file, during the transfer of the file, wherein the one or more packet network resources comprise one or more supplemental channels allocated for the transfer, wherein the transfer of the file is broken up into a plurality of sub-sessions over the one or more supplemental channels; determining a time interval based on a quality of service level of a user of the mobile communication device; estimating, at instances of the time interval during the transfer of the file, a time period that remains for the transfer of the file based on the one or more determinations of status; wherein the step of making the one or more determinations of status comprises the step of: determining a status for the one or more supplemental channels for the transfer of the file.