Patent ID: 7450721

Claim:
A method for use in reducing airlink congestion and processing time associated with ciphering information communicated between a wireless communication network and a mobile station operating in the wireless network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at the mobile station, a ciphering mode information message from the wireless network; when the ciphering mode information message is part of a security mode command message: identifying and processing valid radio bearer downlink ciphering activation time information in the ciphering mode information message for producing valid radio bearer uplink ciphering activation time information, and causing a response message which includes the valid radio bearer uplink ciphering activation time information to be sent to the wireless network; and when the ciphering mode information message is part of a message that is different from the security mode command message: refraining from processing any valid radio bearer down link ciphering activation time information in the ciphering mode information message so as to refrain from producing any valid radio bearer uplink ciphering activation time information for the ciphering mode information message, and causing a response message which includes no valid radio bearer uplink ciphering activation time information to be sent to the wireless network.