Power saving methods in gateway

• US 20060274764A1
• Filed: 06/02/2005
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: McRae, Matthew, Mah, Donald T.
• Application Number:
  US11/143,344
• Publication Number:
  US 20060274764A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/08 with current supply sources at the substations generating ringing current H04M19/04
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

When a gateway detects that power from a primary power supply is disrupted or unavailable, reserve power, such as from batteries, is provided only to those components, ports, interfaces, and circuits associated with the gateway that are required for making a voice call or a lifeline call.

Claims

1. A method of providing power to specific portions of a gateway having Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) interfaces and components and a reserve power supply, the method comprising:

detecting whether power from a main power supply to the gateway has been disrupted; and

supplying power from the reserve power supply only to portions of the gateway needed to make a voice call when power from the main power supply has been disrupted.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying a reduced power from the reserve power supply to the LAN interfaces and components.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reduced power is zero power.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing ones of the LAN and WAN interfaces and components having a power-saving mode into the power-saving mode when power from the main power supply has been disrupted.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the power-saving mode comprises a sleep mode.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the power-saving mode comprises a low power mode.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein supplying the reduced power comprises transmitting a signal to the LAN interfaces and components to initiate a power reduction process.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice call is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing the portions in a power-save mode when no voice calls are being made.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising re-initializing the LAN interfaces and components when power resumes from the main power supply.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice call is a WiFi phone call.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting comprises comparing a voltage from the main power supply to a reference voltage.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising suspending applications that are non-essential and require substantial power.

14. A gateway for a communication network having WAN and LAN ports, comprising:

a reserve power supply;

a detection circuit coupled to the reserve power supply and a main power supply for detecting when power from the main power supply is disrupted;

and

a processor coupled to an output of the detection circuit, wherein the processor is configured to provide power from the reserve power supply to ports needed for voice calling when power from the main power supply is disrupted.

15. The gateway of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to provide a reduced power from the reserve power supply to LAN ports not needed for voice calling when power from the main power supply is disrupted.

16. The gateway of claim 14, wherein the voice calling is VoIP calling.

17. The gateway of claim 15, wherein the reduced power is zero.

18. The gateway of claim 14, wherein the voice calling is WiFi calling.

19. A circuit for providing power to specific portions of a gateway having Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) interfaces and components, the circuit comprising:

means for detecting whether power from a main power supply to the gateway has been disrupted; and

means for supplying power from a reserve power supply only to portions of the gateway needed to make a voice call when power from the main power supply has been disrupted.