STANDBY TIME IMPROVEMENTS

• US 20070211745A1
• Filed: 10/04/2006
• Published: 09/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jayaram, Ranjith, Nanda, Sanjiv, Meylan, Arnaud, Deshpande, Manoj
• Granted Patent: US 7,916,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/432
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• 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

Broadcast or multicast traffic is classified into different types of traffic and different transmission schedules associated with each of the different types of traffic. The different types of broadcast and multicast traffic may be implemented in an 802.11-based system where an access point is configured to classify broadcast and multicast traffic into different types and assign different transmission schedules to each of the different traffic types. An associated wireless station may thereby wake from a power save mode only at intervals corresponding to delivery times of the types of traffic that the wireless station has elected to receive. In some aspects the different types of broadcast and multicast traffic may comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.

Claims

1. A method of receiving broadcast or multicast traffic, comprising:

receiving at least one of a plurality of different types of broadcast or multicast traffic;

wherein different transmission schedules are associated with the different types of traffic.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the different types of traffic that may be received; and

selecting, from the different types of traffic that may be received, at least one type of traffic that is to be received and at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving each type of traffic selected to be received by transitioning from a power save state to an active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected to be received; and

not receiving each type of traffic selected not to be received by not transitioning from the power save state to the active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected to be received is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein a user selects the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising performing a learning operation based on analysis of the received traffic to automatically select the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising associating with an access point to determine the different types of traffic and associated transmission schedules.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending a query regarding availability of different types of traffic.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving beacons including indications of time intervals at which the different types of traffic are transmitted.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving beacons including an indication of an amount of time remaining before delivery of at least one of the different types of traffic.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each of the transmission schedules is associated with a time interval; and

the time interval associated with at least one of the transmission schedules is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated another one of the transmission schedules.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

a first time interval associated with delivery of a first type of the different types of traffic is a multiple of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval; and

a second time interval associated with delivery of a second type of the different types of traffic is longer than the first interval period and is a multiple of the DTIM interval.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving traffic classified into at least one of the different types of traffic based on at least one of the group consisting of:

a protocol type, a source port, a destination port, a source address, a destination address, a type of service, a frequency of receipt of traffic, and identification of an application associated with traffic.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving traffic classified into at least one of the different types of traffic based on a traffic learning operation.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the different types of traffic comprise control plane traffic and user plane traffic.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising waking from a power save state to the receive control plane traffic and not waking from the power save state to receive the user plane traffic.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a user plane traffic indication transmitted in a delivery traffic indication map at a first time interval;

receiving a control plane traffic indication transmitted in a management traffic indication map at a second time interval; and

receiving the control plane traffic at intervals corresponding to the second time interval, wherein the second time interval is longer than and a multiple of the first time interval.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of:

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of:

streaming data, audio, and video.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive at least one of a plurality of different types of broadcast or multicast traffic, wherein different transmission schedules are associated with the different types of traffic; and

a scheduler adapted to schedule reception of the at least one type of traffic in accordance with at least one associated transmission schedule.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

an identifier adapted to identify the different types of traffic that may be received; and

a selector adapted to select, from the different types of traffic that may be received, at least one type of traffic that is to be received and at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a state controller adapted to:

transition the receiver from a power save state to an active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected to be received; and

not transition the receiver from the power save state to the active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected to be received is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a user interface adapted to receive input from a user to select the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a traffic analyzer adapted to perform a learning operation based on analysis of the received traffic to automatically select the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a media access controller adapted to associate with an access point to determine the different types of traffic and associated transmission schedules.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

each of the transmission schedules is associated with a time interval; and

the time interval associated with at least one of the transmission schedules is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated another one of the transmission schedules.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the different types of traffic comprise control plane traffic and user plane traffic, the apparatus further comprising a state controller adapted to wake the receiver from a power save state to receive control plane traffic and not wake the receiver from the power save state to receive user plane traffic.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of;

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging; and

the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.

30. An apparatus for receiving broadcast or multicast traffic, comprising:

means for receiving at least one of a plurality of different types of broadcast or multicast traffic, wherein different transmission schedules are associated with the different types of traffic; and

means for scheduling reception of the at least one type of traffic in accordance with at least one associated transmission schedule.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising:

means for identifying the different types of traffic that may be received; and

means for selecting, from the different types of traffic that may be received, at least one type of traffic that is to be received and at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising means for transitioning the means for receiving from a power save state to an active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected to be received and not transitioning the means for receiving from the power save state to the active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected to be received is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising means for performing a learning operation based on analysis of the received traffic to automatically select the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein:

each of the transmission schedules is associated with a time interval; and

the time interval associated with at least one of the transmission schedules is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated another one of the transmission schedules.

36. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the different types of traffic comprise control plane traffic and user plane traffic, the apparatus further comprising means for waking the means for receiving from a power save state to receive control plane traffic and not waking the means for receiving from the power save state to receive user plane traffic.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein:

the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of;

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging; and

the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.

38. A computer-readable medium including instructions stored thereon, comprising:

a first instruction set for receiving at least one of a plurality of different types of broadcast or multicast traffic;

wherein different transmission schedules are associated with the different types of traffic.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, further comprising:

a second instruction set for identifying the different types of traffic that may be received; and

a third instruction set for selecting, from the different types of traffic that may be received, at least one type of traffic that is to be received and at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, further comprising a fourth instruction set for transitioning from a power save state to an active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected to be received and not transitioning from the power save state to the active state according to a time interval defined by the transmission schedule associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected to be received is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated with each type of traffic selected not to be received.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, further comprising a fourth instruction set for performing a learning operation based on analysis of the received traffic to automatically select the at least one type of traffic that is to be received and the at least one type of traffic that is not to be received.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein:

each of the transmission schedules is associated with a time interval; and

the time interval associated with at least one of the transmission schedules is longer than and a multiple of the time interval associated another one of the transmission schedules.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein the different types of traffic comprise control plane traffic and user plane traffic, the apparatus further comprising a second instruction set for waking from a power save state to receive control plane traffic and not waking from the power save state to receive user plane traffic.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44, wherein:

the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of;

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging; and

the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.

46. A method of providing classified broadcast or multicast traffic, comprising:

receiving broadcast or multicast traffic;

classifying the received traffic into different types of traffic; and

associating different transmission schedules with the different types of traffic.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising transmitting the different types of traffic at different time intervals having different periodicities.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the periodicities are multiples of a periodicity of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising transmitting beacons including indications of time intervals at which the different types of traffic are transmitted.

50. The method of claim 46, further comprising transmitting beacons including an indication of an amount of time remaining before delivery of at least one of the different types of traffic.

51. The method of claim 46, wherein the classifying is based on at least one of the group consisting of:

a protocol type, a source port, a destination port, a source address, a destination address, a frequency of receipt of traffic, a type of service, and identification of an application associated with traffic.

52. The method of claim 46, wherein the classifying comprises performing a learning operation based on analysis of received traffic.

53. The method of claim 46, wherein the different types of traffic comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.

54. The method of claim 53, further comprising transmitting the control plane traffic according to a first time interval and transmitting the user plane traffic according to a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is longer than and is a multiple of the second time interval.

55. The method of claim 53, further comprising:

sending a user plane traffic indication in a delivery traffic indication map at a first time interval;

sending a control plane traffic indication in a management traffic indication map at a second time interval; and

sending the control plane traffic at intervals corresponding to the second time interval and sending the user plane traffic at intervals corresponding to the first time interval, wherein the second time interval is longer than and a multiple of the first time interval.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of:

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging.

57. The method of claim 53, wherein the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of:

streaming data, audio, and video.

58. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive broadcast or multicast traffic;

a classifier adapted to classify the received traffic into different types of traffic; and

a scheduler adapted to associate different transmission schedules with the different types of traffic.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, further comprising a transmitter adapted to transmit the different types of traffic at different intervals having different periodicities.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the periodicities are multiples of a periodicity of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval.

61. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the transmitter is further adapted to transmit beacons including:

indications of time intervals at which the different types of traffic are transmitted; and

an indication of an amount of time remaining before delivery of at least one of the different types of traffic.

62. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the classifier is further adapted to classify the received traffic based on at least one of the group consisting of:

a protocol type, a source port, a destination port, a source address, a destination address, a frequency of receipt of traffic, a type of service, and identification of an application associated with traffic.

63. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the classifier is further adapted to classify the received traffic by performing a learning operation based on analysis of received traffic.

64. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the different types of traffic comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, further comprising a transmitter adapted to transmit the control plane traffic according to a first time interval and the user plane traffic according to a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is longer than and is a multiple of the second time interval.

66. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of:

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging, and the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.

67. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving broadcast or multicast traffic;

means for classifying the received traffic into different types of traffic; and

means for associating different transmission schedules with the different types of traffic.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising means for transmitting the different types of traffic at different intervals having different periodicities.

69. The apparatus of claim 68, wherein the periodicities are multiples of a periodicity of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval.

70. The apparatus of claim 68, wherein the means for transmitting further transmits beacons including:

indications of time intervals at which the different types of traffic are transmitted; and

an indication of an amount of time remaining before delivery of at least one of the different types of traffic.

71. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the means for classifying further classifies the received traffic based on at least one of the group consisting of:

a protocol type, a source port, a destination port, a source address, a destination address, a frequency of receipt of traffic, a type of service, and identification of an application associated with traffic.

72. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the means for classifying further classifies the received traffic by performing a learning operation based on analysis of received traffic.

73. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the different types of traffic comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, further comprising means for transmitting the control plane traffic according to a first time interval and the user plane traffic according to a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is longer than and is a multiple of the second time interval.

75. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein:

the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of;

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging; and

the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.

76. A computer-readable medium including instructions stored thereon, comprising:

a first instruction set for receiving broadcast or multicast traffic;

a second instruction set for classifying the received traffic into different types of traffic; and

a third instruction set for associating different transmission schedules with the different types of traffic.

77. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, further comprising a fourth instruction set for transmitting the different types of traffic at different intervals having different periodicities.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the periodicities are multiples of a periodicity of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the fourth instruction set further comprises a fifth instruction set for transmitting beacons including:

indications of time intervals at which the different types of traffic are transmitted; and

an indication of an amount of time remaining before delivery of at least one of the different types of traffic.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the second instruction set further comprises a fourth instruction set for classifying the received traffic based on at least one of the group consisting of:

a protocol type, a source port, a destination port, a source address, a destination address, a frequency of receipt of traffic, a type of service, and identification of an application associated with traffic.

81. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the second instruction set further comprises a fourth instruction set for classifying the received traffic by performing a learning operation based on analysis of received traffic.

82. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the different types of traffic comprise user plane traffic and control plane traffic.

83. The computer-readable medium of claim 82, further comprising a fourth instruction set for transmitting the control plane traffic according to a first time interval and the user plane traffic according to a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is longer than and is a multiple of the second time interval.

84. The computer-readable medium of claim 82, wherein:

the control plane traffic relates to at least one of the group consisting of;

connectivity, topology, path discovery, ARP, DHCP, presence, and paging; and

the user plane traffic comprises at least one of the group consisting of;

streaming data, audio, and video.