TECHNIQUES FOR ALWAYS ON ALWAYS CONNECTED OPERATION OF MOBILE PLATFORMS USING NETWORK INTERFACE CARDS

• US 20080233962A1
• Filed: 03/19/2007
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Tsai, James, Hazra, Mousumi, Jalfon, Marc, Joshi, Mandar, Bell, Carol, Yang, Liuyang Lily, Paul, Krishna
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a network interface (NIC) card operable in communication with a mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

Claims

8. A method, comprising:

using a network interface (NIC) card operable in communication with a mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a network interface (NIC) card operable in communication with a mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said NIC comprises an AOAC monitoring state and an AOAC execution state.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said AOAC monitoring state is used to determine if there is an available network connection or there is need to perform a network task.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said AOAC execution state is entered when a network task requires waking up more system resource beyond what said monitoring state allows.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the functionalities provided by said NIC to enable less frequent mobile platform host wake up and therefore less drain on a battery powering said mobile platform are selected from at least the group consisting of:

(1) Filtering;

(2) Keepalives;

(3) ARP Proxy;

(4) Maintaining persistent L2 connection in sleeping state;

(5) Selective packet processing; and

(6) IPSEC encryption/decryption.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said mobile platform includes a processor and a display and when said apparatus is in said AOCA monitoring state said processor and display are either off or in very low power sleep state so that said system resource consume a minimum level of power.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said mobile platform is an ultra mobile personal computer (UMPC).

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising using an AOAC monitoring state and an AOAC execution state by said NIC.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising using said AOAC monitoring state to determine if there is an available network connection or there is need to perform a network task.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising entering said AOAC execution state when a network task requires waking up more system resource beyond what said monitoring state allows.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising including in said mobile platform a processor and a display and when said mobile platform is in said AOCA monitoring state said processor and display are either off or in very low power sleep state so that said system resources consume a minimum level of power.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising connecting said NIC to an ultra mobile personal computer (UMPC).

11-1. The method of claim 8, wherein the functionalities provided by said NIC to enable less frequent mobile platform host wake up and therefore less drain on a battery powering said mobile platform are selected from at least the group consisting of:

(1) Filtering;

(2) Keepalives;

(3) ARP Proxy;

(4) Maintaining persistent L2 connection in sleeping state;

(5) Selective packet processing; and

(6) IPSEC encryption/decryption.

14. A machine-accessible medium that provides instructions, which when accessed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

controlling a network interface (NIC) card operable in communication with a mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

15. The machine-accessible medium of claim 14, further comprising further instructions, which when accessed, cause a machine to perform operations further comprising using an AOAC monitoring state and an AOAC execution state by said NIC.

16. The machine-accessible medium of claim 15, further comprising further instructions, which when accessed, cause a machine to perform operations further comprising using said AOAC monitoring state to determine if there is an available network connection or there is need to perform a network task.

17. The machine-accessible medium of claim 15, further comprising further instructions, which when accessed, cause a machine to perform operations further comprising entering said AOAC execution state when a network task requires waking up more system resource beyond what said monitoring state allows.

18. A system, comprising:

a mobile platform;

a network interface card (NIC) operable in communication with said mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said NIC comprises an AOAC monitoring state and an AOAC execution state.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said AOAC monitoring state is used to determine if there is an available network connection or there is need to perform a network task.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said AOAC execution state is entered when a network task requires waking up more system resource beyond what said monitoring state allows.

22. A network interface (NIC) card, comprising:

an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) monitoring state;

an AOAC execution state;

wherein said AOAC monitoring state is used to determine if there is an available network connection or if there is need to perform a network task; and

wherein said AOAC execution state is entered when a network task requires waking up more system resource beyond what said monitoring state allows.

23. The NIC of claim 22, wherein said NIC card is connected to a mobile platform to monitor network traffic and perform filtering to enable decreased system resource use in said mobile platform when in an Always On Always Connected (AOAC) state.

24. The NIC of claim 23, wherein the functionalities provided by said NIC to enable less frequent mobile platform host wake up and therefore less drain on a battery powering said mobile platform are selected from at least the group consisting of:

(1) Filtering;

(2) Keepalives;

(3) ARP Proxy;

(4) Maintaining persistent L2 connection in sleeping state;

(5) Selective packet processing; and

(6) IPSEC encryption/decryption.

25. The NIC of claim 22, wherein said NIC is connected to an ultra mobile personal computer (UMPC).