FACILITATING POWER CONSERVATION IN WIRELESS CLIENT TERMINALS

• US 20090221303A1
• Filed: 03/03/2008
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Soliman, Samir S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,478,360 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/458
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/182 Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A novel power conservation scheme is provided for conserving power in client terminals by using a proxy server. The client terminal, having a low-power communication interface and a high-power communication interface, may power down its high-power communication interface, to conserve power. Prior to shutting off its high-power communication interface, the client terminal may assign a host terminal to act as a proxy for the client terminal. The host terminal monitors the paging channels for the client terminal via a high-power communication interface. If the host terminal detects a paging message for the client terminal, it forwards at least a portion of the paging message to the client terminal via a low-power communication interface. Upon receipt of the paging message from the host terminal via its low-power communication interface, the client terminal may power up its high-power communication interface and directly respond to an access terminal that initiated the paging message.

Claims

1. A client terminal comprising:

a first communication interface for communicating with an access point;

a second communication interface for communicating with a host terminal;

a processing circuit coupled between the first communication interface and the second communication interface, the processing circuit configured to

send a message to the host terminal requesting it to operate as a proxy for the client terminal;

power off the first communication interface;

listen for messages from the host terminal over the second communication interface;

receive at least a portion of a paging message from the host terminal;

power up the first communication interface; and

respond to the paging message via the first communication interface directly to an access point that initiated the paging message.

2. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the received portion of the paging message is sufficient for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point.

3. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the first communication interface is a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) compliant interface and the second communication interface is any Bluetooth compliant interface.

4. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein utilizing the second communication interface to receive the paging messages consumes less power than using the first communication interface.

5. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the portion of the received paging message includes at least one of a traffic channel and a sector.

6. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive an acknowledge from the host terminal agreeing to operate as a proxy fro the client terminal.

7. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the first communication interface has a longer range than the second communication interface.

8. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the first communication interface has a greater bandwidth than the second communication interface.

9. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to send at least one paging channel associated with the client terminal to the host terminal.

10. The client terminal of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first communication interface and the second communication interface is a wireless communication interface.

11. A method operational on a client terminal comprising:

sending a message to a host terminal requesting it to operate as a proxy for the client terminal;

powering down a first communication interface;

listening for paging messages from the host terminal over a second communication interface;

receiving at least a portion of a paging message from the host terminal;

powering up the first communication interface; and

responding to the paging message via the first communication interface directly to an access point that initiated the paging message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the portion of the received paging message sent by the host terminal contains sufficient information for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first communication interface is a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) compliant interface and the second communication interface is any Bluetooth compliant interface.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein utilizing the second communication interface to receive the paging messages consumes less power than using the first communication interface.

15. A client terminal comprising:

means for sending a message to a host terminal requesting that it operate as a proxy for the client terminal;

means for powering down a first communication interface;

means listening for paging messages from the host terminal over a second communication interface;

means for receiving at least a portion of a paging message from the host terminal;

means for powering up a first communication interface; and

means for responding to the paging message via the first communication interface directly to an access point that initiated the paging message.

16. The client terminal of claim 15, wherein the portion of the paging message sent by the host terminal contains sufficient information for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point.

17. The client terminal of claim 15, wherein both the first communication interface and the second communication interface are wireless communication interfaces.

18. A processor readable medium having one or more instructions operational on a client terminal for conserving power at the client terminal, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

send a message to a host terminal requesting it to operate as a proxy for a client terminal;

power down a first communication interface;

listen for paging messages from the host terminal over a second communication interface;

receive at least a portion of a paging message from the host terminal;

power up the first communication interface; and

respond to the paging message via the first communication interface directly to an access point that initiated the paging message.

19. The processor readable medium of claim 18, wherein utilizing the second communication interface to receive the paging messages consumes less power than using the first communication interface.

20. The processor readable medium of claim 18, wherein both the first communication interface and the second communication interface are wireless communication interfaces.

21. The processor readable medium of claim 20 wherein the first communication interface has a longer range than the second communication interface.

22. A processor comprising:

a processing circuit configured to

send a message to a host terminal requesting that it operate as a proxy for a client terminal;

power down a first communication interface;

listen for paging messages from the host terminal over a second communication interface;

receive at least a portion of a paging message from the host terminal;

power up the first communication interface; and

respond to the paging message via the first communication interface directly to an access point that initiated the paging message.

23. The processor of claim 22, wherein utilizing the second communication interface to receive the paging messages consumes less power than using the first communication interface.

24. The processor of claim 22 wherein the first communication interface has a longer range than the second communication interface.