MOBILE STATION, WIRELESS BASE STATION, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD

• US 20120008581A1
• Filed: 09/22/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Kojima, Yuji
• Granted Patent: US 8,509,203 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In a mobile station which communicates wirelessly with a wireless base station with a plurality of connections established by using part or all of a plurality of frequency bands, a plurality of wireless communication interfaces is associated with the plurality of frequency bands, and a processor makes a sleep request to the wireless base station, acquires from the wireless base station information about a result of scheduling complying with the sleep request and indicating non-sleep intervals of the individual connections and the frequency bands to be used for the respective non-sleep intervals, and performs sleep control on the plurality of wireless communication interfaces in accordance with the acquired information.

Claims

1. A mobile station for communicating wirelessly with a wireless base station with a plurality of connections established by using part or all of a plurality of frequency bands, comprising:

a plurality of wireless communication interfaces associated with said plurality of frequency bands; and

a processor configured to make a sleep request to the wireless base station, acquire from the wireless base station information about a result of scheduling complying with the sleep request and indicating non-sleep intervals of the individual connections and the frequency bands to be used for the respective non-sleep intervals, and perform sleep control on said plurality of wireless communication interfaces in accordance with the acquired information.

2. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor selects, from among a plurality of scheduling policies, a policy to be used by the wireless base station, and designates the selected policy by means of the sleep request.

3. The mobile station according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of scheduling policies include a first policy that preferentially increases a number of the frequency bands which can be deactivated, and a second policy that preferentially prolongs an interval where sleep intervals of said plurality of connections overlap.

4. The mobile station according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to measure an electric power consumption of the mobile station, and

the processor determines a method to be employed for the sleep control, in accordance with the electric power consumptions that are measured with said plurality of scheduling policies designated.

5. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor designates, by means of the sleep request and as a condition for the scheduling, a number of the frequency bands to be activated or a number of the frequency bands to be deactivated.

6. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor designates, by means of the sleep request and as a condition for the scheduling, the frequency band to be activated or the frequency band to be deactivated.

7. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor designates, by means of the sleep request and as a condition for the scheduling, an interval to be included in the non-sleep interval.

8. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor instructs the wireless base station prior to addition of the connection whether the wireless base station has to perform rescheduling or not when the connection is added.

9. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to process data packets received via or to be transmitted via at least one of said plurality of wireless communication interfaces, and

the processor operates when said at least one of said plurality of wireless communication interfaces is operating, and sleeps when all of said plurality of wireless communication interfaces are sleeping.

10. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein the information acquired from the wireless base station includes at least one of information about sleep intervals of the individual connections, information about the frequency band to be activated, and information about the frequency band to be deactivated.

11. A wireless base station for communicating wirelessly with a mobile station with a plurality of connections established by using part or all of a plurality of frequency bands, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a sleep request from the mobile station;

a processor configured to perform scheduling of non-sleep intervals of the individual connections and the frequency bands to be used for the respective non-sleep intervals, in compliance with the sleep request received by the receiver; and

a transmitter configured to transmit information about a result of the scheduling by the processor to the mobile station.

12. The wireless base station according to claim 11, wherein, where said plurality of connections include a connection whose non-sleep interval has a length that changes until a predetermined condition is fulfilled, the processor defers the scheduling until the non-sleep interval stops changing.

13. A wireless communication method allowing a mobile station and a wireless base station to communicate wirelessly with each other with a plurality of connections established by using part or all of a plurality of frequency bands, comprising:

causing the mobile station to transmit a sleep request to the wireless base station;

causing the wireless base station to perform scheduling of non-sleep intervals of the individual connections and the frequency bands to be used for the respective non-sleep intervals, in compliance with the sleep request, and to transmit information about a result of the scheduling to the mobile station; and

causing the mobile station to perform sleep control on a plurality of wireless communication interfaces thereof associated with said plurality of frequency bands, in accordance with the information transmitted from the wireless base station.