POWER SAVING BY LIMITING USE OF ADVANCED SIGNAL PROCESSING

• US 20120052858A1
• Filed: 01/19/2011
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Mohseni, Jafar, O'Shea, Helena Deirdre, Stancer, William
• Granted Patent: US 8,521,237 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/425
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices are described for power saving techniques in mobile devices. A signal quality metric of a received wireless signal may be monitored. A determination is made when the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period. A subset of the signal processing functionality may be de-activated responsive to the determination. There may be different thresholds depending on whether the mobile device is in idle or connected mode. There may also be different thresholds for various signal processing algorithms.

Claims

1. A method for signal processing comprising:

monitoring a signal quality metric associated with a received wireless signal;

determining that the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period; and

de-activating a subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating a timer for the time period when a mobile device transitions to idle mode.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

suspending a timer for the time period when the mobile device transitions to connected mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold quality level comprises:

a first threshold quality level when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second threshold quality level, of higher quality than the first threshold quality level, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the time period comprises:

a first time period when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second time period, longer than the first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold quality level and the time period comprise:

a first threshold quality level and a first time period when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second threshold quality level and a second time period, different from the first threshold quality level and the first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining when the signal quality metric drops below a re-activation threshold quality level for a re-activation time period; and

re-activating the subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold quality level and the re-activation threshold quality level comprise different levels.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the re-activation threshold quality level and the re-activation time period comprise:

a first re-activation threshold quality level and a first re-activation time period when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second re-activation threshold quality level and a second re-activation time period, different from the first re-activation threshold quality level and the first re-activation time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of signal processing includes signal processing functionality comprising interference cancellation, equalization, amplification, adjacent channel interference correction, Doppler shift correction, frequency error correction, or phase error correction.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold quality level and the time period comprise:

a first threshold quality level and a first time period for a first type of signal processing functionality; and

a second threshold quality level and a second time period, different from the first threshold quality level and the first time period, for a second type of signal processing functionality.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reducing requirements for signal lock responsive to the determination.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delaying activation of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal quality metric comprises an averaged signal quality metric.

15. A device for signal processing comprising:

means for monitoring a signal quality metric associated with a received wireless signal;

means for determining that the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period; and

means for de-activating a subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

16. The device of claim 15, further comprising:

means for initiating a timer for the time period when a mobile device transitions to idle mode.

17. The device of claim 15, further comprising:

means for determining when the signal quality metric drops below a re-activation threshold quality level for a re-activation time period; and

means for re-activating the subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

18. A mobile device for signal processing, comprising:

a receiver module configured to receive a wireless signal;

a measurement module configured to measure a signal quality metric of the received wireless signal; and

a de-activation module, communicatively coupled with the measurement module, and configured to;

monitor the measured signal quality;

determine when the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period; and

de-activate a subset of baseband signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the de-activation module is further configured to:

initiate a first timer for the time period when the mobile device transitions to idle mode.

20. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the mobile device executes the de-activation module operates in connected mode or idle mode.

21. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the threshold quality level comprises:

a first threshold quality level when the mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second threshold quality level, of higher quality than the first threshold quality level, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

22. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the time period comprises:

a first time period when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second time period, longer than the first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

23. The mobile device of claim 18, further comprising:

a re-activation module, communicatively coupled with the measurement module, and configured to;

determining that the signal quality metric has dropped below a re-activation threshold quality level for a re-activation time period; and

re-activating the subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the threshold quality level and the re-activation threshold quality level comprise different levels.

25. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the re-activation threshold quality level and the re-activation time period comprise:

a first re-activation threshold quality level and a first re-activation time period when the mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second re-activation threshold quality level and a second re-activation time period, different in quality level or time from the first re-activation threshold quality level and the re-activation first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

26. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the subset of signal processing includes signal processing functionality comprising interference cancellation, equalization, amplification, adjacent channel interference correction, Doppler shift correction, frequency error correction, phase error correction, or any combination thereof.

27. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein requirements for signal lock are reduced responsive to the determination.

28. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein activation of signal processing functionality is delayed responsive to the determination.

29. A computer program product comprising:

computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing a computer a signal quality metric associated with a wireless signal;

code for causing a computer to determine that the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period; and

code for causing a computer to de-activate a subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

30. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing a computer to initiate a timer for the time period when a mobile device transitions to idle mode.

31. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the mobile device executes the code in idle or connected mode.

32. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the threshold quality level comprises:

a first threshold quality level and a first time period when the mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second threshold quality level and a second time period, different from the first threshold quality level and the first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

33. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the time period comprises:

a first time period when a mobile device is in idle mode; and

a second time period, longer than the first time period, when the mobile device is in connected mode.

34. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing a computer to determine that the signal quality metric has dropped below a re-activation threshold quality level for a re-activation time period; and

code for causing a computer to re-activate the subset of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.

35. The computer program product according to claim 34, wherein the threshold quality level and the re-activation threshold quality level comprise different levels.

36. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the subset of signal processing includes signal processing functionality comprising interference cancellation, equalization, amplification, adjacent channel interference correction, Doppler shift correction, frequency error correction, or phase error correction.

37. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the threshold quality level and the time period comprise:

a first threshold quality level and a first time period for a first type of signal processing functionality; and

a second threshold quality level and a second time period, different from the first threshold quality level and the first time period, for a second type of signal processing functionality.

38. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing a computer to reduce requirements for signal lock responsive to the determination;

or

code for causing a computer to delay activation of signal processing functionality responsive to the determination.