METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTELLIGENT POWER REDUCTION IN COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS

• US 20120128045A1
• Filed: 02/08/2011
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Entropic Communications, LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Maxlinear Incorporated
• Inventors: Ling, Curtis, Gallagher, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 8,548,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/222
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2861 Point-to-multipoint connection from the data network to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2863 Arrangements for combining access network resources elements, e.g. channel bonding modem pooling H04L25/14; routing of packets H04L45/00; multichannel or multilink protocols H04L69/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2865 Logical combinations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/22 Traffic shaping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for power control in a communications device are described. Bonding of channels in a modem may be dynamically adjusted responsive to user activity or demand for bandwidth. Bonded channel configurations may be adjusted to single channel configurations for low power operation. Modem configuration may be dynamically adjusted so as to maintain only required synchronization and system information to facilitate rapid data transfer resumption upon demand.

Claims

1. A method for controlling power consumption in a modem, comprising:

bonding a plurality of channels to create a first bonded channel set having a first number of channels;

processing data provided from the first bonded channel set in the modem;

receiving a request for bandwidth adjustment;

responsive to the request for bandwidth adjustment, changing the number of channels in the first bonded channel set so as to define a second bonded channel set having a second number of channels; and

processing data provided from the second bonded channel set in the modem.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to reduce power consumption, and the first number of channels is greater than the second number of channels.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to reduce data throughput, and the first number of channels is greater than the second number of channels.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising receiving a second requirement for bandwidth adjustment associated with a requirement to increase data throughput, and increasing the number of channels in the second bonded channel set so as to define a third bonded channel set having a third number of channels greater than the number of channels in the second bonded channel set.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to increase data throughput, and the first number of channels is smaller than the second number of channels.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically adjusting a bandwidth of a front end filter so as to facilitate processing of the second bonded channel set.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising dynamically adjusting the clock rate of an analog-to-digital converter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second bonded channel set consists of a single channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the single channel is a primary channel associated with the cable system.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the configuration of channels in the first bonded channel set so as to define the second bonded channel set.

11. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a channel bonding module configured to bond a plurality of channels to create a first bonded channel set having a first number of channels; and

a bandwidth adjustment module configured to generate a request for bandwidth adjustment;

wherein the channel bonding module is further configured to change the number of channels in the first bonded channel responsive to the request for bandwidth adjustment so as to define a second bonded channel set having a second number of channels.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an output module configured to provide an output data stream from the first and second bonded channel set.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to reduce power consumption, and the first number of channels is greater than the second number of channels.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to reduce data throughput, and the first number of channels is greater than the second number of channels.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the bandwidth adjustment module is further configured to generate a second request for bandwidth adjustment associated with a requirement to increase data throughput, and the channel bonding module is further configured to increase the number of channels in the second bonded channel set so as to define a third bonded channel set having a third number of channels greater than the number of channels in the second bonded channel set.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the request for bandwidth adjustment is associated with a requirement to increase data throughput, and the first number of channels is smaller than the second number of channels.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second bonded channel set consists of a single channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the single channel is a primary channel associated with the cable system.

19. A method for power reduction in a modem including a plurality of receiver front end modules configured to process a plurality of sets of bonded channels, the method comprising:

receiving a request for power reduction;

setting a first front end module of the plurality of front end modules to a narrowband operating mode;

tuning the first front end module to a primary channel and providing a first processed primary channel output;

wherein a second front end module of the plurality of front end modules is configured to receive the primary channel and provide, as an output, a second processed primary channel signal to a demodulator module; and

transitioning processing in the demodulation module of the second processed primary channel signal to the first processed primary channel signal.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising reducing power consumption of the second front end module after said transitioning.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said reducing power consumption comprises turning off the second front end module.

22. A method for controlling power consumption in a modem, comprising:

detecting a decreased demand for user data in the modem; and

dynamically reconfiguring modem operation responsive to said detecting, wherein the dynamically reconfiguring includes configuring the modem so as to maintain system synchronization.