Saving Power In A Wireless Communication Device

• US 20120230236A1
• Filed: 03/08/2011
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Kert, Kaido, Wurm, Karlheinz
• Granted Patent: US 8,923,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0248 dependent on the time of the day, e.g. according to expected transmission activity
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A terminal comprises a plurality of hardware I/O units, including a wireless transceiver having a powered-up state in which at least one of a transmit path and a receive path is enabled at the expense of higher power consumption and a powered-down state in which the at least one path is disabled in favour of lower power consumption; a processing apparatus; and a storage medium coupled to the processing apparatus and storing at least a first and a second application, an operating system, a communication protocol layer and a driver layer arranged to be executed on the processing apparatus. The operating system is arranged to arbitrate access by the plurality of applications to the hardware I/O units via the driver layer, including access to the wireless transceiver via the communication protocol layer and driver layer. The second application comprises a wireless traffic scheduler configured to coordinate traffic associated with the second application to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during a same continuous phase of the powered-up state as traffic associated with the first application.

Claims

1. A terminal comprising:

a plurality of hardware I/O units, including a wireless transceiver having a powered-up state in which at least one of a transmit path and a receive path is enabled at the expense of higher power consumption and a powered-down state in which the at least one path is disabled in favour of lower power consumption;

a processing apparatus; and

a storage medium coupled to the processing apparatus and storing at least a first and a second application, an operating system, a communication protocol layer and a driver layer arranged to be executed on the processing apparatus;

wherein the operating system is arranged to arbitrate access by the plurality of applications to the hardware I/O units via the driver layer, including access to the wireless transceiver via the communication protocol layer and driver layer; and

wherein the second application comprises a wireless traffic scheduler configured to coordinate traffic associated with the second application to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during a same continuous phase of the powered-up state as traffic associated with the first application.

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured such that the coordination of said traffic is dependent on information of application-layer content of the traffic associated with one or both of the first and second applications.

3. The terminal of claim 2, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured such that the coordination of said traffic is dependent on whether or to what extent the traffic associated with one or both of the first and second applications is time critical.

4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured to perform said coordination by:

receiving an indication regarding scheduling of first traffic associated with the first application; and

determining whether second traffic associated with the second application can be scheduled so as to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during the same continuous phase of the powered-up state as the traffic associated with the first application.

5. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the indication is received via the operating system.

6. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the indication is received by the wireless traffic scheduler in the second application querying the first application regarding scheduling of first traffic associated with the first application.

7. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured to perform said coordination by:

if the traffic associated with the second application cannot be scheduled to a phase already scheduled for the traffic associated with the first application, transmitting a request to the operating system or first application requesting rescheduled communication of the traffic associated with the first application.

8. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the operating system also comprise a wireless traffic scheduler configured to participate in said coordination by:

receiving requests from the first and second applications for communication of traffic via the wireless transceiver at different respective times; and

in conjunction with the wireless traffic scheduler in the second application, rescheduling the traffic associated with the request from the second application to a time other than that of the respective request, so as to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during the same continuous phase of the powered-up state as the traffic associated with the request from the first application.

9. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler in the operating system is configured to perform said rescheduling by:

receiving one or more requests from the first application to communicate first traffic via the wireless transceiver at one or more first times, and scheduling access at the one or more requested first times; and

receiving one or more requests from the second application to communicate second traffic via the wireless transceiver at one or more second times, and returning a response to the wireless traffic scheduler in the second application offering rescheduled communication of the second traffic based on the one or more first times.

10. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler in the operating system is configured to perform said rescheduling by:

if the wireless traffic scheduler in the second application declines the offered rescheduling, rescheduling communication of the first and second traffic based on consideration of both the one or more first times and one or more second times.

11. The terminal of claim 1, comprising a software-accessible register coupled to the processing apparatus and wireless transceiver, wherein the operating system is arranged to control said states by writing to the software-accessible register.

12. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the traffic associated with the second application is non real time traffic and the traffic associated with the first application is real time traffic.

13. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the first application comprises one of:

a web-browser, an email client, a dedicated weather report client application, a dedicated news client application, a dedicated stock-ticker client application, and a game.

14. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the second application comprises a packet-based communication client for conducting voice or video calls or exchanging IM chat messages via a packet-based network.

15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the traffic associated with the packet-based communication client comprises at least one of a presence update and an IM message.

16. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the transmit path comprises a power amplifier, the powered-up state comprises the power-amplifier being turned on, and the powered down state comprises the power amplifier being turned off.

17. A method of operating a terminal comprising a plurality of hardware I/O units, including a wireless transceiver having a powered-up state in which at least one of a transmit path and a receive path is enabled at the expense of higher power consumption and a powered-down state in which the at least one path is disabled in favour of lower power consumption;

a processing apparatus; and

a storage medium coupled to the processing apparatus and storing at least a first and a second application, an operating system, a communication protocol layer and a driver layer arranged to be executed on the processing apparatus;

wherein the operating system is arranged to arbitrate access by the plurality of applications to the hardware I/O units via the driver layer, including access to the wireless transceiver via the communication protocol layer and driver layer;

wherein the method comprises running a wireless traffic scheduler implemented in the second application to coordinate traffic associated with the second application to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during a same continuous phase of the powered-up state as traffic associated with the first application.

18. A computer program product for a terminal comprising a plurality of hardware I/O units, including a wireless transceiver having a powered-up state in which at least one of a transmit path and a receive path is enabled at the expense of higher power consumption and a powered-down state in which the at least one path is disabled in favour of lower power consumption;

a processing apparatus; and

a storage medium coupled to the processing apparatus and storing at least a first and a second application, an operating system, a communication protocol layer and a driver layer arranged to be executed on the processing apparatus;

wherein the operating system is arranged to arbitrate access by the plurality of applications to the hardware I/O units via the driver layer, including access to the wireless transceiver via the communication protocol layer and driver layer;

wherein the computer program product comprises the second application, embodied on a non-transient computer-readable medium, and the second application comprises a wireless traffic scheduler configured so as when executed on the processing apparatus to coordinate traffic associated with the second application to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during a same continuous phase of the powered-up state as traffic associated with the first application

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured such that the coordination of said traffic is dependent on information of application-layer content of the traffic associated with one or both of the first and second applications.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured such that the coordination of said traffic is dependent on whether or to what extent the traffic associated with one or both of the first and second applications is time critical.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured to perform said coordination by:

receiving an indication regarding scheduling of first traffic associated with the first application; and

determining whether second traffic associated with the second application can be scheduled so as to be communicated via the wireless transceiver during the same continuous phase of the powered-up state as the traffic associated with the first application.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured to receive said indication via the operating system.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the indication is received by the wireless traffic scheduler in the second application querying the first application regarding scheduling of first traffic associated with the first application.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the wireless traffic scheduler is configured to perform said coordination by:

if the traffic associated with the second application cannot be scheduled to a phase already scheduled for the traffic associated with the first application, transmitting a request to the operating system or first application requesting rescheduled communication of the traffic associated with the first application