Remote Wake Using Signal Characteristics

• US 20140129859A1
• Filed: 11/05/2012
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Blackmon, Whitney, O'Malley, Shawn
• Granted Patent: US 9,250,685 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections

Abstract

Disclosures related to waking a sleeping device while minimizing active components needed to receive a remote wakeup request. In one aspect, devices having an RF tuner, may be configured to detect a digital or an analog signal variation or change in RF signal characteristics. Further, the variation or change may be interpreted as a wakeup signal.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining that a device should enter a sleep mode;

setting a component of the device to a first frequency;

configuring the component to detect a predetermined change in a signal characteristic;

detecting, by the component, the predetermined change in the signal characteristic; and

waking the device from the sleep mode in response to detecting the predetermined change in the signal characteristic.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predetermined change in the signal characteristic comprises detecting a predetermined change in a signal-to-noise ratio on the first frequency.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predetermined change in the signal characteristic comprises detecting a predetermined change in a power level on the first frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predetermined change in the signal characteristic comprises detecting an absence of a signal on the first frequency.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein detecting the absence of the signal on the first frequency further comprises detecting a predetermined pattern of signal absences on the first frequency.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predetermined change in the signal characteristic comprises detecting a predetermined change in a number of quadrature-amplitude modulation (QAM) bits received on the first frequency.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, in response to determining that the device should enter a sleep mode, a sleep mode configuration request to a remote computing device; and

receiving, from the remote computing device, a wake configuration file identifying the first frequency and the predetermined change.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a remote computing device, a plurality of wake configuration requests from a plurality of devices; and

assigning groups of the devices to different predetermined changes in the first frequency'"'"'s signal modulation characteristics.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising assigning different combinations of two or more predetermined changes in the first frequency'"'"'s signal modulation characteristics to different groups of the devices.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising instructing different device components to monitor different frequencies for changes in signal characteristics on the different frequencies.

11. A computing device, comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) tuner;

a signal characteristic detection circuit coupled to an output of the tuner; and

a processor, configured to perform the following;

determine that the device may enter a sleep mode;

identify a radio frequency on which a wakeup signal is expected to be received;

set the RF tuner to the identified frequency;

detect, with the signal characteristic detection circuit, a predetermined wakeup signal characteristic change; and

initiate an exit from the sleep mode in response to said detection.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the predetermined wakeup signal characteristic change is a change in a signal-to-noise ratio on the identified frequency.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the predetermined wakeup signal characteristic change is a change in a number of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) points received on the identified radio frequency.

14. The device of claim 11, wherein the predetermined wakeup signal characteristic change is a change in a power level on the identified radio frequency.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined wakeup signal characteristic change is a predetermined pattern of power level changes on the identified radio frequency.

16. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to place the device in a light sleep mode, and to permit waking in response to both a wakeup signal characteristic change in an identified frequency and a locally-generated wakeup signal from a sleep scheduler circuit.

17. The device of claim 11, further configured to power down other components of the device when entering the sleep mode.

18. A method, comprising:

storing, at a sleep management computing device, sleep mode configuration data for a plurality of remote devices;

receiving a request from a first remote device to enter a sleep mode;

identify, in the stored sleep mode configuration data, a wakeup signal characteristic change corresponding to the first remote device, and a wakeup signal frequency; and

in response to determining that the first remote device should wake, transmitting the wakeup signal characteristic change on the wakeup signal frequency.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the wakeup signal characteristic change is a change in a power level on the wakeup signal frequency.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the wakeup signal characteristic change is a predetermined pattern of power level changes on the wakeup signal frequency