ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF RF LOW POWER MODES IN A MULTI-RATE WIRELESS SYSTEM USING DEVICE MODE

• US 20150351032A1
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Homchaudhuri, Sandip, Husted, Paul, Lee, MeeLan, Mehta, Srenik, Shi, Kai, Abdollahi-Alibeik, Shahram, Jia, Zhanfeng, Kasnavi, Soraya, Zhang, Ning, Su, David Kuochieh, Thandaveswaran, Subramania Sharma, Gainey, Kenneth, O'Donnell, Ian David
• Granted Patent: US 9,781,673 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3234 Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for power conservation in a wireless communications system. In embodiments, power conservation may be achieved by adaptively controlling power modes of a wireless communication device, and implementing lower power modes with various modes of the device. According to one aspect, the mode of the device may be a beacon monitoring mode or a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) mode. In such a mode, the device may receive a portion of a beacon in a first power mode. The device may transition to a second, different (e.g., higher) power mode using information contained in the received portion of the beacon as guidance.

Claims

1. A method of adaptive power control for a wireless communication device, comprising:

receiving a portion of a beacon in a first power mode of the device; and

transitioning to a second power mode based at least in part on an information element (IE) in the received portion of the beacon, the second power mode being a different power mode than the first power mode.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the IE in the beacon to be a traffic indication bit; and

determining that the traffic indication bit is set, the transitioning to the second power mode being performed based on determining that the traffic indication bit is set.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving data in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) bit.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting a power save poll (PS-Poll) or a null data frame in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

initiating transitioning to the second power mode upon determining that the traffic indication bit is set; and

ignoring a remainder of the beacon after the traffic indication bit.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

completing transition to the second power mode by an end of a distributed inter-frame space (DIFS) following a termination of the beacon.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a remainder of the beacon after the traffic indication bit; and

initiating transitioning to the second power mode upon termination of the beacon.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

completing transition to the second power mode by an end of a distributed inter-frame space (DIFS) following a termination of the receiving of the beacon.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value of a most recent reception of data from an access point (AP) associated with the beacon; and

transmitting a power save poll (PS-Poll) in a third power mode of the device when the identified MCS value is compatible with the third power mode and the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit, the third power mode being a lower power mode than the second power mode.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the traffic indication bit comprises a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) bit or a traffic indication map (TIM) bit.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein transitioning to the second power mode comprises:

switching to a main synthesizer routed to each of a plurality of transmission/reception (Tx/Rx) chains associated with a modem for the second power mode from a plurality of local synthesizers routed respectively to one of the plurality of Tx/Rx chains for the first power mode.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein transitioning to the second power mode comprises:

switching from a main synthesizer routed to each of a plurality of transmission/reception (Tx/Rx) chains associated with a modem for the first power mode to a plurality of local synthesizers routed respectively to one of the plurality of Tx/Rx chains for the second power mode.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a frame is to be transmitted by the device; and

transmitting the frame in the first power mode of the device when a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value of the frame is compatible with the first power mode.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting the frame in the second power mode of the device when the MCS value of the frame is not compatible with the first power mode.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a frame type of a frame to be transmitted; and

transmitting the frame in the first power mode of the device based on the determined frame type.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determined frame type comprises a management frame.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a background scan in the first power mode of the device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein performing the background scan in the first power mode comprises operating components of the device involved in the background scan in the first power mode.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the device is in a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) mode.

20. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a portion of a beacon in a first power mode of the device; and

a power controller configured to transition to a second power mode based at least in part on an information element (IE) in the received portion of the beacon, the second power mode being a different power mode than the first power mode.

21. The device of claim 20, further comprising:

a beacon IE determiner configured to;

determine the IE in the beacon to be a traffic indication bit; and

determine that the traffic indication bit is set, the transitioning to the second power mode being performed based on determining that the traffic indication bit is set.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the receiver is further configured to:

receive data in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) bit.

23. The device of claim 21, further comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a power save poll (PS-Poll) or a null data frame in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit.

24. The device of claim 21, further comprising:

a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) determiner configured to determine an MCS value of a most recent reception of data from an access point (AP) associated with the beacon; and

a transmitter configured to transmit a power save poll (PS-Poll) in a third power mode of the device when the identified MCS value is compatible with the third power mode and the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit, the third power mode being a lower power mode than the second power mode.

25. An apparatus for adaptive power control for a wireless communication device, comprising:

means for receiving a portion of a beacon in a first power mode of the device; and

means for transitioning to a second power mode based at least in part on an information element (IE) in the received portion of the beacon, the second power mode being a different power mode than the first power mode.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

means for determining the IE in the beacon to be a traffic indication bit; and

means for determining that the traffic indication bit is set, the transitioning to the second power mode being performed based on determining that the traffic indication bit is set.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for receiving the portion of the beacon is further configured to receive data in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) bit.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for transmitting a power save poll (PS-Poll) or a null data frame in the second power mode of the device when the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value of a most recent reception of data from an access point (AP) associated with the beacon; and

means for transmitting a power save poll (PS-Poll) in a third power mode of the device when the identified MCS value is compatible with the third power mode and the traffic indication bit is a traffic indication map (TIM) bit, the third power mode being a lower power mode than the second power mode.

30. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by a computer to;

receive a portion of a beacon in a first power mode of the device; and

transition to a second power mode based at least in part on an information element (IE) in the received portion of the beacon, the second power mode being a different power mode than the first power mode.