ULTRA LOW-POWER PAGING FRAMES FOR WAKE-UP AND DISCOVERY

• US 20160057605A1
• Filed: 08/14/2015
• Published: 02/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: ABRAHAM, Santosh Paul, MERLIN, Simone, MALIK, Rahul, ASTERJADHI, Alfred, SHELLHAMMER, Stephen Jay
• Granted Patent: US 10,080,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/106 Packet or message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/108 Source integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/00 Synchronisation arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/001 Synchronization between nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/02 Arrangements for increasing efficiency of notification or paging channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to ultra low-power paging frames for wake up and discovery. One example apparatus for wireless communications generally includes at least one interface configured to receive via a first radio and a second radio, wherein the at least one interface receives a paging frame from another apparatus via the second radio while the first radio is in a first power state that is lower than a second power state of the second radio; and a processing system configured to take one or more actions based on a command field included in the paging frame.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one interface configured to receive via a first radio and a second radio, wherein the at least one interface receives a paging frame from another apparatus via the second radio while the first radio is in a first power state that is lower than a second power state of the second radio; and

a processing system configured to take one or more actions based on a command field included in the paging frame.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a frame check sequence (FCS) field shorter than FCS fields of other types of frames and lacking a transmitter address (TA) field; and

the processing system is configured to;

calculate a local FCS value, based on a TA of a virtual paging frame; and

compare the local FCS value to a value of the FCS field received in the paging frame.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of causing the first radio to exit the first power state or adjusting a local clock of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to:

receive, via the first radio, a configuration; and

monitor for paging frames based on the configuration.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface is configured to:

receive, as part of a capability exchange, an indication from the other apparatus that the other apparatus transmits low-power paging frames; and

monitor for low-power paging frames based on the indication.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the other apparatus comprises an access point (AP);

the local clock of the apparatus is adjusted based on a clock value of a field in the paging frame; and

the clock value comprises least significant bits (LSBs) of a value of a clock associated with the AP.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the command field indicates the other apparatus is capable of Wi-Fi Direct; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state, so the apparatus can communicate with the other apparatus via Wi-Fi Direct.

11. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the command field indicates the other apparatus is associated with a social group; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state so the apparatus can listen for a discovery frame sent by one or more members of the social group.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a field that indicates a time offset, relative to a transmission time of the paging frame, corresponding to a discovery window for the apparatus to listen for one or more discovery frames sent by the one or more members of the social group; and

the processing system is configured to listen for the one or more discovery frames during the discovery window.

14. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a field with association assist information; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state to attempt association with the other apparatus using the association assist information.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the association assist information comprises a service set ID (SSID) of the other apparatus; and

the processing system is configured to associate with the other apparatus only if the SSID of the other apparatus is in a list of relevant SSIDs stored at the apparatus.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

association assist information comprises one or more frequency bands supported by the other apparatus,

the processing system is further configured to determine the apparatus supports at least one of the one or more frequency bands; and

the one or more actions comprises causing the first radio to exit the first power state based on the determination.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a network-wide identifier (NWID) field set to a value that identifies a network to which the other apparatus is associated and a receiver address (RA) field; and

the processing system is configured to take the one or more actions only if a value of the NWID field matches a value of the RA field.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the NWID field comprises one of;

a station identifier (SID), a service set identifier (SSID), a hashed version of an SID, or a hashed version of an SSID; and

the processing system is configured to take the one or more actions only if the SID, the SSID, the hashed version of the SID, or the hashed version of the SSID matches the value of the RA field.

6. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

13. (canceled)

19. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

determine whether another apparatus is capable of receiving a paging frame, via a second radio, while a first radio of the other apparatus is in a first power state that is lower than a second power state of the second radio; and

based on the determination, generate a paging frame comprising a command field that indicates one or more actions for the other apparatus to take; and

at least one interface configured to output the paging frame for transmission to the other apparatus.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the paging frame comprises at least one of:

a control frame, a management frame, or a data frame.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a frame check sequence (FCS) field having a shorter length than FCS fields of other types of frames.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header that lacks at least one of a receiver address (RA) or a transmitter address (TA).

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a network-wide identifier (NWID) field set to a value that identifies a network to which the apparatus is associated.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the NWID field comprises one of:

a station identifier (SID), a service set identifier (SSID), a hashed version of an SID, or a hashed version of an SSID.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the determining comprises:

receiving, as part of a capability exchange, capability information from the other apparatus indicating the other apparatus is capable of receiving low-power paging frames.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the one or more actions comprise at least one of causing the first radio to exit the first power state or adjusting a local clock of the other apparatus.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the local clock of the other apparatus is adjusted based on a clock value of a field in the paging frame.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the clock value comprises least significant bits (LSBs) of a value of a clock associated with the apparatus.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein:

the command field further indicates the apparatus is capable of Wi-Fi Direct; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state, so the other apparatus can communicate with the apparatus via Wi-Fi Direct.

32. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the command field further indicates the apparatus is associated with a social group;

the processing system is configured to provide, via a medium access control (MAC) header of the paging frame, an indication of a time offset, relative to a transmission time of the paging frame, corresponding to a window during which frames are sent by the one or more members of the social group for discovery; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state during the window.

33. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein:

the paging frame comprises a medium access control (MAC) header having a field with association assist information; and

the one or more actions comprise causing the first radio to exit the first power state to attempt association with the apparatus using the association assist information.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the association assist information comprises a service set ID (SSID) of the apparatus; and

the one or more actions comprises associating with the apparatus if the SSID of the apparatus is in a list of relevant SSIDs stored at the other apparatus.

20. (canceled)

31. (canceled)

35. A method for wireless communications by an apparatus, comprising:

receiving via a first radio and a second radio, wherein the at least one interface receives a paging frame from another apparatus via the second radio while the first radio is in a first power state that is lower than a second power state of the second radio; and

taking one or more actions based on a command field included in the paging frame.

36-52. -52. (canceled)

53. A method for wireless communications by an apparatus, comprising:

determining whether another apparatus is capable of receiving a paging frame, via a second radio, while a first radio of the other apparatus is in a first power state that is lower than a second power state of the second radio; and

based on the determination, generating a paging frame comprising a command field that indicates one or more actions for the other apparatus to take; and

outputting the paging frame for transmission to the other apparatus.

54-106. -106. (canceled)