DELEGATING WIFI NETWORK DISCOVERY AND TRAFFIC MONITORING

• US 20160100369A1
• Filed: 03/19/2014
• Published: 04/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: CHHABRA, Kapil
• Granted Patent: US 9,894,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless device configured to delegate it communications and traffic monitoring tasks to a paired device when a wireless transceiver of the wireless device is found to be in an idle state is provided. The wireless device includes two wireless transceivers, the first wireless transceiver for communicating with a wireless access point and second low power wireless transceiver for communicating with a paired device. When the wireless device determines that the first wireless transceiver is in an idle state, it can place the first wireless transceiver into a sleep mode and delegate to the paired device via the second wireless transceiver communication and traffic monitoring tasks that would have been performed by the first wireless transceiver if it were not in a sleep mode.

Claims

1. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:

a first transceiver configured for communicating with a wireless access point;

a second transceiver configured for communicating with a second wireless device; and

a processor capable of

determining an idle state of the first transceiver;

delegating one or more communication tasks to the second wireless device when the first transceiver is determined to be idle, wherein delegating also includes transmitting one or more sets of data to the second wireless device via the second transceiver; and

configuring the first transceiver to operate in a sleep mode when the first transceiver is determined to be idle.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes scanning for a service set identifier (SSID) that is known to the wireless device.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes receiving one or more beacons sent by the wireless access point and determining if the wireless access point has data intended for the wireless device.

4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes scanning for address resolution protocol (ARP) requests intended for the wireless device.

25. The wireless device of claim 2, the second transceiver further configured for receiving a message from the second wireless device that a known SSID has been detected, and the processor further capable of exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the known SSID has been detected has been received.

26. The wireless device of claim 2, the first transceiver further configured for transmitting a list of known SSIDs to a cloud for retrieval by the second wireless device.

27. The wireless device of claim 3, the second transceiver further configured for transmitting an association identification (AID) to the second wireless device to enable the second wireless device to determine if a particular received beacon indicates data intended for the wireless device.

28. The wireless device of claim 27, the second transceiver further configured for receiving a message from the second wireless device that a beacon containing the AID has been detected, and the processor further capable of exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the AID has been detected has been received.

29. The wireless device of claim 4, the second transceiver further configured for transmitting a media access control (MAC) address to the second wireless device to enable the second wireless device to determine if a received ARP request is intended for the wireless device.

30. The wireless device of claim 29, the second transceiver further configured for receiving a message from the second wireless device that a beacon containing the ARP request has been detected, and the processor further capable of exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the ARP request has been detected has been received.

5. A method of configuring a transceiver used to communicate with a wireless access point, the method comprising:

detecting an idle state of a first transceiver;

delegating one or more communication tasks to a second wireless device when an idle state of the first transceiver is detected, wherein delegating also includes transmitting one or more sets of data to the second wireless device via a second transceiver; and

configuring the first transceiver to operate in a sleep mode when the first transceiver is determined to be idle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes scanning for a service set identifier (SSID) that is known to the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes receiving one or more beacons sent by the wireless access point and, the method further comprising determining if the wireless access point has data intended for the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes scanning for address resolution protocol (ARP) requests intended for the wireless device.

31. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a message from the second wireless device that a known SSID has been detected; and

exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the known SSID has been detected has been received.

32. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting a list of known SSIDs to a cloud for retrieval by the second wireless device.

33. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting an association identification (AID) to the second wireless device to enable the second wireless device to determine if a particular received beacon indicates data intended for the wireless device.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

receiving a message from the second wireless device that a beacon containing the AID has been detected; and

exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the AID has been detected has been received.

35. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting a media access control (MAC) address to the second wireless device to enable the second wireless device to determine if a received ARP request is intended for the wireless device.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving a message from the second wireless device that a beacon containing the ARP request has been detected; and

exiting from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the ARP request has been detected has been received.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

detect an idle state of a first transceiver in a wireless device;

delegate one or more communication tasks to a second wireless device when an idle state of the first transceiver is detected, wherein delegating also includes transmitting one or more sets of data to the second wireless device via a second transceiver; and

configure the first transceiver to operate in a sleep mode when the first transceiver is determined to be idle.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes scanning for a service set identifier (SSID) that is known to the wireless device.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more communication tasks being delegated to the second wireless device includes receiving one or more beacons sent by the wireless access point, and the instructions further causing the processor to determine if the wireless access point has data intended for the wireless device.

37. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to:

receive a message from the second wireless device that a known SSID has been detected; and

exit from the sleep mode when the message indicating that the known SSID has been detected has been received.

38. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to transmit a list of known SSIDs to a cloud for retrieval by the second wireless device.

12-24. -24. (canceled)