Power-save method for 802.11 multicast paging applications
First Claim
1. A power-save method for a network having at least one access point and at least one associated power-save client comprising the steps of:
- buffering, at the access point, wireless data including at least one of a unicast frame and a multicast frame;
transmitting a periodic scheduled beacon message over at least one wireless link, the beacon message including a unicast indication element and a multicast indication element;
designating at least one beacon message as a multicast delivery beacon;
transmitting the buffered multicast frame following the designated at least one multicast delivery beacon;
determining multicast group membership for each associated client station;
examining at least one Internet Group Management Protocol Membership Report;
determining, from the at least one Internet Group Management Protocol Membership Report a multicast group membership for the associated client; and
classifying each multicast group;
wherein a multicast group is disabled when no associated clients are members,wherein a multicast group is active when all member stations are in active mode, andwherein a multicast group is power-save when at least one associated member station is in power-save mode.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power-save method for a network with an access point and an associated power-save client. The access point buffers wireless data that includes a unicast frame and a multicast frame. A periodic scheduled beacon message is transmitted with a unicast indication element and a multicast indication element. The unicast element instructs a client to remain awake to receive a buffered unicast frame, which includes a destination MAC address. The multicast element instructs a client to remain awake following the beacon to receive a buffered multicast frame, which includes a destination multicast address designating a multicast group of which the client is a member. At least one beacon message is designated as a multicast delivery beacon. The buffered multicast frame is transmitted following the designated multicast beacon. The multicast element contains a list of entries, each entry corresponding to either a multicast MAC address, multicast IP address, or client identifier.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A power-save method for a network having at least one access point and at least one associated power-save client comprising the steps of:
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buffering, at the access point, wireless data including at least one of a unicast frame and a multicast frame; transmitting a periodic scheduled beacon message over at least one wireless link, the beacon message including a unicast indication element and a multicast indication element; designating at least one beacon message as a multicast delivery beacon; transmitting the buffered multicast frame following the designated at least one multicast delivery beacon; determining multicast group membership for each associated client station; examining at least one Internet Group Management Protocol Membership Report; determining, from the at least one Internet Group Management Protocol Membership Report a multicast group membership for the associated client; and classifying each multicast group; wherein a multicast group is disabled when no associated clients are members, wherein a multicast group is active when all member stations are in active mode, and wherein a multicast group is power-save when at least one associated member station is in power-save mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 25, 26)
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14. A power-save system for wireless data streaming, comprising:
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an access point configured to provide a wireless data link to at least one associated power-save client; means for buffering, at the access point, wireless data including at least one of a unicast frame and a multicast frame; means for transmitting a periodic scheduled beacon message over at least one wireless link, the beacon message including a unicast indication element and a multicast indication element; means for designating at least one beacon message as a multicast delivery beacon; means for transmitting the buffered multicast frame following the designated at least one multicast delivery beacon; means for operating a proxy Address Resolution Protocol service, wherein the power-save client does not need to remain awake following the multicast beacon transmission to receive a broadcast Address Resolution Protocol message; means for determining multicast cigroup membership for each associated client station; means for classifying each multicast group; wherein a multicast group is disabled when no associated clients are members, wherein a multicast group is active when all member stations are in active mode, and wherein a multicast group is power-save when at least one associated member station is in power-save mode; means for deleting multicast frames that are destined to the disabled multicast group; means for immediately transmittinci multicast frames that are destined to the active multicast group immediately; and means for buffering multicast frames destined to the power-save multicast group for transmission following a beacon transmission. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer implemented power-save method for a network having at least one access point and at least one associated power-save client comprising the steps of:
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buffering, at the access point, wireless data including at least one of a unicast frame and a multicast frame; transmitting a periodic scheduled beacon message over at least one wireless link, the beacon message including a unicast indication element and a multicast indication element; designating at least one beacon message as a multicast delivery beacon; transmitting the buffered multicast frame following the designated at least one multicast delivery beacon; operating a proxy Address Resolution Protocol service, wherein the power-save client does not need to remain awake following the multicast beacon transmission to receive a broadcast Address Resolution Protocol message; determining multicast group membership for each associated client station; classifying each multicast group; wherein a multicast group is disabled when no associated clients are members, wherein a multicast group is active when all member stations are in active mode, and wherein a multicast group is power-save when at least one associated member station is in power-save mode; deleting multicast frames that are destined to the disabled multicast group; immediately transmitting multicast frames that are destined to the active multicast group immediately; and buffering multicast frames destined to the power-save multicast group for transmission following a beacon transmission. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification