Method for maintaining wireless network response time while saving wireless adapter power
First Claim
1. A method for conserving power consumed by wireless communication hardware of a computing device executing a communication application, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a packet for transmission from higher level software comprising the communication application;
receiving, along with the data for transmission, through the driver scheduling related information from a plurality of sources, wherein the plurality of sources comprise the communication application and the wireless communication hardware, wherein the scheduling related information can be used to determine an expected response time for receiving an expected response related to the received packet for transmission, and wherein the driver comprises a data structure;
receiving information on at least one reoccurring event through interaction with at least one other wireless computing device;
transmitting the packet for transmission using the wireless communication hardware;
scheduling an awake state of the wireless communication hardware at a plurality of times by entering into the data structure a time value for each of the plurality of times, the plurality of time values comprising a time value based on the at least one reoccurring event and a time value based on the expected response time;
placing the wireless communication hardware into a doze state; and
in the doze state, processing entries of the data structure at a plurality of times, wherein the processing comprises;
determining whether an entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time,when a processed entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time, placing the wireless communication hardware into the awake state at the scheduled time, andwhen the processed entry in the data structure does not indicate a time matching a current time, causing the wireless communication hardware to remain in the doze state.
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Abstract
To reduce the power consumption of a wireless communication hardware device, power conservation scheduling algorithms can be implemented. Reoccurring events, including DTIM intervals and listen intervals can be scheduled as awake times. Similarly expected response intervals can be scheduled as awake times based on information, such as round trip time, that can be passed together with data to be transmitted. The wireless communication hardware device can be placed into a doze state unless it is transmitting data, or unless it is expecting a transmission during one of the scheduled awake times.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for conserving power consumed by wireless communication hardware of a computing device executing a communication application, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a packet for transmission from higher level software comprising the communication application; receiving, along with the data for transmission, through the driver scheduling related information from a plurality of sources, wherein the plurality of sources comprise the communication application and the wireless communication hardware, wherein the scheduling related information can be used to determine an expected response time for receiving an expected response related to the received packet for transmission, and wherein the driver comprises a data structure; receiving information on at least one reoccurring event through interaction with at least one other wireless computing device; transmitting the packet for transmission using the wireless communication hardware; scheduling an awake state of the wireless communication hardware at a plurality of times by entering into the data structure a time value for each of the plurality of times, the plurality of time values comprising a time value based on the at least one reoccurring event and a time value based on the expected response time; placing the wireless communication hardware into a doze state; and in the doze state, processing entries of the data structure at a plurality of times, wherein the processing comprises; determining whether an entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time, when a processed entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time, placing the wireless communication hardware into the awake state at the scheduled time, and when the processed entry in the data structure does not indicate a time matching a current time, causing the wireless communication hardware to remain in the doze state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for, when executed by a processor, performing a method of conserving power consumed by wireless communication hardware, the method comprising:
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receiving a packet for transmission from higher level software comprising a software layer above the interface and the wireless communication hardware; receiving scheduling related information through an interface for the wireless communication hardware from a plurality of sources comprising the software layer above the interface and the wireless communication hardware along with the packet for transmission, wherein the scheduling related information can be used to determine an expected response time for receiving an expected response related to the packet for transmission, and wherein the driver comprises a data structure; receiving information on at least one reoccurring event through interaction with at least one other wireless computing device; transmitting the packet for transmission using the wireless communication hardware; scheduling an awake state of the wireless communication hardware at a plurality of times by entering into the data structure a time value for each of the plurality of times, the plurality of time values comprising a time value based on the at least one reoccurring event and a time value based on the expected response time; placing the wireless communication hardware into a doze state; and during the doze state, processing entries of the data structure at predetermined time intervals, wherein the processing comprises; determining whether an entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time, and when the processed entry in the data structure indicates a time of a scheduled awake state matching a current time, placing the wireless communication hardware into the awake state at the scheduled time. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A timer mechanism in a driver for wireless communication hardware for implementing, when processed by a processor, a power conservation schedule for the wireless communication hardware, the timer mechanism comprising:
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a series of sequentially processed entries, wherein an entry of the series of sequentially processed entries comprises a state field for indicating an expected state of the wireless communication hardware and, when the expected state is an awake state, a wake up type field for indicating a type of transmission expected to be received during the awake state of the wireless communication hardware, and wherein further the series of sequentially processed entries are used to schedule the awake state of the wireless communication hardware using scheduling related information comprising information received by the driver from a plurality of sources comprising at least one software layer above the driver and the wireless communication hardware and information received by the driver through interaction with at least one other wireless communication device, wherein; the information from the plurality of sources comprising the at least one software layer above the driver and the wireless communication hardware comprises an expected response time related to a packet for transmission received along with the scheduling related information, the information received by the driver through interaction with the at least one other wireless communication device comprises at least one reoccurring event, the awake state is scheduled, at a plurality of times, based on the expected response time and a reoccurring event time of the reoccurring event, and during a doze state of the wireless communication hardware, entries of the series of sequentially processed entries are processed to determine whether an entry in the series of sequentially processed entries indicates a time value matching a current time, and, when the processed entry indicates a time value matching a current time, the wireless communication hardware is placed into the awake state. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification