Power management based on adaptive receiver selection

• US 9,560,598 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mujtaba, Syed A., Song, Kee-Bong, Kim, Youngjae
• Primary Examiner(s): Choudhry, Samina
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chen, Peter
• Application Number:
  US14/018,179
• Publication Number:
  US 20140071844A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In order to reduce power consumption of an electronic device during wireless communication, the electronic device may transition between a baseline (simple) receiver and a higher-power advanced receiver based on network conditions and/or environmental conditions. For example, the transition to the advanced receiver may occur when it offers improved communication performance over the baseline receiver, such as when there is significant interference and a high data rate, or when there is significant interference and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is low. Similarly, the transition to the baseline receiver may occur when the capabilities of the advanced receiver are not needed, such as when there is less interference, or when the data rate is lower and the SNR is high. In this way, the electronic device can avoid the added power consumption associated with the advanced receiver except where the communication performance offered by the advanced receiver is needed.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

an antenna; and

a communication circuit, coupled to the antenna, configured to communicate information via wireless communication, wherein the communication circuit includes;

a first receiver circuit configured to detect data in received signals; and

a second receiver circuit configured to detect the data in the received signals, wherein, during operation, the second receiver circuit has a larger power consumption than the first receiver circuit;

wherein the electronic device is configured to calculate a metric for signals that interfere with the wireless communication, a metric for a data rate associated with the wireless communication, and a metric for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the wireless communication, wherein the metric for data rate is calculated based on an amount of downlink data scheduling that is detected during a corresponding measurement interval, and wherein the metric for the SNR is associated with a measured power of a pilot signal and a measured noise over an operating bandwidth in the wireless communication;

wherein the electronic device is configured to determine whether to transition the electronic device from a first power state to a second power state by switching from the first receiver circuit to the second receiver circuit based on a logic condition; and

wherein the logic condition is based on one of;

the metric for the signals and the metric for the data rate, and the metric for the signals and the metric for the SNR.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the communication circuit is configured to calculate the metric for the signals, the metric for the data rate and the metric for the SNR, and to determine whether to transition the electronic device from the first power state to the second power state.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further includes:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the memory stores a power-management program module, and wherein the power-management program module is configured to be executed by the processor to manage power consumption of the electronic device, the program module including;

instructions for receiving the metric for the signals, the metric for the data rate, and the metric for the SNR; and

instructions for determining whether to transition the electronic device from the first power state to the second power state.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the logic condition is based on one of:

the metric for the signals is greater than a first threshold and the metric for the data rate is greater than a second threshold, and the metric for the signals is greater than the first threshold and the metric for the SNR is less than a third threshold.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the signals include one of:

multi-path interference and neighboring-cell interference.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second receiver circuit has improved communication performance than the first receiver circuit.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, if the electronic device transitions to the second power state, the electronic device is further configured to subsequently determine whether to transition the electronic device from the second power state to the first power state by switching from the second receiver circuit to the first receiver circuit based on a second logic condition;

and

wherein the second logic condition is based on one of;

the metric for the signals, and the metric for the data rate and the metric for the SNR.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the second logic condition is based on one of:

the metric for the signals is less than a first threshold, and the metric for the data rate is less than a second threshold and the metric for the SNR is greater than a third threshold.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the amount of HSDPA data scheduling is determined based at least in part on high-speed shared-control channel (HS-SCCH) reception.

10. An integrated circuit, comprising a communication circuit configured to process information for wireless communication, wherein the communication circuit includes:

a node configured to couple to an antenna to communicate signals associated with the wireless communication;

a first receiver circuit, coupled to the node, configured to detect data in received signals;

a second receiver circuit configured to detect the data in the received signals, wherein, during operation, the second receiver circuit has a larger power consumption than the first receiver circuit; and

an analysis circuit configured to calculate a metric for signals that interfere with the wireless communication, a metric for a data rate associated with the wireless communication, and a metric for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the wireless communication, wherein the metric for data rate is calculated based on an amount of downlink data scheduling that is detected during a corresponding measurement interval, and wherein the metric for the SNR is associated with a measured power of a pilot signal and a measured noise over an operating bandwidth in the wireless communication;

wherein the integrated circuit is configured to determine whether to transition the integrated circuit from a first power state to a second power state by switching from the first receiver circuit to the second receiver circuit based on a logic condition; and

wherein the logic condition is based on one of;

the metric for the signals and the metric for the data rate, and the metric for the signals and the metric for the SNR.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the integrated circuit further includes:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the memory stores a power-management program module, and wherein the power-management program module is configured to be executed by the processor to manage power consumption of the integrated circuit, the program module including;

instructions for receiving the metric for the signals, the metric for the data rate, and the metric for the SNR; and

instructions for determining whether to transition the integrated circuit from the first power state to the second power state.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the logic condition is based on one of:

the metric for the signals is greater than a first threshold and the metric for the data rate is greater than a second threshold, and the metric for the signals is greater than the first threshold and the metric for the SNR is less than a third threshold.

13. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the signals include one of:

multi-path interference and neighboring-cell interference.

14. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the second receiver circuit has improved communication performance than the first receiver circuit.

15. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein, if the integrated circuit transitions to the second power state, the integrated circuit is further configured to subsequently determine whether to transition the integrated circuit from the second power state to the first power state by switching from the second receiver circuit to the first receiver circuit based on a second logic condition;

and

wherein the second logic condition is based on one of;

the metric for the signals, and the metric for the data rate and the metric for the SNR.

16. The integrated circuit of claim 15, wherein the second logic condition is based on one of:

the metric for the signals is less than a first threshold, and the metric for the data rate is less than a second threshold and the metric for the SNR is greater than a third threshold.

17. A method for managing power consumption of an electronic device, wherein the method comprises:

receiving signals associated with wireless communication;

detecting data in the signals using a first receiver circuit;

calculating a metric for signals that interfere with the wireless communication, a metric for a data rate associated with the wireless communication, and a metric for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the wireless communication, wherein the metric for data rate is calculated based on an amount of downlink data scheduling that is detected during a corresponding measurement interval;

wherein the metric for the SNR is calculated based on a power of a pilot signal received by the electronic device and a measured noise over an operating bandwidth; and

determining whether to transition the electronic device from a first power state to a second power state by switching from the first receiver circuit to a second receiver circuit based on a logic condition, wherein, during operation, the second receiver circuit has a larger power consumption than the first receiver circuit; and

wherein the logic condition is based on one of;

the metric for the signals is greater than a first threshold and the metric for the data rate is greater than a second threshold, and the metric for the signals is greater than the first threshold and the metric for the SNR is less than a third threshold.