Reducing a number of wake-up frames in a sequence of wake-up frames

• US 9,699,736 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2016
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Farley, Matthew J., Koop, LaMonte Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, Jr., Otis L
• Application Number:
  US15/248,576
• Publication Number:
  US 20170041876A1
• Time in Patent Office: 312 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0247 based on conditions of the access network or the infrastructure network central resource management H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for receiver state estimation includes communicating, from a first communications device to a second communications device, a first plurality of wake-up frames; receiving, at the first communications device from the second communications device, an indication of a received wake-up frame of the communicated first plurality of wake-up frames; determining, by the first communications device, a time at which the second communications device is in a ready state based on the received indication; subsequently communicating, from the first communications device to the second communications device, a second plurality of wake-up frames. The first plurality is greater than the second plurality, the reduction in number from the first plurality to the second plurality being based on the determined time at which the second communications device is in a ready state.

Claims

1. A method for reducing a number of wake-up frames in a sequence of wake-up frames, comprising:

receiving, from a communications device, an identification of a wake-up frame of a first sequence of wake-up frames transmitted to the communications device; and

determining, based on the identification, a number of wake-up frames in a second sequence of wake-up frames, the number of wake-up frames in the second sequence being less than a number of wake-up frames in the first sequence.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, to the communications device, the first sequence of wake-up frames.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the wake-up frame in the first sequence comprises an index of the wake-up frame in the first sequence.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining the number of wake-up frames in the second sequence comprises dividing the number of wake-up frames in the first sequence by the index.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a duration of time of the first sequence of wake-up frames is greater than or equal to a period of a duty cycle of the communications device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a duration of time of the second sequence of wake-up frames is less than the period of the duty cycle of the communications device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed in iterations such that the second sequence of wake-up frames for an earlier iteration is the first sequence of wake-up frames for a later iteration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein an amount of power consumed to produce the second sequence of wake-up frames is less than an amount of power consumed to produce the first sequence of wake-up frames.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, for a given network bandwidth, an amount of second information communicated in conjunction with the second sequence of wake-up frames is greater than an amount of first information communicated in conjunction with the first sequence of wake-up frames.

10. A communications device, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive, from an additional communications device, an identification of a wake-up frame of a first sequence of wake-up frames transmitted to the additional communications device; and

a processor configured to determine, based on the identification, a number of wake-up frames in a second sequence of wake-up frames, the number of wake-up frames in the second sequence being less than a number of wake-up frames in the first sequence.

11. The communications device of claim 10, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit, to the additional communications device, the first sequence of wake-up frames.

12. The communications device of claim 10, wherein the identification of the wake-up frame in the first sequence comprises an index of the wake-up frame in the first sequence.

13. The communications device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to determine the number of wake-up frames in the second sequence by dividing the number of wake-up frames in the first sequence by the index.

14. The communications device of claim 10, wherein a duration of time of the first sequence of wake-up frames is greater than or equal to a period of a duty cycle of the additional communications device.

15. The communications device of claim 14, wherein a duration of time of the second sequence of wake-up frames is less than the period of the duty cycle of the additional communications device.

16. The communications device of claim 10, wherein the communications device is configured to receive the identification and determine the number of wake-up frames in iterations such that the second sequence of wake-up frames for an earlier iteration is the first sequence of wake-up frames for a later iteration.

17. The communications device of claim 10, wherein an amount of power consumed to produce the second sequence of wake-up frames is less than an amount of power consumed to produce the first sequence of wake-up frames.

18. The communications device of claim 10, wherein, for a given network bandwidth, an amount of second information communicated in conjunction with the second sequence of wake-up frames is greater than an amount of first information communicated in conjunction with the first sequence of wake-up frames.

19. A communications device, comprising:

a transmitter configured to communicate a first plurality of wake-up frames to an additional communications device;

a receiver configured to receive, from the additional communications device in response to the first plurality of wake-up frames, an indication of a received wake-up frame of the first plurality of wake-up frames;

a processor configured to determine a time at which the additional communications device is in a ready state based on the indication; and

the transmitter configured to subsequently communicate, to the additional communications device, a second plurality of wake-up frames, the first plurality of wake-up frames being greater than the second plurality of wake-up frames, a reduction in a number of the first plurality of wake-up frames to the second plurality of wake-up frames being based on a time at which the additional communications device is in the ready state.

20. The communications device of claim 19, further comprising a sensor.

21. The communications device of claim 19, wherein the communications device comprises a remote sensor node.

22. The communications device of claim 19, wherein the wake-up frames comprise wake-up messages.

23. The communications device of claim 19, wherein the wake-up frames of the second plurality of wake-up frames are numbered in descending order.

24. The communications device of claim 23, wherein the communications device is further configured to transmit a message after a last wake-up frame, of at least one of the first plurality of wake-up frames or the second plurality of wake-up frames, has been communicated.

25. A communications device, comprising:

a transmitter configured to communicate a first plurality of wake-up frames, to an additional communications device;

a receiver configured to receive, from the additional communications device in response to the first plurality of wake-up frames, an indication of a received wake-up frame of the first plurality of wake-up frames,

a processor configured to determine an offset time relative to a clock of the communications device based on the indication; and

the transmitter configured to subsequently communicate, to the additional communications device, a second plurality of wake-up frames, the first plurality of wake-up frames being greater than the second plurality of wake-up frames, a reduction in a number of the first plurality of wake-up frames to the second plurality of wake-up frames being based on the determined offset time.

26. The communications device of claim 25, wherein the communications device is configured to store determined offset times.

27. The communications device of claim 25, further comprising a sensor.

28. The communications device of claim 25, wherein the communications device comprises a remote sensor node.

29. The communications device of claim 25, wherein the wake-up frames comprise wake-up messages.

30. The communications device of claim 25, wherein the wake-up frames of the second plurality of wake-up frames are numbered in descending order.

31. The communications device of claim 30, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a message after a last wake-up frame, of at least one of the first plurality of wake-up frames or the second plurality of wake-up frames, has been communicated.

32. A system, comprising:

a first communications device configured to transmit a first plurality of wake-up frames to a second communications device;

the second communications device configured to;

receive one or more wake-up frames of the first plurality of wake-up frames from the first communications device;

based upon the receipt of the one or more wake-up frames of the first plurality of wake-up frames, transmit an indication of a received wake-up frame to the first communications device;

the first communications device configured to;

receive the indication of the received wake-up frame from the second communications device;

based upon the receipt of the indication, determine an offset time relative to a clock of the first communications device, and

subsequently transmit a second plurality of wake-up frames to the second communications device, the first plurality of wake-up frames being greater than the second plurality of wake-up frames, a reduction in a number from the first plurality of wake-up frames to the second plurality of wake-up frames being based on the determined offset time.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the first communications device and the second communications device each comprise a remote sensor node (RSN).