30results about "Low-power operation" patented technology

The embodiments described herein present methods and apparatus for an energy-saving status indicator. A method includes receiving a configuration of a first power consumption state for a status indicator light in a network device. The method then activates the first power consumption state using the configuration. After detecting a condition, the method activates a second power consumption state for the status indicator light. The transition from the first power state to the second power state may be from a low power state to a normal operating state or from a normal operating state to a low power state in various embodiments. Other embodiments are described.

Network devices coupled via serial and / or parallel interfaces may determine a power level mode of operation according to an energy efficient network communication control policy and may configure one or more of the interfaces for the lower power mode. The network devices may comprise a PHY, a MAC and / or higher layer devices. The interfaces may comprise a XGMII extender, a XAUI and / or a XFI device. The interfaces may comprise a backplane PHY, for example, a 10 GBASE-KR, a 10 GBASE-KX4 and / or a 1 GBASE-KX PHY which may perform FEC. The interfaces may comprise direct attach copper such as SFP+ and / or InfiniBand and / or 10 GBASE-CX4 PHYs. The interfaces may comprise a pluggable transceiver module. Energy efficient network control data may be communicated to and / or from the network devices which may enter and / or exit a lower power mode of operation.

An Ethernet network may comprise link partners that may be coupled via an Ethernet link. The link partners may comprise pluggable PHY devices. The pluggable PHY devices and / or other link partner devices may determine energy efficient network (EEN) control policies, may select a power level mode and may configure the link partners to operate in the power level mode. Some components may be reconfigured prior to sending an energy efficient network control signal to a link partner and configuring remaining components. Hardware, software and / or firmware may execute the pluggable PHY energy efficient network control policies. Packet data pending delivery may be buffered in the pluggable PHY. The pluggable PHY devices may comprise a MAC and / or a SERDES device. Exemplary form factors for the pluggable PHYs may comprise a SFP, a SFP+, a XENPAK, a X2, a XFP and / or a XPAK. Low power idle mode and / or sub-rate mode may be utilized.

In a smart energy management system linked with home network devices respectively installed in a plurality of households to manage the use of energy for each household, a location detecting unit detects location information or entry / exit information of a household member through recognition of an RFID tag carried by the household member connected with an RFID receiving device. An energy recording unit receives energy use details of the household, inputted from the home network device, and records the received energy use details together with the location information or entry / exit information of the household member. A pattern analysis unit analyzes an energy use pattern for the energy use details. An energy management unit provides the energy use details through the home network device as a result obtained by comparing the energy use detailed for each household or so that the household member recognizes the energy use pattern.

A method and system for conserving power in a powerline network, such as a Homeplug AV (HPAV) network, that has multiple logical networks, such as multiple AV logical networks (AVLN). Power conservation is achieved through the expedient of a packet presence region (PPR) that informs nodes whether or not they need to monitor a shared carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) region in a particular beacon period.

In an Ethernet network comprising link partners that are coupled via an Ethernet link, an energy efficient network (EEN) communication control policy may be established above a MAC layer. The EEN control policy may determine a power level mode of operation for the link partners. Power level mode control data may be communicated from hardware, software and / or firmware of upper layer protocols to PHY devices. The control data may specify when, where and / or how long to implement the power level mode. The control data may be communicated via a “magic” packet comprising start and / or end of frame delimiters and bits that indicate the power level mode. The PHY devices may detect, parse and / or interpret the “magic” packet and may enter and / or exit a lower power mode of operation. The PHY devices may respond to by generating a magic packet to upper layers.

An operation method of a communication node in an Ethernet-based vehicle network, the communication node including a regulator, a physical (PHY) layer unit, and a processor, includes outputting, by the processor, a first signal to initiate a supply of power to the communication node; outputting, by the processor, a second signal to initiate a transition of the communication node from a normal mode to a sleep mode; and transitioning, by the PHY layer unit, the communication node from the normal mode to the sleep mode when the second signal is received at the PHY layer unit from the processor.

A timer operated hardware switching device to control the connection between a computer and telephone or data circuit. The device improves the security of the computer by limiting external access from the Internet or other networks. Security software programs such as fire walls are enhanced by the invention, which prevents electronic attacks during periods when the switching device is in the disconnected state. The device is simple to understand and can be easily verified in operation. Additionally, such a device can be used with conventional telephone applications to prevent calls from being made during specific time periods. The invention can be embodied as a standalone device, a device for use with a conventional power timer, and a device built into a computer or other computer accessory.

A method for protecting configuration data from a data bus transceiver operable in a subnetwork mode. The configuration data are provided for comparison with data bus message data arriving via a data bus. A reference checksum for the configuration data is generated and stored, and recurrently checked. In the event of an identified alteration, a wake-up signal and / or a piece of error information is output. During or after writing the configuration data to a configuration register via the data bus or directly before the change to the low-power mode of the electronic control unit, a checksum unit forms a checksum that is stored in a reference register. In the low-power mode of the electronic control unit, the checksum for the configuration is repeatedly recomputed and compared with the checksum stored in the reference register. If the recomputed checksum does not match the stored checksum, a wake-up process is triggered.

A device configured to or programmed to instantiate an isolated sub-fabric is presented. A network configuration device uses a virtual air gap policy to instantiate a sub-fabric from a fabric of networking nodes. The sub-fabric is configured with an internal routing policy that respects the nature of the defined isolation. Further, the fabric is provisioned with a virtual air gap that ensures the external networking nodes respect the isolation of the sub fabric.

A configuration unit of a communication device which communicates a datagram with a configuration request to a configuration server in order to configure a communication device within an industrial automation system, wherein the configuration server allocates to the communication device, in response to the configuration request, at least one first topological device name component assigned to a spatial or hierarchical arrangement of the configuration server, each forwarding distribution unit adds a further topological device name component assigned to a spatial or hierarchical arrangement of the respective forwarding distribution unit, and the configuration unit of the communication device generates the device name thereof from the topological device name components and a name component that is unique within the subnetwork of the device.

The transmit power level of a transceiver coupled to a digital subscriber line (DSL) line is reduced from a first transmit power level sufficient for the transceiver to continuously transmit data on the DSL line at a first bit rate to a second transmit power level below the first transmit power level sufficient for the transceiver to continuously transmit data on the DSL line at a second bit rate that is lower than the first bit rate. The reduction in transmit power is limited so that the change does not induce time-varying crosstalk sufficient to destabilize a nearby DSL line. While the transmit power level of the transceiver is reduced to the second transmit power level, the transceiver is suspended from transmitting data on the DSL line for repeated periods of time. Suspending the data transmission is controlled to avoid further time-varying crosstalk sufficient to destabilize the nearby DSL line.

A method for providing a dormant state for content management servers is provided. Client devices are allowed to conduct transactions with servers when the servers are active. However, in a dormant state, the servers are not allowed to accept new transactions. Thus, by utilizing the dormant state, software upgrades can be made to one server at a time. Alternatively, all servers can be taken down for major upgrades, with the servers still operated in a read-only mode based on a file image from a point in time just prior to the shutdown. When the upgrade is completed, the servers can be returned to the active state.

A switch can reduce power consumption in a switch network by disabling under-utilized links between switches. The switch can include one or more line cards each operable to transmit and receive packets over a respective link to a remote switch. The switch can also comprise a control mechanism operable to place under-utilized links in standby mode whenever possible to conserve power. During operation, the switch can receive a standby request for placing a first link to a neighboring switch in a standby mode, and determines whether one or more eligible links to the neighboring switch can accommodate traffic from the first link. If the eligible links are able to accommodate traffic from the first link, and if the local switch and the neighboring switch agree to place the first link in standby mode, the local switch proceeds to place the first link in standby mode.

A network switch includes: a plurality of communication ports, each communication port of the plurality of communication ports having a first electrical output terminal and a second electrical output terminal configured for providing an electrical output signal between the first electrical output terminal and the second electrical output terminal. The network switch is configured to electrically switch off the electrical output signal of at least one communication port of the plurality of communication ports.

The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for powering an electrical consumer (3, 4, 5) via a data connection (6, 7, 8). The apparatus comprises a power supply (2) for supplying power to the electrical consumer via the data connection, a data receiving unit (9) for receiving data to be sent to the electrical consumer, and a controller (10) for activating the supply of power to the electrical consumer via the data connection, if data to be sent to the electrical consumer have been received and the supply of power to the electrical consumer is deactivated. The electrical consumer itself does therefore not need to receive power from the apparatus, in order to stay alert to be able to react on data connection activity, thereby reducing the power consumption.

The invention relates to a method for operating a communication system (100) having a plurality of communication units (300, 301, 302, 303, 304) which are connected to a communication medium (110), wherein access to the communication medium (110) is granted to the communication units (300, 301, 302, 303, 304) in a predefined order, wherein, after the end of a standby mode, a communication unit (300, 301, 302, 303, 304) checks whether it is granted access and changes to the standby mode again for a pause duration (T1, T2) until access is likely to be granted to it again if the communication unit (300, 301, 302, 303, 304) does not require access to the communication medium (110) or is not granted access.

A touch panel according to the embodiment includes a substrate; a first electrode formed on the substrate in a first direction and including a plurality of sensor parts and connection parts connecting the sensor parts with each other; and a second electrode formed in a second direction crossing the first direction while being insulated from the first electrode and including a plurality of sensor parts and connection parts connecting the sensor parts with each other. The sensor parts and the connection parts include transparent conductive materials, and the connection parts have resistance lower than resistance of the sensor parts in at least one of the first and second electrodes.

Disclosed is a method for controlling a session between devices on a network including a plurality of devices, including: receiving a session control request message from a control device, wherein the session control request message represents a message for operating a session control between a first device and a second device; transmitting a triggering message for a specific control operation to the first device on the basis of the received session control request message; performing the session control between the first device and the second device by using the triggering message; and receiving a triggering response message from the first device, wherein the triggering response message indicates a result of performing the session control.

A method for transmitting data using an Ethernet AVB transport protocol between nodes of a motor vehicle includes: reserving resources necessary for the transmission of the data by reservation messages from a dedicated protocol; setting flow of data from a node to a particular transmission rate and / or data rate; transmitting data at cyclic intervals via an Ethernet-based network by inputting the data into a transmission frame and forwarding to local transmitters; deactivating the local transmitters and receivers of a node in non-use periods, in which no data need to be transmitted; activating again the local transmitters and receivers of a node provided that data are pending transmission in a transmission frame, wherein the local transmitters and receivers are available for transmission following an activation time; and activating the local transmitters and / or receivers of the nodes based on a reservation message and a setting of the transmission rate and / or data rate.

A network switch (5) for example a PoE switch, is operable to control supply of electrical power to individual luminaires (1,2) in a lighting network. The luminaires receive both electrical power for operation and signals to switch on and off through a common cable connection (9) such as an Ethernet connection. When switched on, each luminaire sends a signal repeatedly towards the Po E switch until switched off and the switch (5) supplies power to the luminaire while successive signals are received within a period less than a predetermined shut off period (Δ). In this way, power to the luminaire can be disconnected to avoid consumption of standby power when not in use.

A switch unit for an Ethernet network having a switch and a microprocessor, the switch including at least three ports, which are connected to inputs and outputs of the switch unit, a signal detector and generator for detecting and initiating a bus activity being arranged in each case between the ports and the inputs and outputs of the switch unit. For each input and output an allocation rule to the other inputs and outputs of the switch unit is stored in a memory, the switch unit being designed such that when a bus activity is detected at a signal detector and generator, the assigned inputs and outputs of this input and output are read out from the memory and the associated signal detectors and generators are woken up so that they generate a bus activity at their inputs and outputs.

The embodiment of the present document relates to an idle scheduling method and a home network node, wherein the method includes: a domain master node performing an idle scheduling on intra-domain ordinary nodes according to an idle scheduling policy; when the domain master node determines that all the intra-domain ordinary nodes are in a energy-saving mode according to the idle scheduling information of all the intra-domain ordinary nodes, the domain master node entering into the energy-saving mode, and when all the intra-domain ordinary nodes are in an idle state, the domain master node being in the idle state.

The invention relates to a power distribution system (1), especially a Power-over-Ethernet system, comprising at least one dominant sensor, which may be located within a powered device (4) like a lighting device, and at least one non-dominant sensor, which may be located within another powered device (4), wherein the power distribution system is adapted such that in a system low power mode the at least one dominant sensor (6) consumes power provided by a power providing unit (3) and the at least one non-dominant sensor (6) does not consume the provided power and that the power distribution system (1) switches from the system low powermode to a system high power mode, if the at least one dominant sensor (6) has sensed an event. Since in the system low power mode the at least one non-dominant sensor does not consume power, the power consumption can be reduced.

A method of controlling a digital subscriber line (DSL) transceiver for use in transferring data over a DSL connection, the method comprising: monitoring operation of the DSL connection; detecting that the DSL connection is operating in a low power mode in which the signal power applied to the DSL connection by the DSL transceiver is at a first level below a power threshold value; increasing the signal power applied to the DSL connection to a second level above the power threshold value; recording data indicative of performance of the DSL connection with signal power applied to the DSL connection at the second level; and modifying DSL transceiver attributes based on the recorded data indicative of performance, to change operation of the DSL transceiver in transferring data over the DSL connection.

A method for changing an operating mode of a processing unit of a network node is described. The processing unit is connected to a communication and supply line for providing data communication and for providing a supply voltage. The method includes an establishing of a communication connection of the processing unit of the network node via the communication and supply line, a determination of a change of the supply voltage of the communication and supply line by the processing unit, and a setting of an operation mode of the processing unit based on the determined change of the supply voltage.