Energy savings through preamble in WLAN systems

Abstract

A method for processing received packet information, comprising: receiving in a receiving circuit (620) at least one first part of a packet wirelessly transmitted by an electronic device; analyzing a preamble contained in the first part of the packet to identify a destination specified by a plurality of fully mapped identifier bits, AID; determining, based on the plurality of fully mapped identifier bits, AID, that the destination is not mapped to the receiving circuit (620); and, in response to determining that the destination is not mapped to the receiving circuit (620), rejecting the at least one first part of the packet prior to completing the decoding of the packet.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The described embodiments relate to methods for reducing the energy consumption of electronic devices in a wireless network. RELATED TECHNICAL AREA

[0002] Many modern electronic devices include a network subsystem used for wireless communication with other electronic devices. For example, these electronic devices may include a network subsystem with a cellular network interface (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a local area network interface (e.g., a wireless network such as the 802.11 communication protocol described by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) or Bluetooth™ from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group of Kirkland, Washington), and / or another type of wireless interface.

[0003] When multiple electronic devices communicate wirelessly within a local area network (WLAN), each device may receive multiple packets destined for a different location (i.e., irrelevant to that device). To determine the destination of a packet, the network subsystem typically decodes the entire packet.

[0004] For example, in the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol, the destination of the packet is specified by the device access code (MAC) address in the payload after the preamble. Therefore, in order to determine the destination of the packet in this example, the network subsystem typically needs to decode the entire packet up to the error detection information (in a so-called CRCd field) so that the network subsystem can confirm that the destination was decoded correctly.

[0005] Because this decoding step occurs even if the packet has a different destination, the network subsystem may consume a significant amount of unnecessarily high energy. This energy consumption reduces the operating time of the electronic device, which can frustrate users and negatively impact their user experience.

[0006] The state-of-the-art document US 2011 / 0194475 A1 describes a preamble and header bit assignment for energy saving in wireless multi-user, multi-access and / or MIMO communications.

[0007] The prior art document US 2009 / 0092039 A1 describes a method and system for wirelessly transmitting information. Wireless information transmission includes creating a payload unit for data, appending a preamble to the payload unit, wherein the preamble includes a PHY preamble including a MAC header for the payload unit, and transmitting at least the payload unit preamble over a wireless channel. SUMMARY

[0008] The present invention is defined in the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are specified in the dependent claims. The described embodiments include an electronic device. This electronic device comprises: an antenna; and a receiving circuit connected to the antenna, which receives packets from another electronic device via a local wireless network (WLAN), such as a WLAN compliant with the 802.11 communication protocol of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This receiving circuit analyzes fields in each packet prior to the payload of that packet to search for information specifying the destination of that packet. Furthermore, the electronic device includes control logic connected to the receiving circuit.If the destination is not the electronic device, then the control logic rejects that particular packet and changes the energy state of the electronic device.

[0009] For example, the information may include: a fully mapped identifier (AID) of the destination; a partial Media Access Control (MAC) address of the destination; and / or a compressed (MAC) address of the destination. The information may be included in the preamble of that particular packet. In particular, the information may replace length information in a high-throughput signal field within that packet.

[0010] It should be noted that changing the energy state can reduce the energy consumption of the electronic device.

[0011] In some embodiments, each packet includes information specifying a proprietary format compatible with an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol that prevents interference with other electronic devices on the local wireless network. For example, the information specifying the proprietary format includes: a proprietary bit in a signal training field, a proprietary bit in a high-throughput signal field, and / or an encoding method for the information specifying the destination of the packet.

[0012] Another embodiment provides the other electronic device, which includes: an antenna; and a transmission circuit connected to the antenna, which transmits packets to the electronic device using WLAN. This transmission circuit assembles each packet, prior to the data volume of the packet, with the information specifying the electronic device and contained within the packet. Furthermore, this information replaces length information in a high-throughput signal field within the packet.

[0013] It should be noted that this information can help reduce the energy consumption of the electronic device.

[0014] Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit which includes the receiving circuit.

[0015] Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit which includes the transfer circuit.

[0016] Another embodiment provides a method for changing the energy state of the electronic device. In this method, the electronic device receives packets from another electronic device via WLAN. For each packet, the electronic device analyzes fields preceding the data volume of the packet to search for the information that specifies the destination of the respective packet. If the destination is not the electronic device, the electronic device rejects the respective packet and changes the energy state of the electronic device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Fig. Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating electronic devices that communicate with each other wirelessly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a flowchart that shows a procedure for transmitting a packet through one of the electronic devices in Fig. 1 illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 3 is a flowchart that shows a procedure for changing the energy state of one of the electronic devices of Fig. 1 illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 4 is a drawing that shows a packet structure in radio communication in Fig. 1 illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. Figure 5 is a time graph showing the reduced energy consumption of one of the electronic devices in Fig. 1 illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 6 is a block diagram that shows one of the electronic devices of Fig. 1 illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] It should be noted that throughout the drawings, the same reference symbols refer to corresponding parts. Furthermore, multiple instances of the same component are designated with a common sign, separated from the instance number by a hyphen. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] To reduce the energy consumption of an electronic device during communication with another electronic device in a local wireless network (WLAN), the electronic device analyzes fields in each packet prior to the packet's payload to search for information specifying the packet's destination. This information may include, for example, a fully mapped identifier (AID) of the destination, a partial Media Access Control (MAC) address of the destination, and / or a compressed MAC address of the destination. The information may be contained in the preamble of the packet. In particular, the information may replace length information in a high-throughput signal field within the packet.Furthermore, if the destination is not the electronic device, then the electronic device will reject this respective packet and change the energy state of the electronic device, thereby reducing energy consumption.

[0019] For example, packets are transmitted and received via radio devices in electronic devices according to a communication protocol such as the 802.11 communication protocol or standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Bluetooth™ (from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group of Kirkland, Washington), and / or another type of radio interface. In the following discussion, IEEE 802.11 (such as Wi-Fi) is used as an illustrative example.

[0020] Communication between electronic devices is in Fig. Figure 1 shows a block diagram illustrating how electronic devices 110 and 112 communicate wirelessly in a WLAN. Specifically, these electronic devices can communicate wirelessly with each other while: discovering each other by scanning radio channels, transmitting and receiving announcement frames over radio channels, establishing connections (for example, by transmitting connection requests), and / or transmitting and receiving packets (which may contain information and / or payload data). The WLAN may include one or more other electronic devices 114 that communicate with other electronic devices in Fig. 1. Communicate via radio.

[0021] As below with reference to Fig. As further described in Section 6, the electronic devices 110, 112, and 114 can include subsystems such as a network subsystem, a storage subsystem, and a processor subsystem. Furthermore, electronic devices 110 and 112 can include radio devices 116 within the network subsystems. More generally, the electronic devices 110 and 112 can contain (or be included in) any electronic devices with network subsystems through which the electronic devices 110 and 112 are able to communicate wirelessly with another electronic device. This can include the transmission of announcement frames on radio channels to enable electronic devices to establish initial contact, followed by the exchange of successive data / management frames (such as connection requests) to establish a connection, configure security options, transmit and receive packets or frames over the connection, and so on.

[0022] As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 1, radio signals 118-1 (represented by jagged lines) are transmitted from a radio 116-1 to the electronic device 110. These radio signals are received by the electronic device 112 via the radio 116-2. Similarly, radio signals 118-2 can be transmitted from a radio 116-3 to the electronic device 114-1. These radio signals are received by the radio 116-4 in the electronic device 114-2. It should be noted that when the electronic device 110 sends a packet to the electronic device 112, other electronic devices, such as the electronic device 114, also attempt to detect / decode the packet, as they do not know the packet's destination in advance (and vice versa).

[0023] In the described embodiments, the processing of a packet or frame in a respective electronic device (such as one of the electronic devices 110, 112, and 114) includes the following: receiving radio signals 118 containing the packet or frame; decoding / extracting the packet or frame from the received radio signals 116; capturing the packet or frame; and processing the packet or frame to determine the information contained in the packet or frame. For example, the respective electronic device can determine a destination for the packet or frame using information in the packet or frame prior to the data volume. If the destination is not the electronic device, then the electronic device can discard the packet or frame without processing the data volume and can change a power state of the respective electronic device.Otherwise, the electronic device can complete the processing of the user data volume. In this way, the energy consumption of electronic device 112 can be significantly reduced if packets transmitted between electronic devices 114 are received by electronic device 112, while communication between electronic devices 110 and 112 can continue.

[0024] For example, the information could include: a fully assigned identifier (AID) of the destination (which is assigned to a specific electronic device in a cell in the WLAN in Fig. 1 is assigned), a partial Media Access Control (MAC) address of the destination (such as a sufficient portion of the MAC address to specify one of the electronic devices 110, 112, and 114); and / or a compressed (MAC) address of the destination (such as a one-way hash of the MAC address, only even MAC address bits, only odd MAC address bits, etc.). The information may be included in the preamble of a given packet. In particular, as below with reference to Fig. As described in section 3, the information can replace length information in a high-throughput signal field in the respective packet (such as an HT-SIG1 field).

[0025] In some embodiments, the respective packet includes information specifying a proprietary format compatible with an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol and preventing interference with other electronic devices in the WLAN. Fig. 1 prevents those that do not use the proprietary format. For example, the information specifying a proprietary format may include: a proprietary bit in a signal training field (such as an L-SIG field), a proprietary bit in a high-throughput signal field (such as an HT-SIG2 field), and / or an encoding method for the information specifying the destination of the respective packet (for example, the information may be encoded using two-phase shift keying and rotated 90° relative to the encoding in the non-proprietary format).

[0026] Although the in Fig. The network environment shown in Figure 1 is described as an example; alternative embodiments may contain different numbers or types of electronic devices. For example, some embodiments include more or fewer electronic devices. As another example, different electronic devices may transmit and / or receive packets or frames in other embodiments.

[0027] Fig. Figure 2 represents a flowchart illustrating a procedure 200 for transmitting a packet through one of the electronic devices in Fig. 1, as illustrated by electronic device 110. During operation, the electronic device assembles a packet containing information that specifies another electronic device located within that packet, prior to the packet's payload (sequence 210). This information replaces length information in a high-throughput signal field within the packet and can specify the packet's destination. The electronic device then transmits the packet via WLAN (sequence 210).

[0028] The respective package can be received by another electronic device. This is described in Fig. 3 discusses which represents a flowchart illustrating a procedure 300 for changing an energy state of one of the electronic devices of Fig. 1, as illustrated by electronic device 112. During operation, the electronic device receives packets from another electronic device via WLAN (sequence 310). For each packet, the electronic device analyzes fields preceding the data volume of the packet to search for the information that specifies the destination of the packet (sequence 312). If the destination is not the electronic device (sequence 314), the electronic device rejects the packet and changes the power state of the electronic device (sequence 316). Otherwise (sequence 314), the electronic device decodes the remainder of the packet (sequence 318).

[0029] In this way, electronic devices (for example, integrated circuits in electronic devices) can facilitate communication with significantly reduced energy consumption. In particular, in Fig. 1. The electronic device 112 can quickly determine the destination of each packet, allowing it to switch to a low-power mode (such as sleep mode) if the packet has a different destination than the device 112. This determination can be made without the device 112 needing to process the rest of the packet (including user data). Therefore, the device 112 does not need to remain in active mode for as long. Consequently, the energy savings associated with this communication method can be considerable.

[0030] In some embodiments of Method 200 ( Fig. 2) and 300, there can be additional or fewer processes. Furthermore, the order of the processes can be changed and / or two or more processes can be combined into a single process.

[0031] In one embodiment, the communication method allows a portable electronic device (i.e., a wireless client) to use Wi-Fi radio to quickly determine the destinations of packets and thus manage the portable electronic device's power consumption. Specifically, for example, when using the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol, the preamble of a packet can be modified to include a partial MAC address of the packet's destination. By using this information in the preamble during communication based on the IEEE 802.11n protocol, a receiving circuit in another electronic device can identify the packet's destination, even before decoding the entire physical payload. This allows one or more electronic devices (sometimes referred to as "stations") that have received the packet to determine its location.This allows the receiver to discard the packet and transition to sleep mode more quickly than other legacy stations that lack this feature in their receiving circuitry. Furthermore, this communication method reduces power consumption at the receiver in a WLAN, resulting in longer battery life and / or easier state machine transitions in the receiving circuitry. It should be noted that, although IEEE 802.11n is used for illustrative purposes in the following discussion, this communication method can also be applied to other communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.11ac or any other IEEE 802.11 communication protocol.

[0032] In the existing packet format for IEEE 802.11n, the preamble includes the following: a legacy short training field (L-STF), legacy long training field (L-LTF), legacy signal training field (L-SIG), a high-throughput signal field 1 (HT-SIG1), a high-throughput signal field 2 (HT-SIG2), error detection for the signal fields (CRCs), a high-throughput short training field (HT-STF), and a high-throughput long training field (HT-LTF). Following the preamble are data in a payload field 1 (containing the MAC address), additional payload fields (2 through N) (where N is variable and depends on the data length), and error detection for the data (CRCd). Similarly, in the existing packet format for IEEE 802.11ac specifies the following preamble fields: the L-STF, the L-LTF, the L-SIG, a Very High Throughput Signal Field 1 (VHT-SIG1), a Very High Throughput Signal Field 2 (VHT-SIG2), CRCs, a Very High Throughput Short Training Field (VHT-STF), a Very High Throughput Short Training Field (VHT-LTF), and a Very High Throughput Type B Signal Field (VHT-SIGB). The preamble is followed by data in a Payload 1 field (containing the MAC address), further Payload fields (2 to N), and CRCd.

[0033] It is important to note that the signal fields contain separate CRCs for checking for decoding errors in control signals, such as MCS, LENGTH, bandwidth, and the encoding method used. Furthermore, the physical payload field includes a MAC header and MAC data, followed by CRCd. The MAC header contains the MAC address of the receiving device, which specifies the destination of the packet. However, until CRCd is checked, a receiving circuit cannot confirm whether the destination of the decoded packet is correct. Therefore, the receiving circuit must decode the packet completely up to CRCd, even if this is not the packet's destination.

[0034] When many stations (or electronic devices) communicate within a base station or cell, many exchanged packets may be irrelevant to each station (and its associated receiving circuitry) (i.e., have a different destination). Many approaches require the station to decode all packets. An improved approach would be to discard irrelevant packets directly after the physical payload field. Regardless of CRCd, if the decoded MAC address does not match that of the station or electronic device, then that is not the packet's destination. In the present communication method, information is included in the packet's preamble, before the payload, allowing the receiving circuitry in the electronic device to identify the packet's destination in advance and, if necessary, discard the packet directly without decoding all packets.The energy savings associated with such an early rejection of the package could be considerable.

[0035] The modifications to the 802.11n packet format are in Fig. Figure 4 shows a drawing illustrating a packet structure in radio transmission in Fig. Figure 1 illustrates this. In this example, the number of spatial streams Nss (i.e., the number of antennas) is four, and there are N data symbols. Consequently, there are four instances of the HT-LTF field. In general, Nss is equal to or greater than one.

[0036] According to the representation in Fig. The LENGTH bits in the L-SIG and HT-SIG1 fields are contained within the L-SIG and HT-SIG1 fields. Therefore, the 16 LENGTH bits in the HT-SIG1 field can be replaced by 12 Associated Identifier (AID) bits (which are a shortened form of the destination compared to the 48-bit MAC address assigned to the electronic device by a base station when an electronic device is added to a cell) and four Fault Recognition (CRC_AID) bits (which provide additional protection for the 12 AID bits). The remaining bits in the HT-SIG1 field can remain the same as in the original specification for the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol. Note that the HT-SIG2 field has one reserved bit. This bit can be used to indicate that LENGTH bits in the HT-SIG1 field are used to transmit the AID bits to the proprietary solution in the communication procedure.As described below, a receiving circuit can determine whether a packet is destined for the H7-SIG1 field. Therefore, electronic devices using this proprietary solution obtain the LENGTH information from the L-SIG field, not the HT-SIG field. It should be noted that a similar approach can be used in the packet format and structure associated with the IEEE 802.11ac communication protocol.

[0037] The reason for the disclosed proprietary modification to the IEEE 802.11n preamble is as follows: The LENGTH field or bits are used to indicate the packet length to all stations, regardless of whether they are intended recipients of the packet or not. If the packet is not destined for a specific station, the station can use the information in the preamble to discard the packet mid-decoding and enter sleep mode for the duration specified by LENGTH until packet transmission is complete. It is important to note that it can still be useful for the station to decode the LENGTH field or bits, even if the station is not the intended recipient of the packet. Therefore, the LENGTH information is contained in the preamble and is decoded before the station enters sleep mode.

[0038] The LENGTH information in the H7-SIG1 field is replaced in the communication process by the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol, since the L-SIG field contains the LENGTH field (which also has 12 bits) used for the same purpose (specifying the packet length). It's important to note that the LENGTH information in the L-SIG field specifies the number of bytes at 6 Mbps, while LENGTH information in the HT-SIG field specifies the number of bytes at the packet's data rate. Therefore, the time is 8·LENGTH. L-SIG / 6Mbps, which is 8·LONG HT-SIG / Data transfer rate HTThis corresponds to the LENGTH information in the L-SIG field, which can be used in the proprietary packet format and structure. Electronic devices using this communication method function in the same way as other electronic devices using the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol. However, only those electronic devices that can decode the proprietary packet format and structure in this communication method (which is compatible with the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol) can benefit from early packet destination detection. As further described below, this communication method can save approximately 50% of energy consumption compared to electronic devices using the existing IEEE 802.11n communication protocol.

[0039] A variety of methods can be used to indicate whether a packet uses (or does not use) the proprietary structure or format of the communication protocol. For example, a reserve bit can be used in the L-SIG field and / or the HT-SIG2 field. Alternatively or additionally, blind detection can be used, or the HT-SIG1 field can be decoded in both ways (i.e., assuming the information is either the LENGTH bits or the AID bits).

[0040] In some implementations, the 12-bit AID is encoded differently than in legacy electronic devices (i.e., those that do not use the communication protocol). For example, if two-phase shift keying is used, the encoding of the 12-bit AID may be rotated by 90°, which may indicate that the packet has a modified (proprietary) preamble. Legacy electronic devices may be unable to decode this, causing the packet to be discarded, whereas electronic devices using the proprietary communication protocol can understand and decode the modified preamble. Furthermore, the decoding information can be used to verify whether or not the packet should be discarded.

[0041] The energy savings achieved by using early target location detection are in Fig. Figure 5 illustrates a time graph showing a reduced energy consumption of one of the electronic devices in Fig. Figure 1 illustrates this. Typically, in a legacy electronic device, an unlabeled packet is dropped either at the end of the packet or after Payload 1 if the receiving circuitry in the legacy electronic device can decode the packet's destination address. However, if this information is already present in the preamble, unlabeled packets may be dropped more readily. Assuming different power levels for different modes of the electronic device (such as a processing power Pr in an active mode and a sleep power Ps in a sleep mode), the power saving is approximately (Tm-Ts)·(Pr-Ps) when a packet is dropped after Payload 1, and (Tm+Tp-Ts-Ts')-(Pr-Ps) when a packet is dropped after CRCd.

[0042] For example, with a Nss of four, a physical payload volume of six Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in length, and a Pr to Ps ratio of 50–1000, the power savings are 20–40% if the number of stations in a cell (M) is less than five. Alternatively, if M is greater than 20, the power savings can be more than 50% compared to legacy electronic devices. Therefore, the power savings can be considerable when M is large, or with long packets (when Tp is large).

[0043] The disclosed communication method can significantly improve energy efficiency in a WLAN, especially when many stations are on the same channel. This communication method can be used with proprietary electronic devices based on the IEEE 802.11n communication protocol. Since the LENGTH information in the HT-SIG field is simply duplicate information of the LENGTH information in the L-SIG field, the physical hardware does not actually need both copies to function. In the communication method, the LENGTH information in the HT-SIG field is converted to AID, which allows for the early discarding of irrelevant packets. This capability can be used in transmit and receive circuits that employ this communication method. In contrast, if a legacy chip is used, the LENGTH information in the HT-SIG field can be encoded / decoded as the length information.Compared to a conventional legacy electronic device, the energy savings rate can reach up to 90%. Furthermore, compared to an approach where a packet is discarded after payload 1, the energy savings rate can be as high as 50%. It is important to note that early detection in the communication process does not initiate a further decoding procedure for the physical payload, thus simplifying the state machine transition if this is not the packet's destination.

[0044] We will now describe embodiments of the electronic device. Fig. Figure 6 shows a block diagram illustrating how an electronic device 600 functions as one of the electronic devices 110 and 112 in Fig. 1. This electronic device comprises a processing subsystem 610, a storage subsystem 612, and a network subsystem 614. The processing subsystem 610 includes one or more devices configured to perform data processing operations. For example, the processing subsystem 610 may include one of several microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microcontrollers, programmable logic devices, and / or one or more digital signal processors (DSPs).

[0045] The memory subsystem 612 includes one or more devices for storing data and / or instructions for the processing subsystem 610 and the network subsystem 614. For example, the memory subsystem 612 may include dynamic memory (DRAM), static memory (SRAM), and / or other memory types. In some embodiments, instructions for the processing subsystem 610 in the memory subsystem 612 comprised one or more program modules or instructions (such as the program module 624) that could be executed by the processing subsystem 610. It should be noted that the one or more computer programs could represent a computer program mechanism. Furthermore, instructions in the various modules in the memory subsystem 612 could be implemented in a higher-level procedural language, an object-oriented programming language, and / or assembly or machine language.Furthermore, the programming language can be compiled or interpreted, e.g., configurable or configured (which are used interchangeably in this discussion) to be executed by the 610 processing subsystem.

[0046] Furthermore, the memory subsystem 612 may include mechanisms for controlling access to the memory. In some embodiments, the memory subsystem 612 includes a memory hierarchy comprising one or more caches connected to a memory in the electronic device 600. In some of these embodiments, one or more of the caches are located in the processing subsystem 610.

[0047] In some embodiments, the memory subsystem 612 is connected to one or more high-performance mass storage devices (not shown). For example, the memory subsystem 612 can be connected to a magnetic or optical drive, a solid-state drive, or another type of mass storage device. In these embodiments, the electronic device 600 can use the memory subsystem 612 as fast-access memory for frequently used data, while the mass storage device is used to store less frequently used data.

[0048] The network subsystem 614 includes one or more devices configured to connect to and communicate with a wired and / or wireless network (i.e., to perform network activities), including: control logic 616, a transmit circuit 618, a receive circuit 620, and antennas 622. For example, the network subsystem 614 may include a Bluetooth™ network system, a cellular network system (e.g., a 6G / 4G network such as UMTS, LTE, etc.), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) network system, a network system based on the standards described in IEEE 802.11 (e.g., a Wi-Fi network system), an Ethernet network system, and / or another network system.

[0049] In network subsystem 614, the transmission circuit 618 can assemble packets and then transmit them to another electronic device using antenna 622-1. These packets can contain information specifying the destination (the other electronic device) in fields preceding the payload or data within the packets. Furthermore, packets can be transmitted from another electronic device using antenna 622-2 and receiving circuit 620. The receiving circuit can analyze fields in each packet preceding the payload of that packet to search for information specifying the destination of that packet. If the destination is not the electronic device, then the electronic device can reject the packet and change its power state.Alternatively, the repulsion and the change in energy state can be carried out entirely or partially by the receiving circuit 620.

[0050] The network subsystem 614 contains controllers, radios / antennas, jacks / plugs, and / or other devices used for connecting, communicating, and handling data and events for each supported network system. It should be noted that the mechanisms for connecting, communicating, and handling data and events on the network for each supported network system are sometimes collectively referred to as the "network interface" for the network system. Furthermore, in some embodiments, there is no "network" yet between the electronic devices. Therefore, the electronic device 600 can use the mechanisms in the network subsystem 614 to perform simple radio communication between the electronic devices, for example, to transmit announcement frames and / or scan announcement frames transmitted by other electronic devices, as described previously.

[0051] Within the electronic device 600, the processing subsystem 610, the storage subsystem 612, and the network subsystem 614 are interconnected via bus 630. Bus 630 can be an electrical, optical, or electro-optical connection that the subsystems can use to communicate commands and data with each other. Although only one bus 630 is shown for clarity, different embodiments may include a different number or configuration of electrical, optical, and / or electro-optical connections between the subsystems.

[0052] In some embodiments, the electronic device includes a display subsystem 628 for displaying information on a display, which may include a graphics driver and the display, such as a liquid crystal display, a touch-sensitive multi-touch screen, etc.

[0053] The Electronic Device 600 can be any device with (or containing) at least one network subsystem. For example, the Electronic Device 600 can be (or contain): a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a server, a media player (such as an MP5 player), a household appliance, a subnotebook / netbook, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a testing device, a network device, a set-top box, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a toy, a controller, a digital signal processor, a game console, a main computer within a household appliance, a consumer electronics device, a portable computing device, a scheduler, and / or any other electronic device.

[0054] Although specific components are used to describe the electronic device 600, alternative embodiments may include different components and / or subsystems in the electronic device 600. For example, the electronic device 600 may include one or more additional processing subsystems 610, storage subsystems 612, network subsystems 614, and / or display subsystems 628. Furthermore, one or more of the subsystems may be absent from the electronic device 600. In some embodiments, instead of separate antennas 622, a single antenna is provided for transmitting and receiving radio signals. Additionally, in some embodiments, the electronic device 600 may have one or more additional subsystems not described in the above description. Fig. Figure 6 is shown. For example, the electronic device 600 may include, but is not limited to, a data acquisition subsystem, an audio and / or video subsystem, an alarm subsystem, a media processing subsystem, and / or an input / output (I / O) subsystem. Furthermore, although separate subsystems are included in Fig. As shown in Figure 6, in some embodiments some or all of a particular subsystem are integrated into one or more of the other subsystems or component(s) in the electronic device 600. For example, in some embodiments the program module 624 is included in the operating system 626.

[0055] Furthermore, the circuits and components in electronic device 600 can be implemented using any combination of analog and / or digital circuitry, including bipolar, PMOS, and / or NMOS gates or transistors. Signals in these embodiments can also include digital signals with approximately discrete values ​​and / or analog signals with continuous values. Additionally, components and circuits can be single-ended or differential, and the power supply can be unipolar or bipolar.

[0056] An integrated circuit can implement some or all of the functions of a network subsystem 614, such as a radio. Furthermore, the integrated circuit can include hardware and / or software mechanisms used for transmitting radio signals from the electronic device 600 and for receiving signals at the electronic device 600 from other electronic devices. Apart from the mechanisms described here, radios conform to the general state of the art and are therefore not described in detail. In general, the network subsystem 614 and / or the integrated circuit can include any number of radios. It should be noted that in embodiments with multiple radios, the radios function in a similar manner to those in the described embodiments with a single radio.

[0057] In some embodiments, the network subsystem 614 and / or the integrated circuit includes a configuration mechanism (such as one or more hardware and / or software mechanisms) that configures the radio device(s) to transmit or receive on a specific transmission channel (e.g., a specific carrier frequency). For example, in some embodiments, the configuration mechanism can be used to switch the radio device from monitoring and / or transmitting on one transmission channel to monitoring and / or transmitting on another transmission channel. (It should be noted that the term "monitoring," as used here, includes receiving signals from other electronic devices and possibly performing one or more processing operations on the received signals, e.g.,Determining whether the received signal contains an announcement frame, etc.).

[0058] Although a communication protocol or standard compatible with IEEE 802.11 was used as an illustrative example, the described embodiments of the communication methods can be used in a variety of network interfaces, including network interfaces that use a proprietary packet format. Furthermore, although some of the operations in the foregoing embodiments were implemented in hardware or software, the operations in the foregoing embodiments can generally be used in a wide variety of configurations and configurations. Therefore, some or all of the operations in the foregoing embodiments can be implemented in hardware, software, or both. For example, at least part of the communication method can take place in a physical layer in the access point and / or wireless client.Alternatively or additionally, the program module 624 can be implemented in a file layer in an access point or in firmware in a wireless client.

[0059] In the preceding description, we refer to "some embodiments". It should be noted that "some embodiments" can describe a subset of all possible embodiments, but does not always refer to the same subset of embodiments.

[0060] The foregoing description is intended to enable a person skilled in the art to manufacture and use the described embodiments and is provided in connection with a specific application and its requirements. Furthermore, the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments of this disclosure are provided for illustrative and descriptive purposes only. They are not intended to be comprehensive or complete, nor do they limit the disclosure to the disclosed forms. Accordingly, various modifications and variations of the described embodiments are readily apparent to persons skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications.

Claims

[1] Method for processing received packet information, the method comprising: Receiving in a receiving circuit (620) at least one first part of a packet that was wirelessly transmitted by an electronic device; Analyzing a preamble contained in the first part of the packet to identify a target specified by a variety of fully mapped identifier bits, AID; Determine, based on the multitude of fully assigned identifier bits, AID, that the destination is not assigned to the receiving circuit (620); and In response to the determination that the destination of the receiving circuit (620) is not assigned, rejecting at least one first part of the packet before completing the decoding of the packet. [2] The method of claim 1, further comprising: Transferring the receiving circuit (620) to a lower power state after determining that the destination is not assigned to the receiving circuit (620). [3] Method according to claim 2, further comprising: Decoding at least one field indicating the length of the packet before the receiving circuit (620) is switched to a lower power state. [4] Method according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the packet has a format compatible with an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol. [5] Method according to claim 4, wherein the format compatible with the IEEE 802.11 communication protocol is IEEE 802.11ac. [6] Method according to claim 1, wherein the information identifying the destination includes one or more error detection bits. [7] Integrated circuit comprising: a wireless receiving circuit configured to: to receive at least the first part of a packet; to analyze a preamble contained in the first part of the package to identify a target specified by a variety of fully mapped identifier bits, AIDs; to determine, based on the multitude of fully assigned identifier bits, AID, that the destination of the receiving circuit (620) is unassigned; and in response to the determination that the destination of the receiving circuit (620) is not assigned, to reject at least one first part of the packet before completing the decoding of the packet. [8] Integrated circuit according to claim 7, wherein the wireless receiving circuit is further configured to transition to a lower power state after it has been determined that the destination is not assigned to the receiving circuit (620). [9] Integrated circuit according to claim 8, wherein the wireless receiving circuit is further configured to decode at least one field indicating a length of the packet before transitioning to a lower power state. [10] Integrated circuit according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the package has a format compatible with an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol. [11] Integrated circuit according to claim 10, wherein the format compatible with the IEEE 802.11 communication protocol is IEEE 802.11ac. [12] Integrated circuit according to claim 7, wherein the information identifying the destination includes one or more fault detection bits. [13] Non-volatile, computer-readable medium that stores instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations that include: Analyzing a preamble contained in the first part of the packet to identify a target specified by a variety of fully mapped identifier bits, AID; Determine, based on the multitude of fully assigned identifier bits, AID, that the destination of the receiving circuit (620) is unassigned; and In response to the determination that the destination of the receiving circuit (620) is not assigned, at least one first part of the packet is rejected before the packet decoding is completed. [14] Non-volatile, computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise transferring the receiving circuit (620) to a lower power state after it has been determined that the destination is not assigned to the receiving circuit (620). [15] Non-volatile, computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise decoding at least one field indicating a length of the packet before the receiving circuit (620) is switched to a lower power state. [16] Non-volatile, computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the packet has a format compatible with an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol. [17] Non-volatile, computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the format compatible with the IEEE 802.11 communication protocol is IEEE 802.11ac.

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