Access Point Busy Period Notification for Wireless Power Saving
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, wireless devices often consume power even when not actively transmitting or receiving signals, leading to inefficiencies, particularly in battery-powered devices, as they may remain in a high power state due to lack of information about the access point's busy periods with other devices.
Innovation Solution
An access point sends a message to a wireless device indicating its foreseeable busy period, allowing the device to enter a low power state during that time, which is determined based on queued data for other devices and predicted wireless operations, and this message can be included in data transmissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wireless device remains in a high power state to ensure readiness for transmission, then the reliability of communication is improved, but the power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The access point performs preliminary action by announcing its busy period in advance through a notification frame before actually becoming busy. This allows the wireless device to prepare for power saving by transitioning to low power state before the busy period occurs, rather than remaining ready continuously. The announcement includes duration information that enables the wireless device to calculate the optimal power saving window.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the wireless device enters a low power state to reduce power consumption, then the power consumption is reduced, but the reliability of communication deteriorates due to potential missed transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The access point provides feedback to the wireless device about its own operational status by announcing busy periods through notification frames. This feedback mechanism allows the wireless device to make informed decisions about when to enter low power state and when to remain active, ensuring it wakes up before the access point becomes busy to receive any critical transmissions. The feedback includes specific duration information that enables precise power state management.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the access point frequently changes its scheduling configuration to adapt to varying traffic conditions, then the adaptability of the network is improved, but the overhead increases due to frequent reconfiguration messages
Solution Approach 1:
The access point performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and announcing its busy period duration in advance through the notification frame, rather than reacting to traffic conditions in real-time with frequent reconfiguration messages. This preliminary announcement approach allows the wireless device to adapt to varying traffic conditions without requiring frequent scheduling changes, reducing overhead while maintaining scheduling flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An access point may transmit, to a first wireless device, a message indicating a busy period of the access point. The busy period is a time during which the access point will perform wireless operations with at least a second wireless device different from the first wireless device. During the busy period, the access point may refrain from transmitting from the access point to the first wireless device. The message indicating the busy period may include a duration of the busy period. The message indicating the busy period may be included in a portion of a data transmission to the first wireless device. The first wireless device may enter a low power mode (e.g., sleep operating state) responsive to the busy period.