Energy Efficient Ethernet Fallback State Negotiation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy-efficient Ethernet solutions lack a mechanism for coordinating power savings across links, leading to inefficient energy management due to varying traffic profiles and latency sensitivity, which results in suboptimal power state transitions and increased buffering requirements.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that enables fallback states by receiving wake-up time information for power savings states from link partners, determining supported states, and transmitting allocated wake-up times using LLDP or Layer 3 protocols, allowing dynamic negotiation of power savings states to optimize energy efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If power savings states are implemented in EEE, then energy consumption is reduced, but wake-up time and buffering requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multiple power savings states with different wake-up time characteristics (e.g., deeper sleep states with longer wake-up times versus lighter sleep states with shorter wake-up times). The system dynamically selects and transitions between these states based on traffic patterns and latency requirements, changing the operational parameters to optimize the trade-off between energy savings and wake-up time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the power savings state based on real-time traffic conditions, latency sensitivity, and buffer availability. Rather than using a fixed power state, the system continuously monitors link utilization and traffic characteristics to determine the optimal power state, making the power management approach adaptive and dynamic.
2Use of energy by moving object
If deeper power savings states are used, then energy savings increase, but buffering requirements and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent defines multiple power savings states with different energy consumption and wake-up time characteristics. By selecting appropriate states based on buffer availability and traffic patterns, the system optimizes the balance between energy savings and buffering requirements without needing to provision for worst-case scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of always using the deepest power savings state for maximum energy savings, the system applies partial action by selecting shallower power states when buffers are limited or latency is critical. This ensures sufficient energy savings are achieved without excessively increasing buffering requirements.
3Use of energy by moving object
If power savings states are implemented without coordination, then individual device energy efficiency improves, but overall link energy efficiency deteriorates due to mismatched state transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a negotiation mechanism where devices exchange wake-up time information and buffer status through LLDP or Layer 3 protocols. This feedback loop allows both ends of the link to coordinate their power state selections, ensuring that power savings states are only entered when both devices can handle the wake-up time and buffer requirements, thereby optimizing overall link energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a universal negotiation protocol (LLDP or Layer 3) that can operate across different device types and implementations. This multi-functional approach allows the coordination mechanism to work regardless of the specific power savings implementation details, enabling broad compatibility while achieving coordinated power management.
4Loss of information
If wake-up time information is exchanged for all power savings states, then complete power state information is available, but messaging overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of exchanging wake-up time information for all possible power savings states, the system extracts and exchanges only the relevant wake-up time information needed for the current traffic conditions and buffer status. This selective information exchange reduces messaging overhead while maintaining sufficient information for optimal power state selection.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for enabling fallback states for energy efficient Ethernet (EEE). EEE devices can be designed to support multiple power saving states that impact layers higher than the PHY layer. Typically, these higher levels of power savings would require a greater period of time to accommodate a return to an active state. In a dynamic negotiation process, the receiving device can advertise multiple fallback power saving states to the transmitting device. The transmitting device's allocation of buffering can then determine which of the power saving states would be supported.