Infrastructure Offload Wake on Wireless LAN
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Wake on Wireless LAN (WOWL) systems face inefficiencies in power management and data delivery, particularly in infrastructure BSS environments, where networked devices in power-save mode struggle to efficiently wake up and receive buffered data without excessive power consumption or data loss.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an infrastructure offload wake on wireless LAN method and system, where networked devices communicate filters to an infrastructure networking device, which performs pattern matching on received packets and stores indication values, allowing devices to wake up efficiently through beacon frames or poll requests, enabling active or passive wake-up mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If networked devices continuously monitor network traffic to ensure timely data reception, then data delivery reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by having the infrastructure networking device capture and buffer data packets destined for inactive stations before the stations need to wake up. The device also pre-processes packets through pattern matching against stored filters, so that when a station wakes up, data is already ready for immediate delivery, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring while ensuring timely delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The infrastructure networking device acts as an intermediary between the network and inactive stations. It receives packets on behalf of inactive stations, performs filtering operations, buffers matched packets, and manages the wake-up process. This intermediary role allows stations to remain inactive while still receiving data reliably, as the intermediary handles all network interactions during the station's inactive periods.
2Use of energy by moving object
If networked devices enter inactive state to reduce power consumption, then power usage is reduced, but data delivery efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The infrastructure networking device performs preliminary data capture and buffering actions while stations are inactive. By pre-receiving and storing packets that match station-specific filters, the system ensures that when stations wake up, data is already prepared and waiting, maintaining high data delivery efficiency without requiring stations to remain active for monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through automatic pattern matching and data buffering at the infrastructure device. When stations become active, they can quickly determine whether data is waiting for them through efficient indicator checks, and the infrastructure device automatically manages packet capture, filtering, and buffering without requiring continuous station involvement, thus maintaining productivity while enabling power savings.
3Measurement precision
If infrastructure networking device performs pattern matching on all received packets, then data filtering accuracy is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The infrastructure networking device applies local quality by implementing pattern matching only for packets destined to inactive stations, rather than processing all network traffic uniformly. The device maintains station-specific filters and applies pattern matching selectively based on destination identification, concentrating processing resources on relevant packets while ignoring unrelated traffic, thus achieving accurate filtering without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the packet processing task by maintaining separate filter sets for different inactive stations and processing packets in stages: first identifying destination stations, then applying station-specific pattern matching only to relevant packets. This segmentation allows the device to handle multiple stations independently and process only the subset of packets that require filtering, reducing overall processing complexity while maintaining accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of an infrastructure offload wake on wireless LAN (WOWL) are described. An aspect of the system may include a networked device, or station, which may communicate one or more filters to an infrastructure networking device. The infrastructure networking device may utilize the filters to perform pattern matching operations on frames or packets received from the network for delivery to at least the station while the station is in an inactive, or low-power, state. When pattern matching operations performed at the infrastructure networking device indicate receipt of a frame or packet on behalf of the inactive station, which matches at least one of the filters, the infrastructure networking device may store an indication value. The indication value may denote receipt of at least one frame or packet that matched at least one of the filters, which were communicated to the infrastructure networking device by the station.