Communication Device Power Saving via Exclusive Use Indication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless local area networks (WLANs) face challenges in power saving techniques, as receivers often need to continuously monitor channels for incoming data frames, leading to increased power consumption and processing overhead, especially when frames are not addressed to them.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of receive filtering techniques, where communication frames include indications for exclusive use periods and stream filtering information, allowing receivers to determine if they need to process incoming frames, thereby powering down during reserved periods and conserving resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the receiver continuously monitors the transmission channel to detect idle periods and processes all received frames, then the reliability of data reception is improved, but the power consumption and processing overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the critical portion of the frame (MAC header or specific fields) to determine whether the frame is intended for the receiver, rather than processing the entire frame. This allows the receiver to quickly identify and discard frames not meant for it, reducing power consumption while maintaining reliable reception of relevant data.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver performs partial processing by examining only essential frame identification fields rather than fully processing all received frames. This partial action approach enables the system to filter out irrelevant frames early, reducing overall processing overhead and power consumption while ensuring no relevant frames are missed.
2Reliability
If the receiver processes all received data frames to ensure no data is missed, then the completeness of data reception is improved, but the processing overhead and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the frame processing into two distinct stages: a fast filtering stage that examines only critical identification fields to determine relevance, and a detailed processing stage that handles only the frames identified as intended for the receiver. This segmentation reduces processing overhead by eliminating unnecessary detailed processing of irrelevant frames while ensuring complete processing of relevant frames.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver performs preliminary filtering by examining frame identification fields before committing to full frame processing. This preliminary action allows the system to quickly eliminate frames not intended for the receiver, reducing the total number of frames that require complex processing while ensuring no relevant frames are accidentally discarded.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the receiver enters power save mode and stops monitoring transmissions, then power consumption is reduced, but the ability to detect and receive relevant data frames is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic monitoring where the receiver wakes up at specific intervals to monitor the transmission channel and process frame identification fields, then returns to power save mode. This periodic action allows the receiver to maintain data detection capability during active periods while significantly reducing power consumption during sleep periods, balancing reliability and energy efficiency.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 2C
AI summary
A method in a communication device for processing a received data unit includes determining whether the communication device is an intended receiver based on the received data unit, determining whether the received data unit includes an exclusive use indication, where the exclusive use indication indicates that a plurality of data units are transmitted only to the at least one intended receiver during a time period, where each of the plurality of data units has at least a respective physical layer (PHY) preamble, and determining a time interval during which the communication device need not listen for incoming data units using (i) a result of determining whether the received data unit includes an exclusive use indication and (ii) a result of determining whether the communication device is an intended receiver.