Reduced Power Wireless Communication Protocol Stack Offloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, devices like mobile devices expend significant resources such as processing time, battery power, and bandwidth to maintain a standardized transport protocol stack like TCP/IP, which is not always necessary for all communication tasks, leading to inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a reduced power access network layer that intercepts messages intended for the TCP/IP stack and generates reduced power communication packets, allowing a connected access point to host the transport protocol stack on behalf of the device, thereby delegating the hosting of the TCP/IP stack and reducing resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a device maintains a standardized transport protocol stack (TCP/IP) for all communication tasks, then communication compatibility and reliability are improved, but power consumption and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transport protocol stack functionality by separating it from the station device and relocating it to the access point. The TCP/IP stack is divided into two parts: protocol processing functions remain at the access point, while the station device only maintains minimal networking capabilities. This segmentation allows the station to achieve communication compatibility through the access point's full protocol stack without bearing the full power consumption burden of maintaining a complete TCP/IP stack locally.
Solution Approach 2:
The access point acts as an intermediary that hosts the transport protocol stack on behalf of the station device. The access point mediates between the station's simplified communication interface and the full TCP/IP protocol requirements, translating and processing protocol operations without requiring the station to maintain the complete protocol stack. This intermediary approach enables the station to benefit from standardized protocol support while minimizing its own resource usage.
2Reliability
If a device maintains a standardized transport protocol stack (TCP/IP) for all communication tasks, then communication reliability is improved, but processing overhead and resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the transport protocol stack functionality from the station device and relocates it to the access point. The TCP/IP stack processing functions are taken out of the station's computational burden and centralized at the access point, which has greater processing capabilities. This extraction reduces the station's device complexity and processing overhead while maintaining communication reliability through the access point's protocol handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The access point serves as an intermediary processing layer that handles the complex TCP/IP protocol operations. Instead of the station device directly managing protocol stack complexity, the access point mediates all protocol processing, reducing the station's processing overhead while ensuring reliable communication through standardized protocol implementation at the intermediary layer.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a device maintains a standardized transport protocol stack (TCP/IP) for all communication tasks, then protocol compatibility is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The access point maintains a copy of the transport protocol stack functionality that serves multiple station devices. Instead of each station requiring its own full TCP/IP stack, the access point hosts a shared protocol processing environment that handles protocol operations for multiple stations. This copying approach at the access point enables protocol compatibility for all connected stations while reducing the total bandwidth consumption compared to each station maintaining independent protocol stacks.
Data Source
AI summary
In a particular embodiment, a method includes intercepting, at a first device, a message to be processed by a first protocol layer of the first device. The method also includes processing the message to a second protocol layer of the first device. The method further includes generating, at the first device, a packet based on an operand associated with the message. The method also includes transmitting the generated packet via a media access control (MAC) layer from the first device to a second device to enable the second device to host a protocol stack corresponding to the first protocol layer.