TDMA Base Station Timing Buffer for Low-Power Client Clocks
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In low power TDMA communication systems, the precision of client clocks is a constraint due to the need for precise timing allocation, leading to unnecessary power consumption as clients wake up early and wait for base station transmission, especially when using low-cost, less precise clocks.
Innovation Solution
A TDMA-based communication method where the base station operates in communication mode before and after client timeslots, allowing clients to use less precise clocks without continuous communication mode, thereby maximizing sleep time and minimizing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the client wakes up in advance of its allocated slot to ensure communication readiness, then the client will always be awake when the base station transmission begins, but the client wastes time and power waiting for the base station transmission to start
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary action by starting transmission before the client's allocated timeslot begins. The base station's timeslot is extended to start early, allowing it to begin communication before the client wakes up, thus eliminating the waiting time while ensuring communication readiness.
2Ease of manufacture
If the client uses a less precise clock to reduce cost and power consumption, then the client can use simpler and cheaper clocks, but the client may not synchronize properly with the base station timing
Solution Approach 1:
The base station acts as an intermediary that compensates for the client's imprecise clock. By extending its own timeslot to start early and end late, the base station creates a timing buffer that accommodates the client's clock inaccuracies, allowing the client to use simple, low-cost clocks while maintaining proper synchronization.
3Measurement precision
If the client wakes up frequently to synchronize its clock with the base station, then the client maintains timing accuracy, but this constitutes additional power expenditure
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary timing adjustment by starting its transmission early, which pre-compensates for potential clock drift. This allows the client to sleep longer without waking up for synchronization, reducing power consumption while maintaining timing accuracy through the base station's advance timing action.
Data Source
AI summary
A TDMA-based communication method for enabling communication between a base station and a client, the base station and the client each comprising a clock for synchronizing communications, the method comprising: allocating a TDMA channel to said client; causing a transceiver of the client to operate in a communication mode during client timeslots making up said allocated channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; causing a transceiver of said base station to begin operating in a communication mode with said client on said channel in advance of each said client timeslot and/or to continue operating in a communication mode with said client after each said client timeslot.