Wireless Offload Engine for Low-Power IoT Connection Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Power-constrained devices, such as IoT devices, face significant delays when exiting a low power state to reestablish wireless connections with remote servers, which is undesirable for prompt response requirements.
Innovation Solution
A wireless offload engine is configured to maintain wireless connections on behalf of power-constrained circuits, allowing it to establish and resume connections quickly without waking the circuits from a low power state, thereby reducing the time required to respond to requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If power-constrained devices enter a low power state to conserve energy, then power consumption is reduced, but the time to reestablish wireless connections increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the wireless connection maintenance function from the power-constrained device and assigns it to a separate wireless communication device. The power-constrained device can enter low power state while the wireless communication device maintains the connection, thus separating the power consumption burden from the connection maintenance requirement.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless communication device acts as an intermediary between the power-constrained device and the network. It maintains the wireless connection on behalf of the power-constrained device, allowing the latter to remain in low power state without incurring connection reestablishment delays.
2Speed
If wireless connections are maintained continuously to enable prompt response, then response time is reduced, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the wireless communication functionality into two parts: connection maintenance (handled by the wireless communication device) and data processing (handled by the power-constrained device). This allows the power-constrained device to consume minimal power while the wireless communication device handles connection upkeep.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless communication device provides self-service by autonomously maintaining the wireless connection without requiring the power-constrained device to be active. The connection is maintained independently, allowing rapid response when needed without continuous power consumption from the constrained device.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for offloading wireless connections are disclosed. An example method includes configuring a wireless offload engine to maintain a wireless connection on behalf of one or more circuits coupled to the wireless offload engine, determining that the one or more circuits are to enter a low-power state, and maintaining the wireless connection after the one or more circuits have entered the low-power state based at least in part on the configuring.