Methods for power save in soft-ap mode and related systems and apparatuses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025203508-A1
Application number	US-202418926704-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 25, 2024
Priority date	Dec 15, 2023
Publication date	Jun 19, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments herein include a method for selectively operating a software enabled access point (Soft-AP) in a low-power listen mode. In some embodiments, a Soft-AP may use a low-power listen mode with limited or no transmit capabilities to monitor a wireless medium when not actively engaged in transmission or reception of frames. The Soft-AP may activate a fully-capable mode when there is an upcoming frame transmission from a station.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for a software enabled access point (Soft-AP), the method comprising:
monitoring a wireless medium using a low-power listen mode with limited or no transmit capabilities when not actively engaged in transmission or reception of frames; receiving, when in the low-power listen mode, an indication of a frame transmission that is impending from a station (STA); activating a fully-capable mode with full radio frequency (RF) capabilities and switching from using the low-power mode to using the fully-capable mode to monitor the wireless medium in response to receiving the indication; sending, to the STA, a reply in response to the indication; and receiving the frame transmission from the STA using the fully-capable mode.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication from the STA comprises a Multi-User Request-to-Send (MU-RTS) frame.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the reply to the indication comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) message sent in the low-power listen mode in parallel with activation of the fully-capable mode.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the MU-RTS frame comprises sufficient padding to allow the Soft-AP to activate the fully-capable mode prior to an end of the MU-RTS frame, and wherein the reply to the indication comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) message sent using the fully-capable mode.

5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising sending a Soft-AP information element to the STA that includes a first field that mandates that the STA precedes data transmissions with the MU-RTS frame, a second field that indicates a padding duration for the MU-RTS frame, and a third field that indicates a maximum modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for transmission of the MU-RTS frame.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving an association request using the low-power listen mode, and transmitting an acknowledgement message using the low-power listen mode.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving the MU-RTS frame before receiving an association request.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication from the STA comprises a wake-up frame, and wherein the wake-up frame is a management frame.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the wake-up frame comprises sufficient payload length to allow the Soft-AP to activate the fully-capable mode prior to an end of the wake-up frame, and wherein the reply to the indication comprises an acknowledgement message sent using the fully-capable mode.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising sending a Soft-AP information element to the STA that includes a first field that mandates that the STA precedes data transmissions with the wake-up frame, a second field that indicates a payload duration for the wake-up frame, a third field that indicates a maximum modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for transmission of the wake-up frame, and a fourth field that indicates to the STA to use a non-high throughput (HT) duplicate format.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving the wake-up frame before receiving an association request.

12 . A method for a station (STA), the method comprising:
receiving, from a software enabled access point (Soft-AP), an information element comprising operation parameters for an impending frame transmission indication; preparing the impending frame transmission indication based on the operation parameters; sending, to the Soft-AP, the impending frame transmission indication; receiving, from the Soft-AP, a reply in response to the indication when the Soft-AP is operating in a low-power listen mode; and sending, to the Soft-AP, a frame transmission when the Soft-AP is operating in a fully-capable mode.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the impending frame transmission indication comprises a Multi-User Request-to-Send (MU-RTS) frame.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the reply to the impending frame transmission indication comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) message sent by the Soft-AP using the low-power listen mode in parallel with the Soft-AP activating the fully-capable mode.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the MU-RTS frame comprises sufficient padding to allow the Soft-AP to activate the fully-capable mode prior to an end of the MU-RTS frame, and wherein the reply to the indication comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) message sent by the fully-capable mode.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the information element includes a first field that mandates that the STA precedes data transmissions with the MU-RTS frame, a second field that indicates a padding duration for the MU-RTS frame, and a third field that indicates a maximum modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for transmission of the MU-RTS frame.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising sending an association request to the Soft-AP operating in the low-power listen mode, and receiving an acknowledgement message from the Soft-AP operating in the low-power listen mode.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising sending the MU-RTS frame before sending an association request.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the impending frame transmission indication comprises a wake-up frame, and wherein the wake-up frame is a management frame.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the wake-up frame comprises sufficient payload length to allow the Soft-AP to activate the fully-capable mode prior to an end of the wake-up frame, and wherein the reply to the indication comprises an acknowledgement message sent using the fully-capable mode of the Soft-AP.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Krishnan Neelakantan Nurani
• Yong Su Khiong
• Boodannavar Veerendra
• Kneckt Jarkko L
• Liu Yong
• Dominguez Charles F
• Jiang Jinjing
• Thakur Sidharth R
• Shani Oren
• Verma Lochan
• Wang Qi
• Hedayat Ahmad Reza
• Dash Debashis

Classifications

• H04W52/288

  taking into account the usage mode, e.g. hands-free, data transmission or telephone · CPC title

• H04W52/262

  taking into account adaptive modulation and coding [AMC] scheme · CPC title

• H04W52/0206 Primary

  in access points, e.g. base stations · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title