Method and system for announcement time of idle timeout for power saving operations in wireless networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9264992-B2
Application number	US-88535110-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2010
Priority date	Sep 22, 2009
Publication date	Feb 16, 2016
Grant date	Feb 16, 2016

Abstract

A method and system for wireless communication over a wireless communication medium is provided. A schedule is generated which indicates when a wireless communication station may enter a power saving state in an announcement time (AT) period, based on an idle timeout interval in the AT period. The AT period comprises a period after a beacon transmission in a beacon interval.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of wireless communication over a wireless communication medium, comprising:
generating a schedule indicating when one or more power saving wireless communication stations enter a power saving state within an announcement time (AT) period, based on an idle timeout interval during the AT period;
wherein the AT period comprises a period after a beacon transmission during a beacon interval (BI), the one or more power saving wireless communication stations with different power sensitivities are assigned different AT period starting points during the BI and obtain different timeout policies, and the different timeout policies comprise at least one of: a bounded timeout policy or an unbounded timeout policy, depending on power sensitivity of each particular power saving wireless communication station.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
generating the schedule indicating when a power saving wireless communication station enters the power saving state within the AT period further comprises indicating a length of time the power saving wireless communication station remains in the power saving state.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
wirelessly providing the schedule dynamically from a coordinator to a power saving wireless communication station in a wireless network during the AT period; and
the power saving wireless communication station utilizing the schedule to determine a wake up schedule in the BI.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
generating the schedule indicating when a power saving wireless communication station enters the power saving state during the AT period based on assigning the different timeout policies to multiple levels of power sensitivity power saving wireless communication stations.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
the coordinator dynamically maintaining a policy-based list of the power saving wireless communication stations to determine the schedule, wherein the policy-based list categorizes and separates the power saving wireless communication stations based on their power sensitivity levels.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
the coordinator dynamically updating the policy-based list based on a parameter setup during each AT period.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assigning N idle timeout policies to M levels of power sensitivity power saving wireless communication stations.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
in case of at least one of: a frame loss during the AT period, or the coordinator does not send additional frames to the power saving wireless communication stations, the coordinator utilizing a countdown timeout timer based on the idle timeout interval to indicate idle timeout; and
the power saving wireless communication stations determining when each power saving wireless communication station enters the power saving state without staying awake for at least a portion of the remainder of the BI.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the AT period is present in the BI where the duration of the AT period is unknown to the power saving wireless communication stations at the time the BI enters the AT period.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
the coordinator wirelessly transmitting directed frames to one or more power saving wireless communication stations during the AT period and each power saving wireless communication station remaining awake to receive, and respond to, the directed frames during a portion of the AT period known by both the coordinator and each individual power saving wireless communication station.

11. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the wireless communication medium comprises an mmWave wireless channel; and
the power saving wireless communication stations and the coordinator are configured to wirelessly communicate in a wireless local area network via the wireless communication medium.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power saving wireless communication station utilizing a countdown timeout timer based on the idle timeout interval in the schedule; and
resetting the countdown timeout timer to the idle timeout interval when the power saving wireless communication station receives a directed frame from a coordinator.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power saving wireless communication station utilizing a countdown timeout timer based on an idle timeout interval in the schedule; and
resetting the countdown timeout timer when a set of predefined events that are observable to both the power saving wireless communication station and a coordinator occur.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power saving wireless communication station utilizing a countdown timeout timer based on an idle timeout interval in the schedule; and
upon receipt of a directed frame from a coordinator, the power saving wireless communication station starting a new awake policy that is either conveyed in the received frame or is previously agreed upon with the coordinator.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adaptively adjusting AT period idle time out policies for the one or more power saving wireless communication stations.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the one or more power saving wireless communication stations determining when each power saving wireless communication station enters a power saving state without staying awake for at least a portion of the remainder of the BI.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the one or more power saving wireless communication stations utilize a countdown timeout timer based on an idle timeout interval in the schedule.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein a less power sensitive power saving wireless communication station obtains the unbounded timeout policy, and a more power sensitive power saving wireless communication station obtains the bounded timeout policy.

19. A wireless coordinator station, comprising:
a scheduling processor configured for generating a schedule indicating when a power saving wireless communication station enters a power saving state within an announcement time (AT) period, based on an idle timeout interval during the AT period, wherein the AT period comprises a period after a beacon transmission during a beacon interval (BI); and
a physical layer configured for wireless communication with one or more power saving wireless communication stations over a wireless communication medium,
wherein the one or more power saving wireless communication stations with different power sensitivities are assigned different AT period starting points within the BI and obtain different timeout policies, and the different timeout policies comprise at least one of: a bounded timeout policy or an unbounded timeout policy, depending on power sensitivity of each particular power saving wireless communication station.

20. The wireless coordinator station of claim 19 , wherein:
the scheduling processor is further configured for indicating a length of time a power saving wireless communication station remains in the power saving state.

21. The wireless coordinator station of claim 19 , wherein:
the schedule is wirelessly provided to the one or more power saving wireless communication stations dynamically in a wireless network during the AT period, such that each power saving wireless communication station utilizes the schedule to determine a wake up schedule in the BI.

22. The wirele

Assignees

• Hsu Ju-Lan
• Shao Huai-Rong
• Ngo Chiu
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hsu Ju-Lan
• Shao Huai-Rong
• Ngo Chiu

Classifications

• Y02B60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H04W52/0216 Primary

  using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W40/10

  based on available power or energy · CPC title

• H04W74/04

  Scheduled access (hybrid access H04W74/02) · CPC title