Reducing power consumption by a wireless communication device with multiple wireless communication modems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9301252-B2
Application number	US-201314103206-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2013
Priority date	Nov 11, 2013
Publication date	Mar 29, 2016
Grant date	Mar 29, 2016

Abstract

A method that reduces power consumption in a wireless communication device having a first and a second modem. The method includes detecting access to a communication network via the second modem, and in response to that detection: establishing a communication channel between the second modem and a communication service over a communication network; and triggering the first modem to enter a sleep state. The communication service is configured to respond to receipt at the communication service of an incoming communication to be routed to the first modem via a first communication network by: (i) automatically transmitting a notification via the communication channel to the second modem and (ii) forwarding the incoming communication via the first communication network to the first modem. The method then includes, in response to receipt of the notification at the device: awakening the first modem to an active state to enable receipt of the incoming communication.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for minimizing power consumption in a communication device that includes at least a first modem and a second modem, each supporting a communication protocol for respectively connecting to at least one communication network, the method comprising:
in response to detecting communicative access via the second modem to a communication network on which a communication service is accessible:
establishing a communication channel with the communication service via the second modem, wherein the communication service is configured to respond to receipt of an incoming communication that will be routed to the communication device via a first communication network by: (i) automatically transmitting a notification via a second communication network to the second modem and (ii) forwarding the incoming communication via the first communication network to the first modem;
in response to establishing the communication channel with the communication service, placing the first modem in a sleep state; and
in response to receipt, at the second modem, of the notification of the incoming communication:
awakening the first modem to an active state to enable receipt of signaling corresponding to the incoming communication via the first modem.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequent to the awakening of the first modem, receiving, at the first modem, a page from the first communication network addressed to a first identifier associated with the communication device, wherein the page is associated with a forwarding of the incoming communication by the wireless service.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
subsequent to receiving the signaling corresponding to the incoming communication, establishing a connection of the incoming communication, via the first modem.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
registering the communication device with the communication service, wherein the communication service associates the communication device with a first identifier assigned to a registered account at the communication service of a user of the first device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein registering the communication device comprises:
transmitting registration information, via the second modem, to a server of the communication service, wherein the registration information triggers the communication service to issue the notification when forwarding an incoming communication over the first communication network.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the incoming communication is a phone call and the first identifier comprises a first phone number utilized for receiving the incoming call, which is automatically routed via the first communication network to a second phone number associated with the communication device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
registering the communication device, via the first modem, with the first communication network, prior to triggering the first modem to enter the sleep state; and
periodically placing the first modem in an active state in order to exchange parameters with the first communication network that are required to maintain the first modem in a ready state for quickly establishing a communication channel with the first communication network.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
triggering the first modem to enter a sleep state comprises at least one of (a) turning off power to the first modem, (b) removing power from one or more power consuming components of the first modem, (c) turning off specific power consuming components of the first modem, (d) intermittently providing power to a subset of components of the first modem that are required to periodically transmit registration parameters to the first wireless network and exchange timing data with a network tower for uplink and downlink communication, (e) placing the first modem in a low power state in which the first modem consumes a limited amount of power but retains operational readiness to enable a quick response to receipt of the incoming communication, and (f) placing the first modem in a state in which the first modem monitors a signal of the first communication network less frequently than the frequency of monitoring of the signal when the first modem is in an active state.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to establishing the communication channel with the communication service, initiating a monitoring protocol at the second modem to detect receipt of the notification.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication network operates using at least one first wireless protocol that causes the first modem to consume a first amount of power while in a stand-by mode or a scanning-for-network mode; and
the second communication network operates using a second wireless protocol that causes the second modem to consume a second amount of power that is less than the first amount of power, while the second modem is in one of (a) active communication with the second communication network, (b) stand-by mode, and (c) a scanning-for-network mode.

11. A wireless communication device comprising:
a first wireless modem that enables the wireless communication device (WCD) to interface with a first wireless network and perform wireless communication exchange via a first communication channel;
a second wireless modem that enables the WCD to interface with a second wireless network and perform wireless communication exchange via a second communication channel;
at least one processor coupled to the first wireless modem and the second wireless modem:
a communication and power management (CPM) utility that executes on the processor and configures the WCD to:
in response to the second wireless modem being communicatively connected to the second wireless network:
establish, via the second wireless modem, communication with a communication service accessible over the second wireless network, where the communication service provides routing of signaling of an incoming communication to the WCD over the first wireless network and exchange of messages with the WCD over the second wireless network; and
set the first wireless modem to a sleep state; and

in response to receipt of a notification from the communication service, at the second wireless modem, identifying that the incoming communication is being forwarded to the WCD via the first wireless network:
return the first wireless modem to an active state to enable connection of the incoming communication to the WCD via the first wireless modem following receipt of the signaling of the incoming communication.

12. The WCD of claim 11 , wherein:
the CPM module turning the first wireless modem to a sleep state comprises the CPM module configuring the WCD to perform at least one of (a) turn off power to the first wireless modem, (b) remove power from one or more power consuming components of the first wireless modem, (c) turn off specific power consuming components of the first wireless modem, (d) intermittently provide power to a subset of components of the first wireless modem that are required to periodically transmit registration parameters to the first wireless network and exchange timing data with a network tower for uplink and downlink communication, (e) place the first communication modem in a low power state in which the first wireless modem consumes a limited amount of power but retains operational readiness to enable a quick response to receipt of the incoming wireless communication, and (f) place the first wireless modem in an operating mode in which the first wireless modem monitors a signal of the first wireless network less frequently than

Assignees

• Motorola Mobility Llc
• Google Technology Holdings LLC

Inventors

• Narasimha Murali
• Ady Roger W
• Arshad Iqbal
• Kuchibhotla Ravi
• Love Robert T
• Slaby Jiri
• Wojack Jason P

Classifications

• H04W60/00

  Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration · CPC title

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W52/0212 Primary

  managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is leader and terminal is follower · CPC title

• H04W76/04

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W68/00

  User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like · CPC title