Proxy server for facilitating power conservation in wireless client terminals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9402277-B2
Application number	US-4164408-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2008
Priority date	Mar 3, 2008
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

A novel power conservation scheme is provided for conserving power in client terminals by using a proxy server. The client terminal, having a low-power communication interface and a high-power communication interface, may power down its high-power communication interface, to conserve power. Prior to shutting off its high-power communication interface, the client terminal may assign a host terminal to act as a proxy for the client terminal. The host terminal monitors the paging channels for the client terminal via a high-power communication interface. If the host terminal detects a paging message for the client terminal, it forwards at least a portion of the paging message to the client terminal via a low-power communication interface. Upon receipt of the paging message from the host terminal via its low-power communication interface, the client terminal may power up its high-power communication interface and directly respond to an access terminal that initiated the paging message.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A host terminal comprising:
a first communication interface for communicating with an access point via a first long range link;
a second communication interface for communicating with a client terminal via a second link, wherein the first communication interface has a greater bandwidth than the second communication interface;
a processing circuit coupled between the first communication interface and the second communication interface, the processing circuit configured to:
receive a notification from the client terminal to operate as a proxy for the client terminal, wherein the client terminal is configured to listen for paging messages on paging channels over the first long range link;
listen for paging messages on paging channels for the client terminal via the first communication interface over the first long range link; and
send at least a portion of a received paging message to the client terminal via the second communication interface over the second link, wherein the portion of the paging message sent by the host terminal is sufficient for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point.

2. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
add the client terminal to a proxy list; and
remove the client terminal from the proxy list after the portion of the paging message is sent to the client terminal.

3. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
translate the portion of the paging message from a first communication protocol associated with the first communication interface to a second communication protocol associated with the second communication interface.

4. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the first communication interface is a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) compliant interface and the second communication interface is any Bluetooth compliant interface.

5. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the first communication interface consumes relatively more power than the second communication interface for a given time of operation.

6. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the notification from the client terminal includes a client identifier and one or more paging channels associated with the client terminal.

7. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
acknowledge the notification from the client terminal to operate as the proxy.

8. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the paging message includes at least one of a traffic channel and a sector.

9. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the first communication interface has a longer range than the second communication interface.

10. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first communication interface and the second communication interface is a wireless communication interface.

11. The host terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
transmit on both the first long range link and the second link to be discoverable during a scan by the client terminal for a proxy.

12. A method operational on a host terminal comprising:
receiving a notification from a client terminal to operate as a proxy for the client terminal, wherein the client terminal is configured to listen for paging messages on paging channels over a first long range link;
listening for paging messages on paging channels for the client terminal via a first communication interface over the first long range link; and
sending at least a portion of a paging message to the client terminal via a second communication interface over a second link, wherein the portion of the paging message sent by the host terminal is sufficient for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point and wherein the first communication interface has a greater bandwidth than the second communication interface.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
adding the client terminal to a proxy list; and
removing the client terminal from the proxy list after the portion of the paging message is sent to the client terminal via the second communication interface.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
translating the portion of the paging message from a first communication protocol associated with the first communication interface to a second communication protocol associated with the second communication interface.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first communication interface consumes relatively more power than the second communication interface for a given time of operation.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the host terminal operates as a proxy for a plurality of client terminals by monitoring paging channels associated with the plurality of client terminals.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
transmitting data on both the first long range link and the second link so that it is discoverable during a scan by the client terminal for a proxy.

18. A host terminal comprising:
means for receiving a notification from a client terminal to operate as a proxy for the client terminal, wherein the client terminal is configured to listen for paging messages on paging channels over a first long range link;
means for listening for paging messages on paging channels for the client terminal via a first communication interface over the first long range link; and
means for sending at least a portion of a paging message to the client terminal via a second communication interface over a second link, wherein the portion of the paging message sent by the host terminal is sufficient for the client terminal to respond to the paging message directly to the access point and wherein the first communication interface has a greater bandwidth than the second communication interface.

19. The host terminal of claim 18 , further comprising:
means for translating the portion of the paging message from a first communication protocol associated with the first communication interface to a second communication protocol associated with the second communication interface.

20. The host terminal of claim 18 , wherein the first communication interface has a longer range than the second communication interface.

21. The host terminal of claim 18 , further comprising:
means for adding the client terminal to a proxy list; and
means for removing the client terminal from the proxy list after the portion of the paging message is sent to the client terminal via the second communication interface.

22. The host terminal of claim 18 , further comprising:
means for transmitting data on both the first long range link and the second link so that it is discoverable during a scan by the client terminal for a proxy.

23. A non-transitory processor readable medium having stored thereon instructions operational on a host terminal for facilitating power consumption in client terminals configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a notification from a client terminal to operate as a proxy for the client terminal, wherein the client terminal is configured to listen for paging messages on paging channels over a first long range link;
listening for paging messages on the paging channels for the client terminal via a first communication interface over the first long range link; and
sending at least a portion of a paging message to the cli

Assignees

• Soliman Samir S
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Soliman Samir S

Classifications

• H04W68/00

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

• H04W88/182

  Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy · CPC title

• H04W52/0216

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

• H04W88/04 Primary

  adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title