Patent · US Expired

System and method for conserving battery power in a mobile station searching to select a serving cell

US5794146A · kind A · utility

84Cited by
4References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignees

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 14, 1996
Grant dateAug 11, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 14, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02D30/70
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method is providing for a mobile station to vary the interval between scans by a mobile station for the beacon signals of cells in a communications system, in order to save battery power, when the mobile station is searching to select a serving cell. The method increases the interval between scans in response to the time elapsed since the start of the search. Initially, the scans are conducted with a small interval between the scans in the hope of quickly acquiring a serving cell. If a serving cell is not selected during this initial period of time, then the interval between scans is calculated to increase in response to the increase in elapsed time since the start of the search. If a serving cell is not selected during this period of calculated intervals, then the interval is set to a maximum limit to save battery power. A system for a mobile station to save power by varying the intervals between beacon signal scans when searching for a serving cell is also provided. The system and method provide a plurality of functions to calculate the scan intervals, and timing controls to vary when the calculated scan interval is to be applied in the search. In addition, the minimum and maxi…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.