Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a network device

US6694149B1 · kind B1 · utility

24Cited by
13References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 22, 1999
Grant dateFeb 17, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 22, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L47/50
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a network device (104, 105, 106, 107) is provided. A network device (104, 105, 106, 107) is placed in a quiescent mode and scheduled to switch to an active mode at a scheduled time. At the scheduled time, the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) is activated. A control message (402, 403, 404, 405) is received by the network device (104, 105, 106, 107). The control message (402, 403, 404, 405) includes an indication as to whether or not the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) should remain in the active mode in preparation of receiving a data message (608, 609). If the control message (402, 403, 404, 405) indicates that the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) need not remain in the active mode, the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) sets a new scheduled time and returns to the quiescent mode. However if the control message (402, 403, 404, 405) indicates that the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) should remain in the active mode in preparation of receiving a data message (608, 609), the network device (104, 105, 106, 107) remains in the active mode and receives the data message (608, 609). After the data message (608, 609) ha…

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