Method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a wireless communication device

Abstract

A wireless communications power saving method and apparatus is provided. The method includes establishing a circular buffer configured to maintain a number of most recently encountered frame delay times and waiting a frame delay time after receiving a further frame before the station enters a power save state. Frame delay time is a period equal to a largest most recently encountered frame delay period in the circular buffer. The method further determines, at a station, a dormancy time based on a number of data frames received since the station transitioned from an inactive mode to an active mode, a packet transmission rate, and a data frame time interval representing time between data frames received at the station, and causes the station to switch to a further inactive mode if a next packet is not received within the dormancy time after receipt of a previous packet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for saving power in a station in a wireless communication system, comprising:
 determining, at the station, a dormancy time based on a number of data frames received since the station transitioned from an inactive mode to an active mode, a packet transmission rate, and a data frame time interval representing time between data frames received at the station; and   causing the station to switch to a further inactive mode if a next packet is not received within the dormancy time after receipt of a previous packet.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the packet transmission rate represents a rate at which data packets are received at the station, wherein the packet transmission rate is determined based on the number of data frames received since the station transitioned from the inactive mode to the active mode. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transitioning from the further inactive state to a further active state when reverse link traffic to be transmitted by the station is available at the station. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising causing the terminal to transition to an additional inactive mode after waiting no longer than the dormancy time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a previous maximum dormancy time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a configured constant. 
     
     
         7 . A station configured for use in a wireless communication system, comprising:
 a processor configured to determine a dormancy time based on a number of data frames received since the station transitioned from an inactive mode to an active mode, a packet transmission rate, and a data frame time interval representing time between data frames received at the station; and   a transmitter configured to transmit data from the station to an access point;   wherein the processor is further configured to cause the station to switch to a further inactive mode if a next packet is not received within the dormancy time after receipt of a previous packet.   
     
     
         8 . The station of  claim 7 , wherein the packet transmission rate represents a rate at which data packets are received at the station, wherein the packet transmission rate is determined based on the number of data frames received since the station transitioned from the inactive mode to the active mode. 
     
     
         9 . The station of  claim 7 , wherein the station is further configured to transition from the further inactive state to a further active state when reverse link traffic to be transmitted by the station is available at the station. 
     
     
         10 . The station of  claim 9 , further comprising causing the station to transition to an additional inactive mode after waiting no longer than the dormancy time. 
     
     
         11 . The station of  claim 7 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a previous maximum dormancy time. 
     
     
         12 . The station of  claim 11 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a configured constant. 
     
     
         13 . The station of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to alter the inactivity period based on a physical layer rate of the transmitting station. 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, performs the following method:
 determining a dormancy time based on a number of data frames received since a station transitioned from an inactive mode to an active mode, a packet transmission rate, and a data frame time interval representing time between data frames received at the station; and   causing the station to switch to a further inactive mode if a next packet is not received within the dormancy time after receipt of a previous packet.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the packet transmission rate represents a rate at which data packets are received at the station, wherein the packet transmission rate is determined based on the number of data frames received since the station transitioned from the inactive mode to the active mode. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises transitioning from the further inactive state to a further active state when reverse link traffic to be transmitted by the station is available at the station. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises causing the terminal to transition to an additional inactive mode after waiting no longer than the dormancy time. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a previous maximum dormancy time. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim  28 , wherein the dormancy time is determined based further on a configured constant.