Multiplex communications – Communication over free space – Signaling for performing battery saving
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-08
2004-01-20
Kizou, Hassan (Department: 2662)
Multiplex communications
Communication over free space
Signaling for performing battery saving
C370S337000, C455S039000, C455S458000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06680920
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to the field of wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a power management system for mobile stations.
The use of wireless communication systems is growing every day with users now numbering well into the millions. Mobile stations, such as handheld telephones, are becoming more portable and easier to use all the time, and mobile station users now rely daily on the availability of wireless systems to accommodate their communication needs. However, the single greatest inconvenience associated with routine use of a mobile station is the constant need to recharge and replace worn down batteries. Even users who make and receive very few telephone calls and operate their mobile stations mostly in the standby mode (awaiting calls) experience the annoying and frequent problem of the mobile station running out of battery power thus becoming dead and useless until the worn battery is replaced with a charged battery. Users demand mobile stations having the longest possible battery life.
A large portion of battery power consumed in standby mode is attributable to call detection processing. For example, in GSM-based wireless communication networks, about once every second a mobile station receives and decodes a full paging message comprising four groups of digital data transmitted at certain time intervals to detect any calls. Only rarely does the detection attempt result in discovery of a telephone call for the mobile station. A great deal of battery power is consumed in this call detection process.
Also, while in standby mode, a mobile station periodically receives and processes transmitted broadcast control data including information about communication parameters (channels, frequencies, communication options, etc.). Existing mobile stations receive and process broadcast control data frequently and without fail, for example every 30 seconds, regardless of whether the information contains anything useful to the mobile station. Again, battery power is consumed by this processing even where the mobile station obtains no new information.
Battery power is even consumed when the mobile station is performing no receiving and processing whatsoever. This is because existing mobile stations use a very high precision master clock that runs continuously. Such master clocks are extremely precise and permit the mobile stations to engage in precisely timed communication as required by many wireless communications standards, and particularly by those such as GSM which depend on time division multiple access wherein mobile stations are allocated very short time periods within which to communicate. The high precision of master clocks comes at a price, however, as such master clocks consume battery power at a much higher rate than clocks having lower precision.
Improvements in battery technology, while helpful, have done little to avoid the seemingly ever-present need to recharge and replace mobile station batteries. What is needed is a system to conserve battery power by minimizing mobile system processing, particularly in standby mode.
SUMMARY
The present invention is directed to reducing power consumed by a mobile station operating in standby mode. The present information reduces the quantity of data that the mobile station receives and processes to detect pending telephone calls or paging messages. The reduced processing consumes, less power and advantageously increases the standby mode lifetime of a mobile station battery. Moreover, the present invention reduces the frequency with which the mobile station receives and processes broadcast control information while preserving the ability of the mobile station to detect and process any updated information in a broadcast control channel. Processing fewer broadcast control channels also has the advantage of increasing the lifetime of a mobile station battery. Further, the invention reduces the power consumed by the mobile station when completely idle (i.e., when the mobile station is not receiving, transmitting, or processing any data), still further increasing the lifetime of a mobile station battery.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a mobile station comprises: (1) a software instruction processing unit; (2) a software instruction storage comprising a computer-readable medium, the software instruction storage accessible to the software instruction processing unit; (3) a short page channel receiving module stored in the software instruction storage, the short page channel receiving module including receiving instructions executed by the software instruction processing unit, the receiving instructions causing the mobile station to scan broadcast information in a wireless communication network for a short page channel and to receive a single time slot of the short page channel containing one group of call alert data; and (4) a short page processing module stored in the software instruction storage, including processing instructions executed by the software instruction processing unit, the processing instructions causing the mobile station to process the one group of call alert data and to determine from the group of call alert data whether a pending telephone call or paging message may have been directed to the mobile station. A preferred aspect of the mobile station further comprises: (1) an idle state wherein the mobile station does not scan for a short page channel or receive or process call alert information, the mobile station entering the idle state during a time period between broadcasts of the short page channel; and (2) a battery providing power to the mobile station, the mobile station consuming the power at a first rate during the scanning for the short page channel and during receiving or processing the call alert information, the mobile station consuming the power at a second rate in the idle state, the second rate being less than the first rate. A further preferred aspect of the mobile station further comprises: (1) a master clock; and (2) a low precision clock, the low precision clock being sufficiently precise to time the receipt of a single short page channel time slot, the low precision clock less precise than the master clock, the low precision clock consuming less power during a time interval than the master clock, the low precision clock timing the idle state, the master clock shut down during the idle state.
In another embodiment, a mobile station comprises: (1) a call alert module structured to extract an alert message from transmitted call alert data, the call alert module responding to call alert data received from a call alert channel of a wireless communication system by alerting the mobile station of a pending telephone call or paging message which may be directed to the mobile station; and (2) a paging module structured to extract a paging message from transmitted paging data, the paging module responding to paging data received from a paging channel of the wireless communication system by determining whether the telephone call or paging message is directed to the mobile station, the alert data requiring less processing than the paging data. A preferred aspect of the mobile station further comprises a call establishment module which initiates the establishment of a communication link to a communication device responsible for initiating the telephone call or paging message, the call establishment module invoked upon the determining that the telephone call or paging message is directed to the mobile station.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, a cellular system comprises: (1) a base station; (2) a cell; (3) a receiver in the cell; (4) an alert channel in which the base station transmits within the cell alert information to alert the receiver of a pending telephone call or paging message; and (5) a paging channel in which the base station transmits within the cell paging information to notify a receiver that the receiver is the intended recipient of said telephone call or paging message, the paging information requiring less proc
Kizou Hassan
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Skyworks Solutions Inc.
Tsegaye Saba
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