| 摘要 |
Embodiments of the invention are directed to power savings in Access Points (APs). Legacy 802.11 modes such as 802.11a/b/g use one transmitter/receive chain per radio. High Throughput (HT) 802.11n modes use multiple (2, 3, or more) transmit/receive chains per radio. Power consumed by the AP may be reduced by powering off unused transmit and/or receive chains. Multiple transmit chains are only powered up when HT 802.11n transmissions requiring them are made. Using protected mode signaling, the AP powers up multiple receive chains needed for HT 802.11n reception on receiving a Request to Send (RTS) packet indicating that an 802.11n client wishes to send 802.11n HT data. Transmit and/or receive chains may be powered up with minimum on times. Only certain elements of a chain may be powered up and down, with those elements requiring a great deal of settling time left powered on. Transmit chains may be powered up on the reception of RTS-based information indicating arrival of HT 802.11 data.
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