Dynamic and adaptive channel scanning

摘要

Methods and apparatus for dynamic, adaptive scanning of communication channels are provided. A device alternates between scan cycles and rest cycles. A scan cycle includes interleaved intervals of scanning and resting. A scan interval may involve active or passive scanning, and a rest interval may be active or inactive. An active rest interval is spent tending to a communication requirement other than scanning (e.g., an infrastructure connection, a peer-to-peer connection). An inactive rest interval may be spent in a low-power mode of operation. Rest cycles, like rest intervals, may also be active or inactive. Durations of rest cycles and rest intervals increase each time a scan cycle completes without detection of any significant event or signal (e.g., until they reach a maximum). Upon detection of a significant event, they decrease, possibly by being reset to default durations.

主权项

1. A device, comprising:
a processor; a memory configured to store: data that represents one or more communication channels, wherein the one or more communication channels are IEEE 802.11 communication channels; and multiple operating parameters for facilitating scanning of the one or more communication channels; and a wireless interface for conducting wireless communication operations; wherein the processor and the wireless interface are configured to: alternate scan cycles for scanning the one or more communication channels with rest cycles having a rest cycle duration, wherein the rest cycle duration is initially equal to a default rest cycle duration; for each successive scan cycle in which no events are detected during the scans of the one or more communication channels, increase the rest cycle duration; and when an event is detected, reset the rest cycle duration to the default rest cycle duration.