ENERGY SAVING CIRCUITS AND METHODS FOR MULTIMEDIA OVER COAXIAL ALLIANCE (MOCA) CAPABLE DEVICES

摘要

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to MOCA networks including power-saving MOCA-capable devices. Each of the MOCA-capable devices is operable during a normal or active mode to perform the specific multimedia functionality for which the device is designed, such as to function as a digital video recorder (DVR) and content server, set-top box, and so on. Moreover, each of the MOCA-capable devices is also operable to automatically enter a low-power or standby mode, which reduces the power consumption of the device, when the device need not operate in the active mode. In this way, power savings in each of the MOCA devices results in overall power savings in the MOCA network. A global user-configurable low-power or standby mode parameter can be utilized to override the automatic standby mode operation if desired.

主权项

1. A MOCA-capable device, comprising:
a MOCA port; MOCA-interface components coupled to the MOCA port; Ethernet-interface components; a status register coupled to the Ethernet-interface components, the status register operable to store status information having a first value to indicate a normal operating mode of the MOCA-capable device and having a second value to indicate a standby mode of the MOCA-capable device; and a MOCA processor coupled to the MOCA-interface components, the Ethernet-interface components, and to the status register, the MOCA processor operable to the detect the state of the status information and to place the Ethernet-interface components into the standby modes of operation to lower the power consumption of the Ethernet-interface components.