REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION IN WIRELESS NETWORK STATIONS BY OPTIMIZING CONTENTION PERIOD OVERHEAD WITH STATION GROUPING, PROXY CSMA, AND TIM MONITORING

摘要

A method of saving power in a wireless network can include determining a plurality of stations associated with an AP. The AP can create station groups using group selection logic. Notably, the group selection logic is transparent to the plurality of stations. A plurality of TIMs can then be sent, each TIM allowing only one station group access to a channel during a predetermined time interval, such as a beacon interval. In another method, a station can determine its sleep duration based on at least one of first information from the TIM to generate random sleep duration, second information regarding previous operation of the station, and third information regarding a status of the station. The first, second, and third information can include the number of stations associated with the AP and having buffered data based on the TIM, historical collisions, and power status.