| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for reducing the amount of power that is required when using a wireless communication protocol, such as IEEE 802.11, is presented. In a wireless communication system, a mobile device that is a part of the communication system must be "awake" in order to send or receive a message. A device in an "awake" mode consumes more power than a device in its "asleep" mode. The invention obviates the need for a device to wake up frequently to receive gateway broadcasts. Instead of waking up for every broadcast, the device remains awake for a predetermined "holdover period" after sending a message. By reducing the total amount of time the device is "awake," the invention achieves significant power savings. The holdover period should be set so that it is short enough to achieve the desired amount of power savings without slowing down the speed of communication too much. |
