Power management of communication devices

Abstract

In some embodiments, a method includes processing, at a communication device, a packet received via a communication media. The method also includes reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to at least one component in the communication device, in response to a condition associated with the processing of the packet being satisfied. The method includes restoring power to the at least one component prior to receiving an entirety of the packet at the communication device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 processing, at a communication device, a packet received via a communication media;   reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to at least one component in the communication device, in response to a condition associated with the processing of the packet being satisfied; and   restoring the power to the at least one component prior to receiving an entirety of the packet at the communication device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a number of the at least one component in the communication device from which power is reduced is proportional to a length of the packet. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, the power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to a time for receiving the packet being less than a settling time for a synthesizer,
 reducing power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit, while not reducing the power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to a clock in physical layer of the communication device. 
   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than a settling time for the synthesizer but less than a time to restore a state to units in physical layer of the communication device for operation,
 reducing power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit; 
 reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to a clock in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than the time to restore the state to the units in the physical layer for operation,
 reducing power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to units in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed at the communication device,   wherein the packet is communicated via the communication media based on Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO).   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the condition associated with the processing of the packet comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a destination address in the packet being different than an address of the communication device. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 processing, at a communication device, a packet via a communication media;   reducing, while the packet is being received, power to at least one component in the communication device, in response to a condition being satisfied, the condition comprising at least one of,
 detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a destination address in the packet being different than an address of the communication device; and 
 detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed at the communication device; and 
   restoring the power to at least one unit prior to receiving an entirety of the packet at the communication device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a mismatch between the at least one of a Group ID and a partial Association ID in the packet that identifies an intended destination of the packet and an identification of the communication device,   wherein the condition is satisfied upon detection that a signal strength of the packet is higher than a signal strength threshold.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a mismatch between a Media Access Control (MAC) address in the packet that identifies the MAC address of the communication device and the MAC address of the communication device,   wherein the condition is satisfied upon detection that a signal strength of the packet is higher than a signal strength threshold.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed at the communication device,   wherein the packet is communicated via the communication media based on Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO).   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a number of the at least one component from which power is reduced is proportional to a length of the packet. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to a time for receiving the packet being less than a settling time for a synthesizer,
 reducing power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit, while not reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to a clock in a physical layer of the communication device. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than a settling time for the synthesizer but less than a time to restore a state to units in the physical layer for operation,
 reducing power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to the clock in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the reducing, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than the time to restore the state to the units in the physical layer for operation,
 reducing power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reducing power to units in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the communication media includes wireless media. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising:
 a network interface having a radio receiver unit, a radio transmitter unit, and a synthesizer, wherein the radio receiver unit is configured to receive a packet via a communication media; and   a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface, the processor configured to execute instructions to cause the processor to:
 process a packet received via communication media; 
 reduce, while the packet is being processed, power to at least one of the radio receiver unit, the radio transmitter unit, and the synthesizer, in response to a condition associated with the processing of the packet being satisfied; and 
 restore power to the at least one of the radio receiver unit, the radio transmitter unit, and the synthesizer prior to receiving an entirety of the packet at the network interface. 
   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein a number of the at least one of the radio receiver unit, the radio transmitter unit, and the synthesizer from which power is reduced is proportional to a length of the packet. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to cause the processor to reduce, while the packet is being processed comprises:
 in response to a time for receiving the packet being less than a settling time for a synthesizer,
 reduce power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit, while not reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to a clock in a physical layer of the apparatus. 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to cause the processor to reduce, while the packet is being processed comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than a settling time for the synthesizer but less than a time to restore a state to units in a physical layer of the apparatus for operation,
 reduce power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit; 
 reduce power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to a clock in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions to cause the processor to reduce, while the packet is being processed comprises:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than the time to restore the state to the units in the physical layer for operation,
 reduce power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reduce power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to units in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 17 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed,   wherein the packet is communicated via the communication media based on Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO).   
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the condition associated with the processing of the packet comprises detection, during processing of the packet, of a destination address in the packet being different than an address of the apparatus. 
     
     
         24 . A computer program product for power management, the computer program product comprising:
 a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising a computer usable program code configured to:
 process, at a communication device, a packet via a communication media; 
 reduce, while the packet is being received, power to at least one component in the communication device, in response to a condition being satisfied, the condition comprising at least one of,
 detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a destination address in the packet being different than an address of the communication device; and 
 detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed at the communication device; and 
 
 restore power to at least one unit prior to receiving an entirety of the packet at the communication device. 
   
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 24 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a mismatch between the at least one of a Group ID and a partial Association ID in the packet that identifies an intended destination of the packet and an identification of the communication device,   wherein the condition is satisfied upon detection that a signal strength of the packet is higher than a signal strength threshold.   
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 24 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, of a mismatch between a Media Access Control (MAC) address in the packet that identifies the MAC address of the communication device and the MAC address of the communication device,   wherein the condition is satisfied upon detection that a signal strength of the packet is higher than a signal strength threshold.   
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 24 ,
 wherein the condition comprises detection, during processing of the packet at the communication device, that the packet includes padded data that is discarded and not processed at the communication device,   wherein the packet is communicated via the communication media based on Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO).   
     
     
         28 . The computer program product of  claim 24 , wherein a number of the at least one component from which power is reduced is proportional to a length of the packet. 
     
     
         29 . The computer program product of  claim 28 , wherein the computer usage program product is configured to reduce, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device, the computer usage program product configured to:
 in response to a time for receiving the packet being less than a settling time for a synthesizer,
 reduce power to a radio transmission unit and a radio receiver unit, while not reducing power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to a clock in a physical layer of the communication device. 
   
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the computer usage program product is configured to reduce, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device, the computer usage program product configured to:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than a settling time for the synthesizer but less than a time to restore a state to units in the physical layer for operation,
 reduce power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reduce power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to the clock in the physical layer. 
   
     
     
         31 . The computer program product of  claim 30 , wherein the computer usage program product is configured to reduce, while the packet is being processed, power to the at least one component in the communication device, wherein the computer usage program product configured to:
 in response to the time for receiving the packet being greater than the time to restore the state to the units in the physical layer for operation,
 reduce power to the radio transmission unit and the radio receiver unit; 
 reduce power to the synthesizer; and 
 reduce power to units in the physical layer.