An in-band power-saving protocol for mobile data networks

A new alternative is proposed for reducing the power consumption of the portable (battery-powered) units operating in a mobile packet-data network. First, a short review of the current power-saving protocols is taking place. It is shown that the most common means for conserving power is the intermittent operation of the receivers (at the portable units) and a central administration authority that synchronizes the receivers. Some drawbacks of the synchronous operation lead us to the introduction of an asynchronous power-saving protocol, where no central synchronization is necessary and where each terminal may control its power consumption relative to its current needs. According to the proposed power-saving page-and-answer protocol, an acknowledgment paging procedure is preceding every packet transmission in order to alert mobile terminals with pending traffic. Steady-state performance is evaluated with the aid of simulation. The relationship between the achieved powersaving and the mean packet delay degradation is presented. Finally, we express some notable implementation issues and some considerations regarding the employment of this protocol as a supplementary power-saving service in microcellular mobile data networks and wireless local area networks.