Wireless interface control to reduce power consumption
View Patent ↗A wireless mobile unit includes a first wireless interface configured to at least receive communication over a first wireless network. A second wireless interface is configured to provide for bidirectional communication over a second wireless network. An interface control is operative to control activation of the second wireless interface from an off state to an on state in response to a predefined radio frequency (RF) stimulus, the first wireless interface remaining in an on state regardless of the state of the second wireless interface.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising:
an interface control configured to control a first wireless interface and a second wireless interface, the first wireless interface configured to at least receive communication over a first wireless network, the second wireless interface configured to provide for bidirectional communication over a second wireless network, the interface control further configured to extract at least one identifier from information received via the first wireless interface, the interface control being operative to control activation of the second wireless interface from an off state to an on state based on a comparison of the extracted at least one identifier relative to data stored in memory of a wireless mobile unit, the first wireless interface remaining in an on state regardless of the state of the second wireless interface;
pre-programmed location data that defines at least one predetermined area located within the first wireless network and which is associated with at least one of a predefined coverage area associated with the second wireless network and a known access point for the second wireless network, the interface control being configured to activate the second wireless interface from the off state to the on state in response to at least one network parameter of the first wireless network substantially matching the pre-programmed location data; and
a timer that controls the second wireless interface to search for discovery of the second wireless network for a predetermined length of time, the interface control deactivating the second wireless interface from the on state to the off state in response to the timer expiring prior to the second wireless interface establishing a connection with the second wireless network.
2. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless network comprises a cellular communications network that provides for bidirectional wireless communication over a corresponding network, the cellular communications network being a wider type of network than the second wireless network.
3. The medium of claim 2 wherein the second wireless network comprises a wireless local area network, the second wireless interface comprising a WiFi interface configured to remain in a normally off state until activated by the interface control.
4. The medium of claim 2 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises at least one predefined identifier for a cellular base station operating in the first wireless network.
5. The medium of claim 1 , further comprising an extractor programmed to extract the at least one identifier from a radio frequency signal received via the first wireless interface, the interface control controlling activation of the second wireless interface based on the at least one identifier extracted from the radio frequency signal.
6. The medium of claim 5 , wherein the at least one identifier extracted from the radio frequency signal further comprises the at least one network parameter of the first wireless network, the at least one network parameter being indicative of a location of the wireless mobile unit within the first wireless network.
7. The medium of claim 1 , further comprising an update control programmed to update the memory with location data received via at least one of the first wireless interface and the second wireless interface.
8. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless network comprises a cellular communications network and the pre-programmed location data comprises at least one of a cell identifier for a cellular base station, a location area code for at least one cellular base station and a sector identifier for a cellular base station.
9. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the at least one predetermined area located within the first wireless network contains at least one predetermined wireless network to which the second wireless interface is configured to connect.
10. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the data stored in memory of the wireless mobile unit further comprises identifiers for a plurality of access points operating in the second wireless network associated with predefined location-identifying data for base stations operating in the first wireless network.
11. The medium of claim 10 , wherein the medium is configured to acquire the location-identifying data for at least a portion of the plurality of access points as the mobile unit travels through a preferred wireless network for which the mobile unit is configured to connect and to store the acquired location-identifying data associated with respective access points of the preferred wireless network in the memory of the wireless mobile unit.
12. The medium of claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of the location-identifying data for at least a portion of the plurality of access points are programmed in the memory of the wireless mobile unit based on data provided by one or more carrier that provides wireless services in the first wireless network.
13. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the at least one identifier represents a pre-identified region or zone within the first wireless network that indicates a likelihood of the mobile unit residing within a preferred second wireless network that the second wireless interface is configured to connect.
14. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions, comprising:
an interface control configured to control a first wireless interface and a second wireless interface, the first wireless interface configured to at least receive communication over a first wireless network, the second wireless interface configured to provide for bidirectional communication over a second wireless network, the interface control operative to control activation of the second wireless interface from an off state to an on state in response to a predefined radio frequency (RF) stimulus comprising an occurrence of an active voice call session over the first wireless network that is detected by the interface control, the first wireless interface remaining in an on state regardless of the state of the second wireless interface;
pre-programmed location data that defines at least one predetermined area located within the first wireless network and which is associated with at least one of a predefined coverage area associated with the second wireless network and a known access point for the second wireless network, the interface control being configured to activate the second wireless network from the off state to the on state in response to at least one network parameter of the first wireless network substantially matching the pre-programmed location data; and
a timer that controls the second wireless interface to search for discovery of the second wireless network for a predetermined length of time, the interface control deactivating the second wireless interface from the on state to the off state in response to the timer expiring prior to the second wireless interface establishing a connection with the second wireless network.
15. The medium of claim 14 , wherein the interface control activates the second wireless interface from the powered off to powered on state to search for at least one predefined identifier in the second wireless network in response to detecting the occurrence of the active voice call session over the first wireless network.
16. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the second wireless interface continues to search for the at least one predefined identifier in the second wireless network during the active call session over the first wireless network, and
wherein if the second wireless interface connects to the second wireless network during the active voice call session over the first wireless network, the second wireless network remains connected with the second wireless network until such connection is lost.
17. The medium of claim 15 , further comprising a timer that controls the second wireless interface to search for discovery of the second wireless network for a predetermined length of time after being activated to the powered on state, the interface control deactivating the second wireless interface from the powered on state to the powered off state in response to the timer expiring prior to the second wireless interface establishing a connection with the second wireless network.
18. A wireless mobile unit, comprising:
a first wireless interface configured to provide for bidirectional communication over a first wireless network;
a second wireless interface configured to provide for bidirectional communication over a second wireless network, the first wireless network being a wider network than the second wireless network;
an interface control operative to activate the second wireless interface from a powered-off state to an on state based on communication that occurs via the first wireless interface, the first wireless interface remaining in an on state regardless of the state of the second wireless interface;
memory that stores pre-programmed location data that defines at least one predetermined area located within the first wireless network and which is associated with at least one of a predefined coverage area associated with the second wireless network and a known access point of the second wireless network, the interface control being configured to activate the second wireless network from the off state to the on state in response to at least one network parameter of the first wireless network substantially matching the pre-programmed location data; and
a timer that controls the second wireless interface to search for discovery of the second wireless network for a predetermined length of time, the interface control deactivating the second wireless interface from the on state to the off state in response to the timer expiring prior to the second wireless interface establishing a connection with the second wireless network.
19. The wireless mobile unit of claim 18 , wherein the second wireless interface comprises a WiFi interface configured to remain normally in the powered-off state until activated by the interface control, and wherein the first wireless interface comprises a cellular interface.
20. The wireless mobile unit of claim 18 , further comprising an extractor programmed to extract information from a radio frequency signal received via the first wireless interface, the interface control controlling activation of the second wireless interface based on the information extracted from the radio frequency signal.
21. The wireless mobile unit of claim 20 , wherein the information extracted from the radio frequency signal further comprises the at least one network parameter indicative of a location of the wireless mobile unit within the first wireless network.
22. The wireless mobile unit of claim 21 , further comprising memory that stores pre-programmed location data that defines at least one predetermined area or region located within the first wireless network, the interface control activates the second wireless network from the powered-off state to the on state in response to the at least one network parameter substantially matching the pre-programmed location data.
23. The wireless mobile unit of claim 22 , wherein the pre-programmed location data comprises at least one of an identifier for a base station, a location area code for at least one base station and GPS coordinates.
24. The wireless mobile unit of claim 18 , wherein the first wireless interface further comprises a call state indicator associated with the communication that occurs via the first wireless interface, the interface control activating the second wireless interface from the powered-off state to the on state based on the call state indicator indicating an occurrence of an active call.
25. The wireless mobile unit of claim 24 , further comprising a timer that controls a length of time that the second wireless interface searches for discovery of at least one predetermined wireless network after the call state indicator indicates the absence of an active call.
26. A method to help reduce power consumption in a mobile unit that includes a plurality of wireless interfaces, the method comprising:
operating at least a first of the plurality of wireless interfaces to be capable of receiving a radio frequency signal;
controlling activation of a second of the plurality of wireless interfaces from a powered off state to an on state based on at least one of (i) an operating state of the first of the plurality of the wireless interfaces and (ii) a location of the mobile unit that is determined based on a comparison of at least one identifier extracted from information in a radio frequency signal received via the first of the plurality of wireless interfaces relative to corresponding location-identifying information stored in memory of the mobile unit;
performing a scan procedure to search for a wireless network for connection by the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces for a predetermined length of time in response to the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces being activated to the on state; and
deactivating the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces from the off state to the on state in response to the predetermined length of time expiring prior to the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces establishing a connection with the second wireless network.
27. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:
receiving the radio frequency signal via the first of the plurality of wireless interfaces;
extracting the at least one identifier from the received radio frequency signal;
determining the location of the mobile unit from the extracted at least one identifier; and
activating the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces from the powered off state to the on state if the extracted at least one identifier substantially matches the location-identifying information stored in the memory of the mobile unit, which indicates that the mobile unit resides within at least one predetermined geographical region containing a preferred wireless network for operating the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces.
28. The method of claim 26 , wherein the first of the plurality of wireless interfaces comprises a cellular interface and the second of the plurality of wireless interfaces comprises an interface for connection to wireless local area network that supports voice over internet protocol.
29. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions, comprising:
an interface control configured to control a first wireless interface and a second wireless interface, the first wireless interface configured to at least receive communication over a cellular communications network, the second wireless interface configured to provide for bidirectional communication over an enterprise WiFi network, the interface control further configured to extract at least one identifier from information received via the first wireless interface, the interface control being operative to control activation of the second wireless interface from an off state to an on state based on a comparison of the extracted at least one identifier relative to data stored in memory of the wireless mobile unit, the first wireless interface remaining in an on state regardless of the state of the second wireless interface;
pre-programmed location data comprising at least one of a cell identifier for a cellular base station, a location area code for at least one cellular base station and a sector identifier for a cellular base station defining at least one predetermined area located within the cellular communications network, the interface control activation of the second wireless interface from the off state to the on state in response to at least one network parameter of the cellular communications network substantially matching the pre-programmed location data; and
a timer that controls the second wireless interface to search for discovery of the second wireless network for a predetermined length of time, the interface control deactivating the second wireless interface from the on state to the off state in response to the timer expiring prior to the second wireless interface establishing a connection with the second wireless network.