Power saving in computing devices
View Patent ↗Power saving in computing devices is provided. A first computing device communicates with a second computing device using a first set of tones. A low power event is detected by the first computing device. In response to the detected low power event, a request to communicate using a second set of tones is sent to the second computing device by the first computing device. The second set of tones has fewer tones than the first set of tones, and may be a subset of the first set of tones.
1. A method comprising:
communicating between a first computing device and a second computing device using a first set of tones;
detecting a low power event at the first computing device;
in response to the detected low power event, sending a save-our-showtime (SOS) request to an SOS engine requesting to modify the communication between the first computing device and the second computing device based on the low power event;
determining whether the second computing device supports managing power consumption via SOS functionality;
identifying a reduced number of tones for communication between the first computing device and the second computing device,
wherein the SOS request causes modification to the communication between the second computing device and the first computing device using a second set of tones, wherein the second set of tones has fewer tones than the first set of tones, the SOS request including an indicator at least one of:
an SOS event that corresponds to the identified reduced number of tones,
a reduced number of tones identified by the first computing device, or
the low power event with an indication for the second computing device to identify the reduced the number of tones for modifying the communication between the first computing device and the second computing device.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a trigger by the first computing device from the second computing device in response to the request, wherein the trigger identifies the second set of tones; and
communicating by the first computing device with the second computing device using the second set of tones.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low power event is the first computing device switching to battery power.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low power event comprises the first computing device detecting no data activity or a scheduled event.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating using the second set of tones uses less power than communicating using the first set of tones.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first computing device comprises a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem or a DSL router.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second computing device comprises a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM).
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a save-our-showtime (SOS) request.
9. A method comprising:
communicating with a first computing device using a first set of tones by a second computing device, wherein the second computing device supports managing power consumption via SOS functionality;
in response to detection of a lower power event, receiving, at the second computing device from the first computing device, a save-our-showtime (SOS) request requesting modification to the communication between the first computing device and the second computing device based on the low power event, the SOS request including an indicator at least one of:
an SOS event that corresponds to a reduced number of tones,
a reduced number of tones identified by the first computing device, or
a low power event at the first computing device, including an indication for the second computing device to identify a reduced number of tones for modifying the communication between the first computing device and the second computing device
in response to the SOS request, determining a second set of tones for communicating between the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the second set of tones has fewer tones than the first set of tones;
sending an instruction to the first computing device to communicate using the second set of tones by the second computing device; and
communicating with the first computing device using the second set of tones by the second computing device.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first computing device comprises a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem or a DSL router, and wherein the second computing device comprises a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM).
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second set of tones is a subset of the first set of tones.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the low power event is the first computing device switching to battery power.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the low power event comprises the first computing device detecting no data activity or a scheduled event.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein communicating using the second set of tones uses less power than communicating using the first set of tones.
15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the received indication of a low power event comprises a save-our-showtime (SOS) request.
16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the instruction to the first computing device to communicate using the second set of tones comprises a trigger.
17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the instruction to the first computing device to communicate using the second set of tones comprises a reference to a table stored at the first computing device.
18. A system comprising:
a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem that communicates using a first set of tones with a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) that supports managing power consumption via save-our-showtime (SOS) functionality;
a power manager that detects a low power event;
a save-our-showtime (SOS) engine that, in response to the detected low power event, sends an SOS request to cause modification of the communication between the DSL modem and the DSLAM modem using a second set of tones, the SOS request including an indicator of at least one of:
an SOS event that corresponds to a reduced number of tones,
an indicator of a reduced number of tones identified by the DSL modem, or
an indicator of a low power event with an indication for the DSLAM to reduce the number of tones used for communication between the DSL modem and the DSLA,
the system receiving an instruction from the DSLAM to communicate with the DSLAM using the second set of tones, wherein the second set of tones has fewer tones than the first set of tones, and wherein communicating using the second set of tones uses less power than communicating using the first set of tones.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the power manger detecting the low power event comprises the power manager detecting no data activity in the DSL modem.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the system further includes a battery, and the power manger detecting the low power event comprises the power manager detecting that the DSL modem is receiving power from the battery.