Receiver deactivation based on dynamic measurements

1. A method of operating a receiver, comprising:

receiving, by the receiver, a wireless signal;

identifying a packet within the wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determining statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel;

determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and

powering down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein the statistics of the channel further includes at least RMS (root mean square) delay spread of the channel, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the RMS delay spread of the channel allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the packet further includes identifying a header of the packet.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

decoding a header field of the header during the preamble to determine the data rate and the payload length for a payload portion of the packet;

estimating an SNR (signal to noise ratio) for the packet during the preamble of the packet; and

wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold further comprises determining whether the estimated SNR is sufficient to allow for decoding of the data rate for the determined payload length of the packet.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein estimating the SNR (signal to noise ratio) for the packet based on preamble fields comprises estimating the SNR (signal to noise ratio) for the packet based on preamble fields using channel and noise estimations.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

decoding a header field of the header during the preamble to determine the data rate and the payload length for a payload portion of the packet;

estimating a signal quality for the packet based on preamble fields during the preamble of the packet; and

wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold further comprises determining whether the estimated signal quality is sufficient to allow for decoding of the data rate for the determined payload length of the packet.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein estimating the signal quality for the packet based on preamble fields comprises estimating the signal quality for the packet based on preamble fields using channel and noise estimations.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the packet further includes identifying a payload of the packet.

8. A receiver, comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) chain operable to receive a wireless signal;

signal processing circuitry operative to:

identify a packet within the wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determine statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel;

determine whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and wherein

the receiver is operative to power down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein the statistics of the channel further includes at least RMS (root mean square) delay spread of the channel, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the RMS delay spread of the channel allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.

9. The receiver of claim 8 , wherein the signal processing circuitry is further operative to:

decode a header field of the header during the preamble to determine the data rate and a payload length for the payload portion of the packet;

estimate an SNR (signal to noise ratio) for the packet during the preamble of the packet; and

wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold comprises the signal processing circuitry further determining whether the estimated SNR is sufficient to allow for decoding of the data rate for the determined payload length of the packet.

10. The receiver of claim 9 , wherein the signal processing circuitry is further operative to:

estimate the SNR (signal to noise ratio) for the packet based on preamble fields using channel and noise estimations.

11. The receiver of claim 8 , wherein the signal processing circuitry is further operative to:

decode a header field of the header during the preamble to determine ft the data rate and the payload length for a payload portion of the packet;

estimate a signal quality for the packet based on preamble fields during the preamble of the packet; and

wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold further comprises the signal processing circuitry determining whether the estimated signal quality is sufficient to allow for decoding of the data rate for the determined payload length of the packet.

12. The receiver of claim 11 , wherein the signal processing circuitry is further operative to:

estimate the signal quality for the packet based on preamble fields using channel and noise estimations.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer readable instructions that, when executed at a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method comprising:

identifying a packet within a received wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determining statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel and RMS (root mean square) delay spread of the channel;

determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and

powering down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein the statistics of the channel further includes at least RMS (root mean square) delay spread of the channel, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the RMS delay spread of the channel allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.

14. A method of operating a receiver, comprising:

receiving, by the receiver, a wireless signal;

identifying a packet within the wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determining statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel;

determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and

powering down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein determining statistics of the channel the wireless signal propagated before being received further comprises characterizing a response of the channel in a frequency domain, and determining a ratio of maximum magnitude to minimum magnitude of the response in the frequency domain, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the ratio of maximum magnitude to minimum magnitude of the response in the frequency domain allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.

15. A method of operating a receiver, comprising:

receiving, by the receiver, a wireless signal;

identifying a packet within the wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determining statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel;

determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and

powering down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein determining statistics of the channel the wireless signal propagated before being received further comprises characterizing a response of the channel in a frequency domain, and counting a number of carriers of the wireless signals that have a magnitude response within a range of a mean magnitude response of the channel, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the number of carriers of the wireless signals that have a magnitude response within a range of a mean magnitude response of the channel allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.

16. A method of operating a receiver, comprising:

receiving, by the receiver, a wireless signal;

identifying a packet within the wireless signal, during a preamble of the packet;

determining statistics of a channel the wireless signal propagated before being received, wherein the statistics of the channel include at least frequency selectivity of the channel;

determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than a threshold, during the preamble of the packet, comprising determining whether the statistics of the channel allow for error free decoding of a specified modulation and a determined payload length; and

powering down at least a portion of the receiver for at least an expected duration of the packet after determining that the packet cannot be decoded with the reliability greater than the threshold during the preamble of the packet;

wherein determining statistics of the channel the wireless signal propagated before being received further comprises characterizing a response of the channel in a frequency domain, and determining a CDF (cumulative distribution function) by observing various maximum and minimum magnitudes across the frequency domain of the channel, and wherein determining whether the packet cannot be decoded with a reliability greater than the threshold, during the preamble of the packet further includes determining whether the CDF of the various maximum and minimum magnitudes across the frequency domain of the channel allows for error free decoding of the specified modulation and the determined payload length.