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Power Save Issues in Low Power Wireless Applications & Devices

Power Saving Applications 

This paper discusses the challenges faced while applying “Power Save Mode” (PSM) in wireless LAN applications.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) market expands, applications such as security, sensors and controls require systems to operate on very low power. Due to this, Power Save Mode is a central feature to the success of low power systems. This paper aims to educate engineers of PSM issues and how to resolve them.

What you will learn?

  • Power Save Management in Systems: Understanding reasons why the power save management in systems has not yet matured.
  • Fundamental Constraints in Wireless Communications: How the limitations in wireless systems impacts power saving.
  • Power Save Feature of IEEE 802.11: Applying PSM features in unicast and multicast communications.
  • “Power Save Mode”- Effects and Problems: Understanding common issues, such as power consumption, latency, throughput, and compatibility when beacon and listen interval values are changed from their default values.
  • Automatic Power Save Delivery (APSD): Understanding the two kinds of power save delivery methods; U-APSD: unscheduled – Automatic Power Save Delivery and S-APSD: Scheduled – Automatic Power Save Delivery.
  • Standby and Wake on Wireless (WoW): Using sleep/wake features to prolong battery life. 
  • Wireless LAN Security: How the Wireless LAN security has evolved over the years.
  • Conflicts in Wireless Security and Power Saving: How the new Wireless LAN security impacts PSM.
  • Internet of Things (IoT) Generation: Outlook of how radio chips continue to evolve, and improve PSM to fulfill the needs of the IoT market.