Method and system for conserving battery power in wireless devices operating in a wireless local area network

A system for conserving battery power in a wireless device coupled through an access point in a network to the system, the system being coupled to at least one client in the network, each of the wireless device, the at least one client, and the access point having a respective hardware address, the system comprising:

• a processor coupled to the network;
• and,
• a program executed by the processor, the program including:
• a module for receiving through the access point a message indicative of the wireless device joining the network and providing the hardware address of the wireless device;
• a module for updating a list of hardware addresses for clients in the network to include the hardware address of the wireless device, the list including a respective Internet Protocol (“IP”) address for each hardware address;
• and,
• a module for sending to at least one of the wireless device, the at least one client, and the access point, the updated list of hardware addresses to thereby reduce a number of request messages broadcast on the network for information that is contained in the updated list that the wireless device need leave a sleep mode to process.

A computer program product having computer executable code for directing a system to conserve battery power in a wireless device coupled through an access point in a network to the system, the system being coupled to at least one client in the network, each of the wireless device, the at least one client, and the access point having a respective hardware address, the code comprising:

• code for receiving at the system through the access point a message indicative of the wireless device joining the network and providing the hardware address of the wireless device;
• code for updating a list of hardware addresses for clients in the network to include the hardware address of the wireless device, the list including a respective Internet Protocol (“IP”) address for each hardware address;
• and,
• code for sending from the system to at least one of the wireless device, the at least one client, and the access point, the updated list of hardware addresses to thereby reduce a number of request messages broadcast on the network for information that is contained in the updated list that the wireless device need leave a sleep mode to process.