Apparatus for power management in a network communication system

An apparatus for power management in a network communication system including a legacy first network device, the apparatus comprising:

• a second network device to operate in one of a first state, a second state and a third state, wherein the second network device is allowed to receive a first traffic from the first network device in the first state, disabled in the second state and recovered in the third state in order to receive a second traffic from the first network device;
• a detector to generate a first signal if an idle status occurs in the first traffic and generate a second signal as a request for the transmission of the second traffic;
• an identifier to identify if a low traffic status occurs in the first traffic and generate a third signal indicating the low traffic status;
• and
• a controller to switch the second network device among the first, second and third states,
• wherein the controller is configured to switch the second network device from the first state to the second state and disable the second network device in response to the third signal, and switch the second network device from the second state to the third state and hold the first network device from transmitting the second transmission traffic in response to the second signal.