Method and apparatus to reduce power consumption in wireless devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for reducing power consumption of wireless devices operating in a wireless network. In one embodiment, a first wireless device may operate in low-power mode and receive a BLUETOOTH low energy (BLE) message from a second wireless device. The first wireless device may leave the low-power mode and enter a normal operating mode based, at least in part, on the BLE message. In some embodiments, the BLE message may include informational elements that the first wireless device may use to determine whether to remain in or leave the low-power mode. In some other embodiments, the BLE message may be synchronized to a Wi-Fi message, such as a Wi-Fi beacon. In at least one embodiment, the first wireless device may stop scanning for wireless networks when in the low-power mode.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.