Power saving medium access in congested network environments

A Wi-Fi device comprising:

• a transceiver;
• and
• at least one of a processor and digital logic configured to:
• determine whether there are more than a predetermined number (X) of bits set in a Traffic Indication Map (TIM) bitmap received in a beacon frame;
• in response to determining that there are more than said predetermined number (X) of bits set in said TIM, postponing transmissions responsive to said beacon frame by entering a sleep mode for a random period of time (P), and
• after said P expires, exiting said sleep mode and transmitting a poll frame.

A Wi-Fi device for operation in a wireless local area network (WLAN) network including an access point (AP) that collectively includes a plurality of Wi-Fi devices, said Wi-Fi device comprising:

• a processor;
• a transceiver coupled to said processor;
• a memory coupled to the processor and storing code that, when executed by the processor causes the processor to:
• determine a Traffic Indication Map (TIM) bitmap in a TIM information element received in a beacon frame from said AP to determine whether more than a predetermined number (X) of bits therein are set to indicate said AP currently has at least one buffered frame for ones of said plurality of Wi-Fi devices to conclude whether said WLAN is a congested environment;
• wherein when in said congested environment, postpone transmissions responsive to said beacon frame by entering a sleep mode for a random period of time (P), and
• after said P expires, exit said sleep mode and transmitting a poll frame to said AP to try to gain medium access to said AP,
• wherein said P comprises at least 10 milliseconds, and wherein said P is set based on a number of said plurality of Wi-Fi devices in said WLAN that are waiting to pull data from said AP (Nsta).