Apparatus and method for operating M2M devices

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program codes, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method at a gateway for operating a machine-to-machine device in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• switching the gateway between a first mode and a second mode according to a first time interval, to facilitate a machine-to-machine device to save power, wherein the gateway is connected between a first network and a second network and configured to periodically transmit, according to the first time interval, a message including information from the machine-to-machine device in the second network to a server in the first network;
• determining a timing parameter for a machine-to-machine device based on the first time interval;
• and
• transmitting a control signal including the timing parameter from the gateway to the machine-to-machine device, the control signal causing the machine-to-machine device to adjust a second time interval for switching between the first mode and the second mode in accordance with the first time interval, wherein the adjusted second time interval is equal to the first time interval;
• wherein the timing parameter is determined by determining a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) based on a current time (currentTime) and a beacon interval (BI) as follows:
• TBTT=RoundUp((currentTime+T1)/BI)*BI,
• T1 being a parameter for adjusting a timing difference between the message to be transmitted and a beacon message, and RoundUp being an operation to round up a non-integer to a next integer.

A method for operating a machine-to-machine device in a wireless network, comprising:

• periodically switching a machine-to-machine device in a second network between a first operation mode and a second operation mode in accordance with a time interval;
• receiving, by the machine-to-machine device from a gateway, a control signal carrying a timing parameter based on timing of switching the gateway between the first operation mode and the second operation mode, wherein the timing parameter indicates a gateway mode switch time interval for the gateway to periodically transmit a message including information from the machine-to-machine device to a server in a first network, and the switching of the gateway between the first operation mode and the second operation mode facilitates the machine-to-machine device to save power;
• extracting the timing parameter from the control signal;
• and
• synchronizing the switching of the machine-to-machine device with the switching of the gateway by adjusting the time interval in accordance with the timing parameter, wherein the adjusted time interval is equal to the gateway time interval;
• wherein the timing parameter is determined by determining a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) based on a current time (currentTime) and a beacon interval (BI) as follows:
• TBTT=RoundUp((currentTime+T1)/BI)*BI,
• T1 being a parameter for adjusting a timing difference between the message to be transmitted and a beacon message, and RoundUp being an operation to round up a non-integer to a next integer.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program codes, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for operating a machine-to-machine device in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• periodically switching a machine-to-machine device in a second network between a first operation mode and a second operation mode in accordance with a time interval;
• receiving from a gateway a control signal carrying a timing parameter based on timing of switching the gateway between the first operation mode and the second operation mode, wherein the timing parameter indicates a gateway time interval for the gateway to periodically transmit a message including information from the machine-to-machine device to a server in a first network, and the switching of the gateway between the first operation mode and the second operation mode facilitates the machine-to-machine device to save power;
• extracting the timing parameter from the control signal;
• and
• synchronizing the switching of the machine-to-machine device with the switching of the gateway by adjusting the time interval in accordance with the timing parameter, wherein the adjusted time interval is equal to the gateway time interval;
• wherein the timing parameter is determined by determining a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) based on a current time (currentTime) and a beacon interval (BI) as follows:
• TBTT=RoundUp((currentTime+T1)/BI)*BI,
• T1 being a parameter for adjusting a timing difference between the message to be transmitted and a beacon message, and RoundUp being an operation to round up a non-integer to a next integer.

A method for operating a machine-to-machine device in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• switching a gateway between a first mode and a second mode according to a first time interval, to facilitate the machine-to-machine device to save power, and switching the machine-to-machine device between the first mode and the second mode according to a second time interval, wherein the gateway is connected between a first network and a second network;
• periodically transmitting, by the gateway according to the first time interval, a message including information from the machine-to-machine device in the second network to a server in the first network;
• obtaining, by the gateway, a timing parameter for the machine-to-machine device based on the first time interval;
• transmitting a control signal including the timing parameter from the gateway to the machine-to-machine device through a first network;
• extracting, by the machine-to-machine device, the timing parameter from the control signal;
• and
• adjusting the second time interval of switching the machine-to-machine device in accordance with the first time interval of switching the gateway, wherein the adjusted second time interval is equal to the first time interval;
• wherein the timing parameter is determined by determining a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) based on a current time (currentTime) and a beacon interval (BI) as follows:
• TBTT=RoundUp((currentTime+T1)/BI)*BI,
• T1 being a parameter for adjusting a timing difference between the message to be transmitted and a beacon message, and RoundUp being an operation to round up a non-integer to a next integer.

A system for operating a machine-to-machine device in a wireless network, comprising:

• a gateway connected between a first network and a second network, the gateway configured to:
• switch between a first mode and a second mode according to a first time interval, to facilitate the machine-to-machine device to save power,
• periodically transmit, according to the first time interval, a message including information from a machine-to-machine device in the second network to a server in the first network,
• determine a timing parameter based on the first time interval, and
• transmit a control signal including the timing parameter through a first network;
• and
• the machine-to-machine device connected to the first network, the machine-to-machine device configured to:
• switch between the first mode and the second mode according to a second time interval,
• receive the control signal, extract the timing parameter from the control signal, and
• adjust the second time interval of switching the machine-to-machine device in accordance with the first time interval, wherein the adjusted second time interval is equal to the first time interval;
• wherein the timing parameter is determined by determining a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) based on a current time (currentTime) and a beacon interval (BI) as follows:
• TBTT=RoundUp((currentTime+T1)/BI)*BI,
• T1 being a parameter for adjusting a timing difference between the message to be transmitted and a beacon message, and RoundUp being an operation to round up a non-integer to a next integer.