Patent ID: 8443214
Filing Date: 2013-05-14
Classification: G06F,H04L,H04W,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A method for optimizing power consumption in a communication system comprising a network interface and a host computer, the method comprising: determining, by the network interface, a power mode of the host computer from a plurality of possible power modes; and selecting, by the network interface, a network interface power management state from a plurality of possible network interface power management states based on the determined power mode, wherein selecting further comprises responsive to determining that the communication system is operating in a battery power mode, configuring a physical (PHY) layer module to perform auto-negotiation and increment advertised capabilities until link presence is detected, wherein the network interface provides access for the host computer to the network, and wherein the network interface locally selects the network interface power management state from the plurality of possible network interface power management states based at least in part on a volume of traffic received by the network interface, wherein said power consumption is scaled in relationship to an amount of traffic detected by said network interface.