Patent ID: 7292545

Claim:
A wireless local area network (LAN) system, comprising: a plurality of computers that each has a power source and a wireless LAN device, each said LAN device having a source of internal power and an energy-saving mode in which said LAN device is in a sleep state, each said LAN device being adapted to communicate through an access point using an internet protocol (IP); wherein a first said LAN device is adapted to waken from the sleep state to respond to a beacon signal transmitted from the access point at predetermined time intervals and to determine whether a message addressed to a first one of the computers associated with the first said LAN device is to be received; wherein the first said LAN device is adapted to turn ON the first computer when the beacon signal indicates that the message is to be received and to return to the sleep state when the beacon message does not indicate that the message is to be received; and wherein the first said LAN device is adapted to use said source of internal power to respond to the beacon signal when the first computer is not ON and to use the power source of the first computer when the first computer is ON.