Patent ID: 8831528

Claim:
A wireless device for providing specific absorption rate (SAR) control comprising: a wireless transmitter; a capacitance sensor; and a processor coupled to the wireless transmitter and the capacitance sensor, wherein the processor is configured to: receive a first capacitance measurement from the capacitance sensor; estimate a relative proximity of a human body to the apparatus based on the first capacitance measurement; determine a target transmission time for the wireless transmitter within a time period based on the estimate; compare a channel quality metric to a threshold; determine a power backoff factor; transmit at a power level reduced from a maximum power level by the power backoff factor during the time period when the channel quality metric is greater than the threshold; and switch off the wireless transmitter for a portion of the time period when a transmission time of the wireless transmitter during the time period exceeds the target transmission time and the channel quality metric is less than the threshold.