Patent ID: 8005453

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a network-access device; a programmable timer operatively coupled to the network-access-device; a controller operatively coupled to the programmable timer, the controller configured to: obtain a discontinuous-reception parameter that specifies a frequency for checking paging messages, determine a time period for switching the network-access device to a power-off state based on the discontinuous-reception parameter such that, when the discontinuous-reception parameter specifies a relatively greater frequency for checking paging messages, the time period for switching the network-access device to the power-off state is reduced, and, when the discontinuous-reception parameter specifies a relatively lesser frequency for checking paging messages, the time period for switching the network-access device to the power-off state is increased, configure the programmable timer to disable power to the network-access device upon expiration of the determined time period.