Patent ID: 7944867

Claim:
A communication device that functions as an access point in a radio communication system and notifies presence of a network to a station in the radio communication system, the communication device comprising: a control unit that controls setting of an operating mode including a normal operation mode and a power-saving operation mode; a timer that determines a transmission period of a beacon for notifying the presence of the network; a beacon transmitting unit that transmits the beacon to the station based on the transmission period; and a sleep control unit that sets all circuits other than the timer and the sleep control unit, to be in a sleep state when the control unit instructs to switch from the normal operation mode to the power-saving operation mode, wherein when the control unit instructs to switch from the normal operation mode to the power-saving operation mode, the timer sets the transmission period of the beacon to be longer than a transmission period in the normal operation mode, and during operation in the power-saving operation mode, the timer notifies a wake-up request at a timing earlier than a transmission timing of the beacon by a first time to the sleep control unit and further notifies a sleep request after a second time has passed from the transmission timing of the beacon to the sleep control unit, and when receiving the wake-up request, the sleep control unit supplies a power to circuits except the timer, the sleep control unit, and the control unit, and resets the circuits except the timer, the sleep control unit, and the control unit to be in the sleep state when receiving the sleep request.