PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10187856-B2
Application Number: US-201815874678-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Power adaptation based on error rate

Abstract:
A host device is configured to increase the power output by an internal amplifier of its wireless chipset in response to requests from a remote device. Once the internal amplifier has reached its maximum power, further requests for power increases from the remove device do not similarly lead to automatic power increases being delivered by a external amplifier of the host device. Rather, the host device determines the strength of the link between it and the remote device. If the signal strength is too low, it is an indication that the signal power output by the remote device may not be sufficient to maintain the link and that any further increases in signal power by the host device will have little or no effect on the link. However, if the signal strength from the remote device is sufficient, the host device determines an error rate between it and the remote device. If the error rate is sufficiently low to maintain the link, then the host device will not further increase its signal output power. However, if the error rate is too high, the host device will turn on and/or increase power from its external amplifier to boost the power of its output signal and, thus, improve the error rate between it and the remote device.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device configured to communicate via a wireless communications link with a remote device, comprising:
 an input/output interface having a wireless communication circuitry comprising:
 a wireless chipset configured to generate a radio frequency signal, wherein the wireless chipset comprises an internal amplifier configured to amplify the radio frequency signal; and 
 an external amplifier operatively coupled to the wireless chipset and configured to further amplify the radio frequency signal; and 
 
 a processor configured to:
 determine whether the internal amplifier is at a maximum amplification level in response to receiving a request from the remote device to increase a power of the radio frequency signal; 
 determine a signal strength received by the electronic device from the remote device based at least in part on an error rate of the wireless communications link; and 
 manage the external amplifier based at least in part on the signal strength, wherein managing the external amplifier comprises turning on, turning off, increasing the power, decreasing the power, or maintaining the power of the external amplifier. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein managing the external amplifier based at least on the signal strength comprises:
 comparing the error rate an upper error rate boundary; 
 when the error rate is above the upper error rate boundary, determining the power of the radio frequency signal received by the electronic device from the remote device and determining whether the power is below a power threshold; 
 when the power of the radio frequency signal is below the power threshold, maintaining the power of the external amplifier; and 
 when the power of the radio frequency signal is above the power threshold, increasing the power of the external amplifier or turning on the external amplifier. 
 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 2 , wherein the wireless communications link comprises a Bluetooth communications link, and wherein the power of the radio frequency signal comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI). 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein managing the external amplifier based at least on the signal strength comprises:
 comparing the error rate with a lower error rate boundary; 
 when the error rate is above the lower error rate boundary, maintaining the power of the external amplifier; and 
 when the error rate is below the lower error rate boundary, decreasing the power of the external amplifier or turning off the external amplifier. 
 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 4 , wherein managing the external amplifier when the error rate is below the lower error rate boundary comprises determining if the external amplifier is at minimum, decreasing the power of the external amplifier when the external amplifier is not at a minimum power setting, and turning off the external amplifier when the external amplifier is at the minimum power setting. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to manage the internal amplifier based at least in part on the request from the remote device to increase power of the radio frequency signal when the internal amplifier is not at a maximum power. 
     
     
       7. A method for controlling a power of a radio frequency signal generated by an electronic device wirelessly communicating via a communications link with a remote device, the method comprising:
 receiving at the electronic device a request for more power from the remote device; 
 determining an error rate of the communications link and the power of the radio frequency signal received by the electronic device from the remote device; and 
 determining whether to increase, decrease, or maintain the power setting of an amplifier external to a wireless chipset that generates the radio frequency signal based at least in part on the error rate and on the power of the radio frequency signal. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the communications link comprises a Bluetooth communications link and wherein the power of the radio frequency signal comprises a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein increasing the power setting of the amplifier comprises turning on the amplifier when the amplifier is turned off, and wherein decreasing the power setting of the amplifier comprises turning off the amplifier when the amplifier is at a minimum power setting. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining whether to increase, decrease, or maintain the power setting of the amplifier comprises:
 comparing the error rate with an upper error rate boundary; 
 if the error rate is above the upper error rate boundary, comparing the power of the radio frequency signal with a power threshold; 
 if the power of the radio frequency signal is below the power threshold, increasing the power setting of the amplifier; 
 if the power of the radio frequency signal is above the power threshold, maintaining the power setting of the amplifier; 
 if the error rate is below an lower error rate boundary, decreasing the power setting of the amplifier; and 
 if the error rate is above the lower error rate boundary and not above the upper error rate boundary, maintaining the power setting of the amplifier. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the error rate comprises a packet error rate (PER). 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 determining if the power setting of a second amplifier internal to the wireless chipset is at a maximum setting; and 
 adjusting the second amplifier internal based at least in part on the request for more power if the second amplifier is below the maximum setting. 
 
     
     
       13. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device in wireless communication with a remote device via a communications link, causes the electronic device to:
 determine, in response to the electronic device receiving a request for more power from the remote device, whether an internal amplifier of a wireless chipset generating a radio frequency signal of the electronic device is at a maximum amplification level; 
 increase an amplification level of the internal amplifier in response to the request for more power when the internal amplifier is below the maximum amplification level; 
 determine an error rate and a signal strength of the communications link when the internal amplifier is at the maximum amplification level; and 
 manage a power level of an external amplifier based at least in part on the error rate and the signal strength, wherein managing the power level of the external amplifier comprises increasing, decreasing, or maintaining the power level of the external amplifier. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the communications link comprises a Bluetooth communications link or a wireless large area network (WLAN) communications link. 
     
     
       15. The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the signal strength comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI). 
     
     
       16. The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the error rate comprises a packet error rate (PER). 
     
     
       17. The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the managing the power level of the external amplifier based at least in part on the error rate and the signal strength comprises:
 increasing the power level of the external amplifier when the error rate is above an upper error rate boundary and the signal strength is below a signal strength threshold; 
 maintaining the power level of the external amplifier when the error rate is above the upper error rate boundary and the signal strength is below the signal strength threshold; 
 maintaining the power level of the external amplifier when the error rate is above a lower error rate boundary and below the upper error rate boundary; and 
 decreasing the power level of the external amplifier when the error rate is below the lower error rate boundary. 
 
     
     
       18. The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the lower error rate boundary and the upper error rate boundary are equal. 
     
     
       19. The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein decreasing the power level of the external amplifier comprises disabling the external amplifier when the power level of the external amplifier is at a minimum setting. 
     
     
       20. The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein increasing the power level of the external amplifier comprises enabling the external amplifier when the external amplifier is disabled.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Under 35 U.S.C. § 120, this application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/746,133 filed on Jun. 22, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to techniques for facilitating communication between two electronic devices and, more particularly, to techniques for controlling the power of communications signals between electronic devices, such as Bluetooth® enabled devices. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     In the marketplace today, there are a wide variety of electronic devices available for a wide variety of purposes. Such devices include cellular telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, personal computers, televisions, headphones, Bluetooth® enabled watches, printers, and cameras, just to name a few. It is often desirable for one electronic device to communicate with one or more other electronic devices. Traditionally, such connections have been “hard-wired”, such that the devices had to be connected directly to one another by some sort of cabling or by cabling via a network interface. Such cabling is typically terminated by standardized connectors (e.g., USB, RS232, etc.) or by proprietary connectors, e.g. Apple&#39;s Lightning® connector, etc. Hence, not only does the cabling solution require a plethora of unsightly wires, it often requires specific types of cables and/or adaptors because of the wide variety of connectors and signaling schemes. 
     To address many of these concerns, various wireless technologies have become popular for facilitating communication between electronic devices. For example radio frequency (RF) technologies, such as WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and Bluetooth® (IEEE 802.15), are now commonly used by many electronic devices to facilitate communication without the need for cabling. Although such wireless interfaces address some of the problems with cabling, they are subject to their own disadvantages. For example, because wireless signals typically need to be amplified more than signals that travel on an actual conductor, electronic devices typically utilize more power when communicating wirelessly, thus reducing battery life. 
     In one particular example, two electronic devices may communicate with one another using Bluetooth®. In such situations, one device is typically the host, and the other device is typically considered a remote device. Once the devices are paired, the remote device will determine a received signal strength indication (RSSI), which is a measurement of the power present in the RF signal it receives from the host device. The higher the RSSI, the stronger the signal. When the remote device determines that the RSSI of the signal it receives falls below a certain level, it sends a signal to the host device to request that it increase the power of the signal it transmits. Typically, when a host device receives such a request, it increases the power of an internal amplifier that is typically part of its Bluetooth® chip set. While such internal amplifiers typically do not lead to undue power consumption by the host device, it may be undesirable to allow a remote device to dictate the output power of a host device in situations that could lead to undue power consumption by the host device. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     In accordance with the present techniques, certain devices, such as host devices, may include a wireless module that has an amplifier that is external to one or more of the wireless chip sets on the wireless module. In one example, a wireless module may include a Bluetooth® chipset having an internal amplifier, as well as an amplifier that is externally coupled to the Bluetooth® chipset to further increase the output power of the Bluetooth signal after the internal amplifier has reached its maximum power. In one embodiment, the host device is configured to increase the power output by the internal amplifier of its wireless chipset in response to requests from the remote device. However, once the internal amplifier has reached its maximum power, further requests for power increases from the remove device do not similarly lead to automatic power increases being delivered by the external amplifier of the host device. Rather, the host device determines the strength of the link between it and the remote device, by determining the RSSI of the signal it receives from the host device, for example. If the RSSI is too low, it is an indication that the signal power output by the remote device may not be sufficient to maintain the link and that any further increases in signal power by the host device will have little or no effect on the link. However, if the RSSI from the remote device is sufficient, the host device determines an error rate, such as an average packet error rate (PER), between it and the remote device. If the error rate is sufficiently low to maintain the link, then the host device will not further increase its signal output power. However, if the error rate is too high, the host device will turn on and/or increase power from its external amplifier to boost the power of its output signal and, thus, improve the error rate between it and the remote device. Utilizing such a technique, the host device does not unduly consume power by driving its external amplifier harder than required to maintain a sufficient communications link between it and the remote device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device including display control circuitry, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of another hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a desktop computer representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of a wearable electronic device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a host electronic device, such as a smart phone, communicating with a remote device, such as a wireless speaker, via a wireless link; 
         FIG. 8  is block diagram of a portion of the input/output (I/O) interface of  FIG. 1 , illustrating that the I/O interface may include, among other things, a wireless module having an external amplifier that may be used in conjunction with a wireless chipset having an internal amplifier; 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart demonstrating an example of a technique that an electronic device, such as the host device illustrated in  FIG. 7 , may use to control the output power of a wireless signal emitted by the electronic device; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating one example of the technique illustrated in  FIG. 9 ; and 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating another example of the technique illustrated in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     As discussed above, when electronic devices wirelessly communicate with one another, one of the devices may request that another device increase the output power of its wireless signal. In some situations, the request may cause the receiving device (after referred to as a host device) to increase its output power more than required to sufficiently maintain the link, and this can lead to undue power consumption and reduced battery life. For instance, if the power request from the remote device caused the host device to turn on an additional amplifier and increase its power more than required to sufficiently maintain the communications link, the host device may unduly consume power. 
     To address this concern, the techniques described herein may reduce power consumption of the host device. In one embodiment, the host device will increase output power of its wireless signal in response to requests from a remote device until the internal amplifier of its wireless chip set has reached its maximum level. Thereafter, the host device will monitor the communications link between it and the remote device to determine whether any further power increases may be desirable. For example, the host device may determine the RSSI of the signal it receives from the remote device to determine whether the signal strength of the remove device is sufficient to maintain the link. If not, it will not increase the output power of its signal since it would have little or no effect on the quality of the communications link. If so, however, the host device may determine the error rate of the communications link and whether that error rate is sufficiently low to adequately maintain the communications link. If so, it will not provide further power increases, such as by turning on or increasing the power of an amplifier external to the wireless chipset. If not, however, it may further increase signal output power, such as by providing power increases using the external amplifier, until the error rate is sufficiently low to adequately maintain the communications link. 
     Although the techniques described below use a Bluetooth communications link as an example, the techniques may apply to other types of wireless communications as well. For example, it may apply to other types of Bluetooth, such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), WLAN, cellular, etc. 
     With these features in mind, a general description of suitable electronic devices that may use error based power adaptation is provided. Turning first to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more processor(s)  12 , memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18  input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24  and a power source  26 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 1  may include hardware elements (e.g., including circuitry), software elements (e.g., including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that  FIG. 1  is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in electronic device  10 . 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in  FIG. 2 , the handheld device depicted in either of  FIG. 3  or  FIG. 4 , the desktop computer depicted in  FIG. 5 , the wearable electronic device depicted in  FIG. 6 , or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s)  12  and/or other data processing circuitry may be generally referred to herein as “data processing circuitry.” Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device  10 . 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , the processor(s)  12  and/or other data processing circuitry may be operably coupled with the memory  14  and the nonvolatile memory  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions, including those for executing the techniques described herein, executed by the processor(s)  12  may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media at least collectively storing the instructions or routines, such as the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16 . The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. Also, programs (e.g., e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor(s)  12  to enable the electronic device  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may be a liquid crystal display (e.g., LCD), which may allow users to view images generated on the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the electronic device  10 . Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display  18  may include one or more light emitting diode (e.g., LED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and LED panels. 
     The input structures  22  of the electronic device  10  may enable a user to interact with the electronic device  10  (e.g., e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable electronic device  10  to interface with various other electronic devices. The I/O interface  24  may include various types of ports that may be connected to cabling. These ports may include standardized and/or proprietary ports, such as USB, RS232, Apple&#39;s Lightning® connector, as well as one or more ports for a conducted RF link. The I/O interface  24  may also include, for example, interfaces for a personal area network (e.g., PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, for a local area network (e.g., LAN) or wireless local area network (e.g., WLAN), such as an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (e.g., WAN), such as a 3 rd  generation (e.g., 3G) cellular network, 4 th  generation (e.g., 4G) cellular network, or long term evolution (e.g., LTE) cellular network. The I/O interface  24  may also include interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WiMAX), mobile broadband Wireless networks (e.g., mobile WiMAX), and so forth. 
     As further illustrated, the electronic device  10  may include a power source  26 . The power source  26  may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (e.g., Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (e.g., AC) power converter. The power source  26  may be removable, such as replaceable battery cell. 
     In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device. Such computers may include computers that are generally portable (e.g., such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) as well as computers that are generally used in one place (e.g., such as conventional desktop computers, workstations and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  in the form of a computer may be a model of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. By way of example, the electronic device  10 , taking the form of a notebook computer  30 A, is illustrated in  FIG. 2  in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The depicted computer  30 A may include a housing or enclosure  32 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , and ports of the I/O interface  24 . In one embodiment, the input structures  22  (e.g., such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may be used to interact with the computer  30 A, such as to start, control, or operate a GUI or applications running on computer  30 A. For example, a keyboard and/or touchpad may allow a user to navigate a user interface or application interface displayed on display  18 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts a front view of a handheld device  30 B, which represents one embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  34  may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device  34  may be a model of an iPod® or iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. 
     The handheld device  30 B may include an enclosure  36  to protect interior components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure  36  may surround the display  18 , which may display indicator icons  39 . The indicator icons  38  may indicate, among other things, a cellular signal strength, Bluetooth connection, and/or battery life. The I/O interfaces  24  may open through the enclosure  36  and may include, for example, an I/O port for a hard wired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc., a universal serial bus (e.g., USB), one or more conducted RF connectors, or other connectors and protocols. 
     User input structures  40  and  42 , in combination with the display  18 , may allow a user to control the handheld device  30 B. For example, the input structure  40  may activate or deactivate the handheld device  30 B, one of the input structures  42  may navigate user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device  30 B, while other of the input structures  42  may provide volume control, or may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. Additional input structures  42  may also include a microphone may obtain a user&#39;s voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker to allow for audio playback and/or certain phone capabilities. The input structures  42  may also include a headphone input to provide a connection to external speakers and/or headphones. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a front view of another handheld device  30 C, which represents another embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  30 C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, the handheld device  30 C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device  10 , which may be, for example, a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , a computer  30 D may represent another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The computer  30 D may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer  30 D may be an iMac®, a MacBook®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. It should be noted that the computer  30 D may also represent a personal computer (e.g., PC) by another manufacturer. A similar enclosure  36  may be provided to protect and enclose internal components of the computer  30 D such as the dual-layer display  18 . In certain embodiments, a user of the computer  30 D may interact with the computer  30 D using various peripheral input devices, such as the keyboard  22  or mouse  38 , which may connect to the computer  30 D via a wired and/or wireless I/O interface  24 . 
     Similarly,  FIG. 6  depicts a wearable electronic device  30 E representing another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  that may be configured to operate using the techniques described herein. By way of example, the wearable electronic device  30 E, which may include a wristband  43 , may be an Apple Watch® by Apple, Inc. However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device  30 E may include any wearable electronic device such as, for example, a wearable exercise monitoring device (e.g., e.g., pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other device by another manufacturer. The display  18  of the wearable electronic device  30 E may include a touch screen (e.g., e.g., LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light emitting diode (e.g., AMOLED) display, and so forth), which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the wearable electronic device  30 E. 
     As discussed previously, when electronic devices wirelessly communicate with one another, one of the devices may act as a host device while another of the devices may act as a remote device. An example of one such situation is illustrated in  FIG. 7 , which depicts a handheld device  30 B acting as the host device. The host device  30 B is wirelessly communicating with a remote device  50 , here illustrated as a wireless speaker, via a communications link  52 . As discussed previously, some communications protocols, such as Bluetooth®, operate in a manner where the remote device  50  will send a request to the host device  32 B to increase its signal power if the RSSI at the remote device  52  falls below a certain level. In situations where the host device  30 B includes an I/O interface  24  having a wireless module without any external amplifiers to further power the communications link  52 , such requests from the remote device  50  to increase power will typically not result in undue power consumption by the host device  30 B. However, in situations where the host device  30 B includes such an I/O interface  24 , such as that illustrated in  FIG. 8 , raising output power in response to every request from the remote device  50  could cause the host device  30 B to unduly consume power. In this case, the wireless module  54  includes a wireless chipset, such as a Bluetooth® chipset  56  that includes its own internal amplifier  58 . In addition, the wireless module  54  includes an external amplifier  60  that is coupled to the chipset  56  to further amplify the wireless signal produced by the chipset  56 . 
     Because the external amplifier  60  can consume much more power than the internal amplifier  58  of the chipset  56 , turning it on and increasing its power when it is not necessary to do so to maintain the communications link  52  can cause the host device  30 B to unduly consume power. This is particularly problematic if the host device  30 B is a battery powered device. One technique to address this concern is illustrated by the flowchart  62  in  FIG. 9 . According to this technique, if the RSSI at the remote device  50  is too low, it will send a request for more power to the host device  30 B (Block  64 ). The host device  30 B will check to see if the internal amplifier  58  is at its maximum output level (Block  66 ). If it is not, the host device  30 B will increase the power output by the internal amplifier  58  based on the RSSI at the remote device  50  (Block  68 ). If so, however, the host device  30 B will control its output power based on the error rate of the communications link  52  and the RSSI of the signal from the remote device  50  that is the received by the host device  30 B (Block  69 ). As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, this technique may be executed by any suitable data processing circuitry, including the processor(s)  12 , a processor of the I/O interface  24 , a processor of the wireless module  54  or chipset  56 , or any combination thereof. 
     It should be appreciated that the technique discussed with respect to  FIG. 9  may be executed in a variety of ways, and one way for executing this technique is illustrated by the flowchart  70  in  FIG. 10 . Here, the remote device  50  sends a request to the host device  30 B to increase its signal power (Block  72 ). The host device  30 B checks its internal amplifier  58  to determine whether it is at its maximum output level (Block  74 ). If not, the host device  30 B increases power of its internal amplifier and waits to see if it will receive another request from the remote device  50  (Block  76 ). However, it the internal amplifier  58  is at its maximum power level, the host device  34  sends a message to the remote device  50  that maximum power has been reached (Block  78 ). This may have the effect of causing the remove device  50  to cease sending requests for more power to the host device  30 B. 
     Next, the host device  30 B determines whether any further increases in power will improve the communications link  52 . One way it may do this is by checking the RSSI of the signal that it receives from the remote device  50  (Block  80 ). If the RSSI is below a certain threshold (Block  82 ), the host device  30 B determines that the communications link  52  is limited by the signal output by the remote device  50  and, thus, does not turn on the external amplifier  60  (Block  84 ). However, if the RSSI of the signal from the remote device  50  is above the threshold, then it is possible that further power increases will improve the communications link  52 . To make this determination, the host device  30 B may check for the retransmission rate and/or packet error rate of the communications link  52  (Block  86 ). If the error rate is sufficient to maintain the communications link  52 , the host device  30 B will not turn on the external amplifier  60  or further increase power (Block  88 ). Rather, it will continue to monitor the communications link  52  as described above. If, however, the error rate is not sufficient to adequately maintain the communications link  52 , the host device  30 B will turn on the external amplifier  60  (Block  90 ). With the external amplifier  60  on, the host device  30 B will again check the retransmission rate and/or package rate to determine whether it is sufficient to maintain the communications link  52  (Blocks  92  and  94 ). If not, it will again determine whether the RSSI from the remote device  50  is below a certain threshold (Block  95 ). If not, it will increase the power of the external amplifier  60  (Block  96 ). Otherwise, the communications link  52  is limited by the remote device  50 , so the host device  30 B will continue to check on the quality of the communications link  52  as described above. 
     Once the external amplifier  60  has been turned on so that it is providing additional power to the communications link  52 , the host device  30 B will determine whether it is able to turn off the external amplifier  60  or decrease its power while still maintaining an adequate communications link  52 . Accordingly, if the error rate is sufficient to maintain the link, the host device  30 B determines whether the external amplifier is at its minimal power level (Blocks  94  and  98 ). If not, it will decrease power from the external amplifier  60  and again check on the quality of the communications link  52  as described above (Block  100 ). However, if the external amplifier is at its minimum power level, the host device  30 B will determine whether the external amplifier can be turned off (Blocks  98  and  102 ). If not, then the host  30 B will continue to check on the quality of the communications link  52 . If so, however, the host device  30 B will turn off the external amplifier  60  and again wait for any requests to increase power from the remote device  50  (Blocks  104  and  72 ). 
     As mentioned above, there are a variety of ways to execute the technique set forth in  FIG. 9 , and another specific technique is illustrated by the flowchart  110  in FIG.  11 . Here the remote device  50  sends a request to the host device  30 B to increase its signal power (Block  112 ). When the host device  30 B receives this request, it checks its internal amplifier  58  to determine whether it is at its maximum power level (Block  114 ). If not, the devices  30 B and  50  will continue to operate under “classic power control” and the host device  30 B will increase the power of its internal amplifier  58  (Block  116 ). However, if its internal amplifier is at its maximum power level, the host device  30 B determines the error rate and/or retransmission rate of communications link  52  (Block  118 ). For example, the host device  30 B may determine an average packet error rate over a given amount of time. If the error rate is greater than an upper boundary, the host device  30 B checks to determine whether the RSSI of the signal that it received from the remote device  50  is below a threshold (Blocks  120  and  122 ). If the RSSI is too low, then the communications link  52  is limited by the remote device  50 , so the host device  30 B does not need to increase power using the external amplifier  60  (Block  124 ). However, if the signal strength from the remove device  50  is sufficient, the host device  30 B will increase power using the external amplifier  60  (Block  126 ). 
     On the other hand, if the measured error rate is below the upper boundary, the host device  30 B determines whether the error rate is below a lower boundary (Blocks  120  and  128 ). If not, then the host device  30 B continues to monitor the quality of the communications link  52  as described above. However, if the measured error rate is below the lower boundary, this suggests that the power of the output signal from the host device  30 B may be greater than needed to maintain the quality of the communications link  52 . Accordingly, the host device  30 B will check to see if the external amplifier  60  is at its minimum level (Block  130 ). If so, it will turn off the external amplifier  60  and the devices  30 B and  50  will return to classic power control (Block  132  and  116 ). If not, the host  30 B will decrease the power output by the external amplifier  60  and continue to monitor the communications link  52  as described above (Block  134 ). 
     The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20180118
Publication Date: 20190122
Grant Date: 20190122
Priority Date: 20150622
Inventors: NARANG, MOHIT
AGBOH, PETER M.
WU, QIYANG
CABALLERO, RUBEN
REDDY, VUSTHLA SUNIL
YANG, XI
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L43/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/0847", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/367", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/246", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/367", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/246", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/367", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/246", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/0847", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L43/0847", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W52/20", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 57588698