Device and method for transmission-rate adaptive low-power listening control

Adaptive Low-Power Listening MAC for Sensor Networks Based on Slave-Specific Transmission Rate Evaluation

This technology is a transmission-rate adaptive low-power listening (TRA-MAC) device and method where a master device in a wireless sensor network evaluates transmission rates for each slave to individually set listening cycles and transmits preambles longer than those cycles.

Existing low-power listening (LPL) protocols focus solely on energy savings, failing to resolve the trade-off between energy consumption and transmission latency. Consequently, they face limitations in high-traffic environments where simultaneous events occur, leading to increased latency and reduced reliability.

This technology adjusts listening cycles by shortening them when transmission rates increase and lengthening them when they decrease, using a maximum allowable latency-based upper bound and an evaluation period-based lower bound. Applicable to industrial monitoring, smart home IoT, and environmental sensor networks, it maintains battery life while suppressing response latency during traffic surges.

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Key Features:

• A transmission rate evaluation unit that assesses the transmission rate of each of one or more slave devices communicating with a master device
• A setting unit that configures the listening cycle for each slave device based on the evaluated transmission rate, decreasing the cycle as the transmission rate increases
• A storage unit that maintains a device management table containing at least one of the transmission rate information or listening cycle information for each slave device
• A transmission unit that sends a preamble longer than the listening cycle set for each slave device to the respective slave device

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This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning for the development of core IP technology for ultra-low-power SoC for IoT-based video security.

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