Invented by Boppana; Surendra, Ji; Zhu, Venkata; Madhusudan Kinthada, Chan; Yee Sin, Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC

Staying connected is very important. But every time your device checks for updates, it uses power. For devices like AR and VR headsets, saving battery is key. This article explains a new patent application that shows how devices can be smarter about when they wake up and when they sleep. Let’s break it all down so you can see how these ideas could make your wireless gadgets last longer and work better.

Background and Market Context

Wireless technology is everywhere. Phones, tablets, watches, and all sorts of gadgets talk to towers or routers using radio waves. As we use more advanced devices, like headsets for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), they need to stay connected to networks all the time. This connection is what lets you stream games, see real-time maps, or have video calls. But staying connected can drain your battery very quickly, especially if your device is always listening for messages or updates from the network.

To help with this, engineers came up with a system called Discontinuous Reception, or DRX. With DRX, your device doesn’t have to listen all the time. Instead, it wakes up at certain times to check for messages and then goes back to sleep. This saves energy. DRX is used in mobile phones, smartwatches, and now in AR/VR headsets that need to be light and wireless.

But there’s a problem. The way DRX is set up is often very basic. The device follows a fixed schedule, waking up and sleeping at set times. Sometimes, the device wakes up for no good reason, finding no messages waiting, and that wastes power. If the device could be a little smarter—maybe by guessing when messages are likely to come, or by checking its own battery or temperature—it could sleep longer and save even more energy.

This is more than just a technical issue. For users, longer battery life means more time to enjoy AR games, health apps, or remote work in VR. For businesses, it means fewer complaints and better product reviews. For the environment, it means less charging and less waste. That’s why there’s a big push to make DRX smarter, especially as devices grow more powerful and more portable.

The market for AR, VR, and other wearable devices is growing fast. Companies want their headsets and smart glasses to last all day. Network providers want to support these devices without overloading their towers. Both sides need solutions that keep devices connected but also let them sleep as much as possible. The patent application we’re discussing today is right at the center of this challenge. It offers a way for devices to change how long they sleep based on what’s really happening, not just on a fixed schedule.

Scientific Rationale and Prior Art

Let’s look at how devices have tried to save power in the past, and why that isn’t always enough today. DRX was a big step forward. Before DRX, devices were always “on” when connected to the network, which meant their batteries dropped quickly. With DRX, devices check for messages in “on periods” and then go to sleep in “sleep periods.” The timing of these periods is set by the network when the device connects.

Older DRX systems are pretty simple. The network tells the device how often and how long to wake up and listen. Sometimes, there’s something called a “Wake-Up Signal” (WUS). The network sends this signal to tell the device, “Hey, stay awake, you have something waiting!” If there’s no WUS, the device can go back to sleep after the on period. This system works, but it has limits.

For one, the device doesn’t really “think” about its own situation. Maybe the battery is low, or the device is getting hot. Maybe there hasn’t been any data sent for a while. Or maybe the network isn’t even sending messages during the on period. The device has no way to know, so it sticks to the schedule, even if it means waking up for nothing. That’s like setting your alarm clock to ring every hour, even if you only need to wake up once in the morning.

In some new systems, like 5G, there are more tools. Devices can look at traffic patterns or predict when data is likely to come. But even here, most of the smarts are on the network side, not the device side. The device still isn’t really flexible. Also, if the device wants to change its schedule (for example, sleep longer to save battery), it usually has to ask the network to change the DRX settings. That takes time and can mess up the connection.

Some patents and papers have talked about using things like battery level or temperature to guide DRX, but they often need special changes in the network, or they only work in very controlled cases. What’s missing is a way for the device to act on its own, using the information it already has, to sleep longer when it can and wake up less often—without having to ask the network each time.

The new patent application is built on top of these ideas but goes further. It lets the device use its own data—like battery, temperature, past traffic, and what it knows about its connection—to decide when to sleep longer. It doesn’t need the network to change anything. This gives the device more control, saves power, and can be used in different types of networks, even older ones that don’t fully support all the latest features.

Invention Description and Key Innovations

Now, let’s break down what this patent application is proposing, and why it’s a breakthrough for wireless gadgets.

At the heart of the invention is a smart method for a device, like a phone or AR headset, to adjust how long it sleeps during its DRX cycle. The device connects to the network, just like normal, using DRX settings given by the network. These settings say when the device should be awake (“on period”) and when it can go to sleep (“sleep period”). But now, the device adds its own layer of intelligence.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Device Connects Using DRX
When the device connects to the network, it gets the DRX schedule: wake up at these times, sleep at those times. This is standard and works with existing networks.

Step 2: Device Watches Key Metrics
Instead of just following the schedule, the device keeps track of some important things. These include:

• Battery level: Is the battery low or okay?
• Temperature: Is the device getting hot?
• How full is the buffer: Are there messages waiting to be sent or received?
• Channel quality: Is the signal strong or weak?
• Traffic type: Is the data stream steady, or does it come in bursts?
• Predictions: Does the device expect to get a message soon?

Step 3: Device Decides When to Sleep Longer
Based on these metrics, the device can decide, all by itself, to sleep longer than the original DRX schedule. For example:

• If the battery is very low, the device might skip some on periods or even skip the wake-up signal, staying asleep longer to save energy.
• If the device is getting hot, it can sleep more to cool down.
• If there’s no traffic expected—maybe because the app is idle or there’s no scheduled download—the device can stay asleep.
• If the signal is weak or the device predicts no messages, it can rest for longer.

How Does the Device Do This?
The device has little engines, or software modules, inside:

• A “metrics engine” that checks things like battery, temperature, and buffer status.
• A “sleep period engine” that changes the sleep time based on what the metrics engine finds.

If the device decides to skip part or all of an on period, or even ignore a wake-up signal, it just stays asleep. It doesn’t have to renegotiate with the network. This is important because renegotiating can take time, cause delays, or even drop the connection.

This new approach works even if the network is not set up for advanced power-saving features. For example, in older systems where there’s no wake-up signal, the device can still decide to sleep longer if it’s safe to do so.

Some special tricks are used in this system:

• The device can skip just part of the on period, if it knows there’s nothing important coming.
• It can skip all of the on period, going into a deep sleep, if it’s sure nothing is needed.
• It can choose to ignore the wake-up signal, if the traffic patterns or metrics say it’s okay.
• It uses predictions—like whether it expects to get a message or not—based on past data and current conditions.
• It can use information from sensors to decide, for example, to sleep more if the device is getting too warm.

All of this is done on the device itself. The network doesn’t need to change a thing. That means any device using this method can save power right away, even on old networks. It also means this can work for all kinds of devices—phones, tablets, smartwatches, AR/VR headsets, and more.

What’s really smart about this invention is that it gives the device more control but keeps everything simple for the user. There’s no need for special apps or settings. The device just gets better at saving power, on its own, using the data it already has.

This can lead to real benefits:

• Longer battery life, especially for devices that can’t be plugged in all the time.
• Cooler devices, since sleeping more means less heat from the wireless radio.
• Smoother performance, since the device can wake up when it really matters, instead of just on a set schedule.
• Better support for new kinds of wearable devices, which are small and need to be power-efficient.

The patent also covers different ways to build this system. It can be a method (software), a device (hardware), or even a set of instructions stored on a chip or memory card. This means manufacturers have lots of ways to bring this idea to real products.

Conclusion

Wireless devices keep us connected, but staying awake all the time uses up battery. The invention explained in this patent application gives devices a way to be smarter about when they are awake and when they sleep. By watching things like battery level, temperature, and traffic patterns, the device can sleep longer and only wake up when it really needs to. This saves power, keeps devices cooler, and helps new gadgets like AR and VR headsets last longer on a single charge.

This method is simple, works with existing networks, and doesn’t need changes from the network providers. It’s a big step forward for making wireless devices more efficient and user-friendly. As more devices use this technology, we’ll see longer battery life, better performance, and happier users. The future of wireless gadgets is smarter, and this patent is a great example of how small changes can have a big impact.

Click here https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/ and search 20250220765.