DE102012101908A1 - Method for controlling power consumption of home gateway, involves monitoring preset static periods, dynamic motion profiles of end-users and/or network activity in connected network to turn to normal operation - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves monitoring of preset static periods, dynamic motion profiles of end-users and/or network activity in the connected network to turn to standby operation. The preset static periods, dynamic motion profiles of end-users and/or network activity in the connected network are monitored to turn to normal operation. The preset static period are determined from times and/or dates. The dynamic motion profiles of end-users connected over mobile terminal are detected. An independent claim is included for home gateway.

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications. In particular, the invention relates to the control of the central node of customer networks in its operating states as a function of activity information with the aim of increasing energy efficiency.

Background of the invention

The energy consumption of information and telecommunication technology systems is currently increasing worldwide. In particular, the customer networks contribute to this very strongly, since their active network elements are very widely distributed in the field and are therefore characterized by a large number and heterogeneity.

Against this background, the method and the arrangement according to the present invention description provides a possibility to significantly reduce the energy consumption in private customer networks compared to the current state of the art. It thus contributes to a greener IT structure (Green IT), which leads to an improved CO ₂ balance overall.

State of the art

Current home networks have central elements, so-called home gateways (HGW), which are connected on the one hand via a connection line connection with the operator's telecommunications network and on the other hand provide a connection in the home network of different devices: These include computers, phone (s) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) or set-top boxes (STB) for IPTV as well as laptops, tablet PCs or smartphones. These devices can be connected to the HGW via wired as well as wireless connections. 1 shows an example of the basic structure of such a home network. In the direction of the telecommunications network, the HGW, under the responsibility of the network operator, has a network termination (NT) from which a connection line to the operator's access (network) node terminates, which is terminated by line termination (LT). This connecting cable can be designed as a copper cable or as a fiber optic connection.

It is usually assumed that the HGW must always be turned on and either does not include a standby mode or - if it does exist - this can not be used, since the continuous operation of the HGW is required -. B. to be able to receive incoming VoIP calls. This is based on the premise that in the near future telephony will only be handled via broadband networks and not via a separate telephone network that runs parallel to the broadband network.

Since the HGW is a central network element, it is also increasingly included in other controls that are not originally assigned to the telecommunications world, such. B. for home automation, the u. a. may include the control of heaters, shutters, etc. Again, this is used as an argument to keep the HGW always on. However, on the one hand, there are currently a variety of home networks dedicated exclusively to telecommunications (and not supporting home automation), and on the other hand, not all home automation functions permanently require a HGW in normal mode.

Since currently HGWs for the above reasons are not put into an energy-saving state (can), the HGW consumes regardless of the actual activity continuously - and sometimes unnecessary - the energy that it needs in full operating condition, even if z. B. no activity is observed at night.

Overview of the invention:

The present invention description has the aim of significantly improving the above-described current state of the art with suitable methods, so that it becomes possible to adapt the operating state of a home gateway according to the prevailing conditions.

Occasionally, the normal operating mode is referred to as a "standby" mode, namely, when the HGW is turned on, but no data transmission takes place. This is explicitly not meant here - this would correspond in the present nomenclature to the "normal operating mode", but without actual traffic. In standby mode, non-active ports are deactivated, the transmission rates are reduced, - if available - the fans and coolers are shut down and, if necessary, WLAN interfaces deactivated. So z. For example, lower transmission frequencies or transmission rates can be selected by switching from 1 Gbps to 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps in the home network, similar approaches can also be followed in the DSL network. It is also conceivable to completely switch off the ports or not to forward certain packets which have no high relevance or do not lead to the waking up of a device.

In detail, there are methods for controlling the energy consumption of a home gateway (HGW), which establishes a connection between a local network, in particular a home network (LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, etc.), and a telecommunications network of a network operator, the home gateway switchable to standby mode to consume less energy. The HGW has an evaluation and control unit, which performs the switching between standby and normal operation. The method allows switching based on different approaches.

Thus, preset preset static periods, dynamic motion profiles of end users, and / or network activities in the connected networks are monitored to turn on standby. The time and / or date are taken into account and / or the distance from the end user to the HGW. This can be z. B. be determined by the connection of a mobile device, such as a smartphone, with the HGW. Should z. B. the smartphone to establish a wireless connection to the HGW, so is the end user in the area, which is switched from standby mode to normal operation.

On the same basis, a switch to normal operation can take place.

Furthermore, network activities in the connected networks can be checked, whereby when exceeding or falling below a certain amount of data over a certain period in the normal mode or the standby mode is switched. This z. B. megabytes per minute are evaluated. It is also conceivable to determine the maximum bandwidth of the current network mode as the limit value. Should z. For example, if a 10 Mbps network speed is sufficient to transmit the data fast enough, this mode is maintained. If, on the other hand, a higher speed is necessary, since the maximum network speed is utilized, then it can be switched up accordingly.

In a further advantageous embodiment, it is detected by a priority mechanism whether important events occur in the network, in particular the Verbindungsaubau by VoIP, and then switch from standby mode to normal operation. Thus, all interfaces of the home gateway are checked in standby mode by the evaluation and control unit to switch in the case of a VoIP connection setup by a SIP-invite message in normal operation.

Another component of the invention is a device that implements the corresponding method.

The HGW is thus equipped with a standby functionality and an evaluation and control unit. This evaluation and control unit ( 2 ) is a central part of the method, according to the present invention. This evaluation and control unit monitors on the one hand the activity of the components in the home network and on the other hand, the signals on the connection to the network of the operator. The evaluation and control unit is also active in standby mode in particular in order to be able to fulfill its monitoring and control function.

If no activity is observed by the evaluation and control unit neither in the home network nor in the direction of the operator network (incoming or outgoing) for a certain time, the HGW is switched to standby mode. For this purpose, so-called "standby triggers" are used in the present invention.

To switch from standby mode to normal mode, so-called "wakeup triggers" are used. This means that the evaluation and control unit of the HGW recognizes activities either in the home network or in the direction of the operator network (incoming or outgoing), so that the HGW can be switched to the normal operating mode.

The following static and dynamic events and criteria serve as "standby triggers":

Static

• - It is time-dependent preset at which times standby and normal operating mode of the HGW are used. For example, the user sets that in the time of sleep, z. For example, from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am the HGW should operate in standby mode, in the remaining time in normal operation mode. Conceivable here would be the static presetting of holiday and business travel times as preconfigured standby periods. This corresponds to a relatively static switching mechanism. illustrates such a time-dependent control.

Dynamic

• - It is event-driven when the HGW is in standby mode and when in normal mode. For this purpose, the location information is used, ie it is evaluated with the help of guided smartphones, where the user is currently. If the distance between User and HGW location exceeds a certain distance, the HGW will be put into standby mode. In this context, it may be important, in particular in the case of multi-person households, that the location information of a plurality of mobile radios be evaluated and evaluated via a corresponding link of the HGW nearest (potential) user as trigger information. This capability shall expressly include the evaluation and control unit of the HGW according to the present invention.

Mixed

• - Activity detection: If the traffic in the home network or in the direction of the operator network (incoming or outgoing) falls below a predefined value (threshold) for a certain predefined period of time, then the HGW is switched to standby mode. The following static and dynamic events and criteria serve as wake-up triggers: Static
• - It is time-dependent preset at which times standby and normal operating mode of the HGW are used. This variant is described under "Standby Trigger" and includes the normal operating times with.

Dynamic

• - It is event-based when the HGW is in standby mode and when in normal mode. For this purpose, the location information, where the user is currently located, evaluated (see under "Standby Trigger"): If the distance between the user and HGW location falls below a certain distance, the HGW is switched to the normal operating mode. In this context, it may be important, in particular in the case of multi-person households, that the location information of a plurality of mobile radios be evaluated and evaluated via a corresponding link of the HGW nearest (potential) user as trigger information. This capability shall expressly include the evaluation and control unit of the HGW according to the present invention.

Mixed

• Activity detection: If the traffic in the home network or in the direction of the operator network (incoming or outgoing) exceeds a predefined value (threshold) for a certain predefined period of time, then the HGW is switched to the normal operating mode.

• • Dazu werden bestimmte Ereignisse definiert, die ein garantiertes Aufwecken des HGWs in den Normalbetriebsmodus bewirken, unabhängig von etwaig voreingestellten Kriterien, wie zum Beispiel der Zeitsteuerung.
• • Ein solches Ereignis ist z. B. ein eingehender oder abgehender Telefonanruf. Unter der Annahme, dass das HGW durch eines der o. g. Ereignisse in den Standby Modus ,verfällt', würden an das HGW angeschlossene VoIP Telefone ebenfalls nicht mehr aktiv sein. Um die Grundsicherheit nach funktionsfähigen Telefonverbindungen zu gewährleisten, erkennt die oben beschriebene Steuerlogik entweder einen eingehenden Anruf, oder das Abheben des Telefonhörers des am Heimnetz angeschlossenen VoIP Telefons und schaltet daraufhin das HGW in den normalen Betriebszustand, um die Voraussetzungen für eine gesicherte Telefonverbindung herzustellen.
• • Diese Funktionalität kann auch so ausgeprägt sein, dass immer dann, wenn eine beliebige Aktivität im Heimnetz erkannt wird – unabhängig vom Gerät –, das HGW in den Normalbetriebszustand geschaltet wird. Die Auswerte- und Steuereinheit verfügt über einen sogenannten „Trigger-Watcher”, der für diese Funktion zuständig ist.

In addition, a priority mechanism is defined for switching from standby mode to normal mode (wake up). This priority mechanism determines which events in which weighting lead to a wake-up

• • To do this, certain events are defined that cause a guaranteed wake-up of the HGW into the normal operating mode, regardless of any preset criteria, such as the timing.
• • Such an event is z. For example, an incoming or outgoing telephone call. Assuming that one of the above events causes the HGW to go into standby mode, VoIP telephones connected to the HGW would also no longer be active. In order to ensure the basic security of functioning telephone connections, the control logic described above either detects an incoming call, or lifting the telephone handset of the connected home phone VoIP phone and then switches the HGW in the normal operating condition to establish the conditions for a secure telephone connection.
• • This functionality may also be so pronounced that whenever any activity is detected in the home network, regardless of the device, the HGW will be switched to normal operation. The evaluation and control unit has a so-called "trigger-watcher", which is responsible for this function.

A further property of the evaluation and control unit is to store the respective state, its duration and the resulting power and energy consumption and thus to keep it accessible for later evaluations (and possibly optimizations based thereon).

A controller in accordance with the present invention promises to remedy the current state of the art, ie, the persistent, always-on state of home gateways, and to provide intelligent control so that the HGW can be switched to a standby mode if there is no activity and is accordingly switched back to the normal operating state in due time, if the observed or predicted activity requires it. The standby mode to be used in the method proposed here involves switching off components of the HGW in the event that there is no need for communication - so that a significant energy saving in the standby mode compared to the normal operating state can be achieved. The activity may include both pure communication needs (eg telephony, broadband communication) as well as communication needs arising from home automation (eg signaling to the heating control). It is expected that this will lead to a significant increase in the energy efficiency of HGWs Especially in the overall economic perspective - due to the large number of HGWs in typical telecommunications networks - leads to significant savings in energy and concomitant CO ₂ emissions.

Figures Description

1 shows a principle arrangement (example) of a home network with connection to the operator network according to the prior art;

2 shows an arrangement with detailed representation of the HGW, in particular with the evaluation and control unit according to the present invention;

3 Figure 10 shows a table for the arrangement according to the present invention with time-based control

4 shows an arrangement according to the present invention with event-based control as the user moves away.

5 shows an arrangement according to the present invention with event-based control of the approaching user.

6 shows an arrangement according to the present invention with activity detection.

Detailed description of embodiments:

• – Zeit-basierte Steuerung,
• – Ereignis-basierte Steuerung,
• – Aktivitätsdetektion

According to the previously discussed control options

• - time-based control,
• Event-based control,
• - Activity detection

Embodiments are given and details discussed.

In 3 the principle of a time-based control is shown.

• – Fester Tag und Uhrzeit für Standby On und Standby Off
• – Zeitraum von <Datum> bis <Datum> und Uhrzeit für Standby On und Standby Off
• – Fester Tag für kompletten Standby (24 h)
• – Zeitraum von <Datum> bis <Datum> für kompletten Standby (24 h)

It can be set, similar to a calendar-oriented presentation, the times for the mode change. There are the following options:

• - Fixed day and time for standby and standby off
• - Period from <Date> to <Date> and time for Standby On and Standby Off
• - Fixed day for complete standby (24 h)
• - Period from <date> to <date> for complete standby (24 h)

In 4 the principle of an event-based control is shown in the event that the HGW is in the normal operating state and the user moves away from the HGW. The location of the user is determined by his mobile device: This can be done via GPS positioning (Global Positioning System) - or similar satellite-based positioning systems - as well as the evaluation of mobile radio cells to determine the location. If the distance between the HGW and the location of the user exceeds a predetermined, adjustable distance d, this is signaled to the evaluation and control unit and the HGW is switched from the normal operating state into a standby mode ("standby trigger").

Conversely, in the opposite case, the HGW in a standby mode and the user outside the circle to the HGW location with the radius d, so falls below the distance d between HGW and location of the user (the mobile phone) this at evaluation and Control unit signals and the HGW in the normal operating mode switched ("wakeup trigger"). This behavior is in 5 illustrated.

Activity detection is understood to mean that the evaluation and control unit permanently "monitors" the individual interfaces (IFs) of the HGW in standby mode and always switches the HGW to the normal operating state whenever any activity announces itself there. This is particularly important if the HGW is in a standby mode due to the timing, but during this time z. B. an emergency call is to be placed or receives an important message.

The arrows in 6 illustrate the case that the evaluation and control unit "monitors" all interfaces and switches the HGW to the appropriate operating mode based on the activity detected there (according to the behavior described under "Activity Detection"). The arrows are OR-linked: As soon as an activity is announced on at least one interface, the HGW is switched from standby mode to normal operating mode.

As a standby trigger, various criteria can be used here: In the case of a traffic volume specification, the system switches back to standby mode when the observed traffic volume drops below a certain predefinable threshold (for an equally specifiable period of time); in the case of a purely temporal specification, a predefinable period of time can be waited for - irrespective of the traffic volume - until it is switched back to standby mode.

An example of this is a voice-over-IP call that is to be made during a preconfigured standby phase (ie between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am): If it is an external incoming call, then a defined according to the communication protocol used signaling command the actual call precede - here z. B. a SIP-invite message. This message is detected by the evaluation and control unit on the NT interface and switched according to the HGW in the normal operation mode. If the voice-over-IP call is initiated from the home network, the processes described above will play the same way - with the change that the SIP-invite message from the evaluation and control unit on the voice-over IP Telephone associated interface (IF) of the HGW is detected and not on the NT interface. After completing this call, it will switch back to standby mode.

Control options described above isolated from each other can in practice also occur in combination. An example in which a combination of time-based control and activity detection occurs has already been indicated with the Voice-over-IP example.

When these combinations occur, an adjustable prioritization decides the actual execution of the action.

For example, a combination of time-based and event-based control can occur when a user approaches his HGW in a predefined standby time (eg, at night) and thus activates the associated wakeup trigger: Here, it is conceivable that a User type grants this trigger priority over the predefined time standby mode, while another type of user may not want it: Therefore this priority question should be set as adjustable. However, it makes sense that prior to a predefined standby phase, priority is always given to activity detection in order to be able to use the wake-up mechanism described above in the example of the voice-over-IP telephone call.

Claims (12)

A method for controlling the energy consumption of a home gateway (HGW), which establishes a connection between a local network, in particular a home network, and a telecommunications network of a network operator, wherein the home gateway is switchable to a standby mode to consume less energy, with a Evaluation and control unit, which performs the switching between standby and normal operation, comprising the steps: - monitoring preset static periods, end user dynamic motion profiles and / or network activity in the attached networks to turn on standby; - Monitor preset static time periods, dynamic motion profiles of end users and / or network activity in the connected networks to enable normal operation. The method according to the preceding claim, wherein the preset periods are determined by times and / or dates in which a standby mode or a normal mode has to be performed. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein dynamic movement profiles are detected by end users who are connected via a mobile terminal to the home gateway, wherein when falling below or exceeding a distance to the home gateway in the normal mode or the standby mode is switched. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein network activities are checked in the connected networks, wherein when exceeding or falling below a certain amount of data over a certain period of time in the normal mode or the standby mode is switched. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein it is detected by priority mechanism, whether important events occur in the network, in particular the Verbindungsaubau by VoIP, and then switch from standby mode to normal operation. The method according to the preceding claim, wherein in standby mode, the evaluation and control unit checks all interfaces of the Home Gateway to switch in the case of a VoIP connection setup by SIP-invite message in the normal mode. Home power-reduction gateways having terminals for establishing a connection between a local area network, in particular a home network, and a telecommunication network of a network operator switchable to a standby mode to consume less energy, comprising: - a Evaluation and control unit that switches to standby mode by monitoring preset static time periods, dynamic movement profiles of end users and / or network activity in the connected networks; the evaluation and control unit, also switching to the Perform normal operation by monitoring preset static periods, dynamic motion profiles of end users, and / or network activity in the attached networks. Home gateways according to the preceding claim, wherein the preset periods are determined by times and / or dates in which a standby mode or a normal mode has to be made. Home gateways according to one or more of the preceding home gateway claims, wherein the evaluation and control unit detects dynamic movement profiles of end users, which are connected via a mobile terminal to the home gateway, wherein when falling below or exceeding a distance to the home gateway in the Normal operation or standby mode. Home gateways according to one or more of the preceding home gateway claims, wherein the evaluation and control unit checks network activities in the connected networks, whereby when a certain amount of data is exceeded or undershot for a certain period of time, it is switched to normal operation or standby mode. Operation is switched. Home gateways according to one or more of the preceding home gateway claims, wherein the evaluation and control unit detects by priority mechanism, if important events occur in the network, in particular the Verbindungsaubau by VoIP, and then switch from standby mode to normal operation. Home gateways according to the preceding claim, wherein the evaluation and control unit checks all interfaces of the Home Gateway in standby mode to switch in the case of a VoIP connection setup by SIP-invite message in the normal mode.

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