Power saving method in wireless LAN system for estimating at terminal station whether or not data destined thereto is buffered in base station

摘要

A power saving method in a wireless LAN system is disclosed for estimating at a terminal station whether or not data destined thereto is buffered in a base station, and temporarily stopping a downlink data receiving operation when it is estimated that no such data is buffered, thereby preventing the consumption of a bandwidth for needless wireless frame sequences. Upon receipt of a beacon management frame Beacon (TIM) from the base station, the terminal station stores TIM information in a memory. The TIM information indicates whether or not downlink data destined to the terminal station is buffered in the base station (indicating that the data is buffered when it is at “1” and that the data is not buffered when it is at “0”). At a PS-Poll transmission timing, the terminal station references the memory and stops the transmission of PS-Poll when the two latest values of TIM are “00.”