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Apple patents wireless repeater that automatically turns off to save power

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Apple describes a network-controlled repeater that listens for specific signals from a cell tower to determine when it needs to be active. If the tower indicates no data is expected, the repeater switches to an off state to conserve energy.

Why it mattersThis improves battery life for small cellular boosters used in buildings or vehicles by ensuring they only use power when actually transmitting data.

In the filing’s own words

Some embodiments include a system, apparatus, article of manufacture, method, and/or computer program product and/or combinations and sub-combinations thereof, for implicit power saving operations for a network-controlled repeater (NCR) in a wireless network. Some embodiments include an NCR that can receive a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format including a first Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring periodicity, K S1, and operate in an On-state for a duration of K S1. The NCR can detect a skipped PDCCH monitoring periodicity, and operate in an Off-state for a duration corresponding to the skipped PDCCH monitoring periodicity. In some embodiments, the NCR operates with a carrier component (CC) with unpaired spectrum supporting slot configurations time division duplex (tdd)-uplink (UL)-downlink (DL)-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DLConfigurationDedicated. The NCR can detect from a System Information Block (SIB), a flexible orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and operate in an Off-state for a duration of the flexible OFDM symbol.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A network-controlled repeater (NCR) comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory; an NCR-mobile termination (MT) component; and an NCR-forwarding (Fwd) component, wherein the NCR-MT component and the NCR-Fwd component are communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the NCR-MT component at a control link uses a different radio frequency (RF) component than the NCR-Fwd component at a backhaul link, and wherein the processor is configured to: operate an On-Off state of the NCR-MT component at the control link independently from an On-Off state of the NCR-Fwd component at the backhaul link, based at least on the different RF component; receive a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format comprising a first Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring periodicity, K S1, comprising an integer number of slots; operate in an On-state for a duration of K S1 based at least on the DCI format; detect a skipped PDCCH monitoring periodicity subsequent to K S1; and operate in an Off-state for a duration corresponding to the skipped PDCCH monitoring periodicity.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
Implicit power saving operations for a network-controlled repeater (NCR) in wireless communications
Patent number
US12764654B2
Application number
18202753
Filed
May 26, 2023
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
10
Claims
20

Classified under

H04W 52/0203 Electricity & electronicsH04B 7/15507 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.