Cross-Layer Optimization of Radio Sleep Intervals to Increase Thin Client Energy Efficiency

Thin client computing trades local processing for network bandwidth consumption by offloading application logic to remote servers. User input and display updates are exchanged between client and server through a thin client protocol. This thin client protocol traffic can lead to a significantly higher power consumption of the radio interface of the wireless device. In this contribution, we present a cross-layer algorithm that exploits thin client protocol layer information to determine intervals where no traffic from the server is expected. During these intervals, the wireless network interface card (WNIC) is instructed to enter the energy conserving sleep mode. Using this algorithm for a remote text editor, WNIC energy consumption reductions of 21-52% can be achieved.