Wake-on-WLAN

Abstract

In bridging the digital divide, two important criteria are cost-eectiv eness, and power optimization. While 802.11 is cost-eectiv e and is being used in several installations in the developing world, typical system congurations are not really power ecien t. In this paper, we propose a novel \Wake-on-WLAN" mechanism for coarse-grained, on-demand power on/o of the networking equipment at a remote site. The novelty also lies in our implementation of a prototype system using low-power 802.15.4-based sensor motes. We describe the prototype, as well as its evaluation on eld in a WiFi testbed. Preliminary estimates indicate that the pro- posed mechanism can save signican t power in typical rural networking settings.