Audio/Video Inter-Device Power Control

A large amount of energy is used by audio/video devices in homes and elsewhere that are fully on but don’t need to be. Today, most powering up and down of these devices is done manually (including with remote controls). This is becoming increasingly problematic as the number of devices connected or networked to each other rises, with many in other rooms, or elsewhere on the Internet. Neither the manual approach nor a centralized command and control approach are likely to be satisfactory, either for users or for energy use. This paper describes a system for managing A/V device power state by the principle that they should “wake up when they need to, and go to sleep when they can.” This system would require devices to communicate and coordinate for functional and power state purposes and could provide greater usability to people as well as save energy. This paper reviews key concepts underlying present and future A/V systems, and explains the architecture and the usage models the system is designed to support. This paper also summarizes how current communications technologies and device usage models already contain or lack the features necessary to support the general model. Finally, the paper reviews the steps needed to make this vision of integrated audio/video interdevice power control a reality.