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Low-power idle mode for network transceivers. In one aspect, a method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network includes entering a low-power idle mode, and in this mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter

Low-power idle mode for network transceivers. In one aspect, a method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network includes entering a low-power idle mode, and in this mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter according to a pattern, where the pattern has been customized based on characteristics of the receiver. Turning off the transmitter conserves power consumed by the transceiver.

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1. A method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network, the method comprising: entering a low-power idle mode of the transceiver; andin the low-power idle mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter according

1. A method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network, the method comprising: entering a low-power idle mode of the transceiver; andin the low-power idle mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter according to a pattern, wherein while the transmitter is turned on, a control signal is transmitted from the transmitter to the network for reception by a receiver, and while the transmitter is turned off, no control signal is transmitted to the network from the transmitter to conserve power consumed by the transceiver, and wherein the pattern has been customized based on characteristics of the receiver. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the pattern has been customized based on a duration and a frequency that the receiver requires for the transmitted control signal to be received by the receiver in order to maintain the receiver in a ready state for a later fully active mode. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the maintaining the receiver in a ready state includes updating at least one filter of the receiver. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one filter includes a Far End Crosstalk (FEXT) canceller. 5. The method of claim 2 wherein the maintaining the receiver in a ready state includes maintaining a timing lock of the receiver relative to the transmitter. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the turning off of the transmitter provides a quiet interval and the turning on of the transmitter provides a refresh interval, and wherein the pattern includes providing at least one quiet interval and a plurality of refresh intervals, at least two of the refresh intervals having different durations. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the pattern is provided as a super-frame including a plurality of frames implementing the pattern, wherein the frames in the super-frame include one or more quiet frames in which no control signal is transmitted and one or more update frames in which the control signal is transmitted to the receiver. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the super-frame provides a pattern of the frames that includes a first amount of the update frames, which are followed by a plurality of the quiet frames, and which are followed by a second amount of the update frames, wherein the first amount is different than the second amount. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the super-frame includes one or more idle frames, wherein the transmitter determines whether to transmit the control signal or not during an idle frame based on at least one characteristic of a near-end receiver of the transceiver. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the transmitter determines whether to transmit the control signal or not during an idle frame based on whether near-end filters of a near-end receiver of the transceiver require updating to maintain a ready state for a later fully active mode, wherein the near-end receiver is turned off and turned on in conjunction with the transmitter. 11. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting a wakeup signal while the transmitter is turned on, the wakeup signal indicating to the receiver that the transceiver is exiting the low-power idle mode. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the pattern is customized based on a negotiation of parameters performed by the transmitter and the receiver before the low-power idle mode is entered. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitter and the receiver communicate according to an Ethernet 10GBase-T standard. 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising deactivating a precoding block of the transmitter such that the precoding of the transmitted control signal is not performed in the low-power idle mode. 15. The method of claim 14 wherein a modulation block in the transmitter uses PAM-2 modulation during the low-power idle mode, and wherein the precoding block includes a Tomlinson-Harashima Precoding (THP) block. 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitter is one of a plurality of transmitters included in the transceiver, and further comprising selecting the plurality of transmitters to be turned on all the time during the low-power idle mode to reduce noise created from a non-stationary crosstalk provided from the turning off of the transmitter. 17. A method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network, the method comprising: entering a low-power idle mode of the transceiver; andin the low-power idle mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter according to a pattern, wherein while the transmitter is turned on, a control signal is transmitted from the transmitter to the network for reception by a receiver, and while the transmitter is turned off, no control signal is transmitted to the network from the transmitter to conserve power consumed by the transceiver,wherein the pattern is provided as a super-frame including a plurality of frames implementing the pattern, the frames in the super-frame including one or more quiet frames in which no control signal is transmitted, one or more update frames in which the control signal is transmitted to the receiver, and one or more idle frames, wherein the transmitter determines whether to transmit the control signal or not during an idle frame based on at least one characteristic of the transceiver. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the transmitter decides whether to transmit the control signal or not during an idle frame based on whether near-end filters of a near-end receiver require updating to maintain a ready state for a later fully active mode. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the near-end filters of the transceiver include at least one echo canceller and at least one Near-End Crosstalk (NEXT) canceller. 20. A method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network, the method comprising: entering a low-power idle mode of the transceiver; andin the low-power idle mode, repeatedly turning off a plurality of transmitters of the transceiver and turning on the plurality of transmitters according to a pattern, wherein the turning off and the turning on of the plurality of transmitters is staggered such that each of the transmitters is turned on and only one of the transmitters is turned on at any time, wherein while the one transmitter is turned on, a control signal is transmitted from the one transmitter to the network for reception by a receiver, and while a particular transmitter is turned off, no control signal is transmitted to the network from the particular transmitter to conserve power consumed by the particular transceiver. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the pattern is implemented by a plurality of frames, wherein the frames include one or more quiet frames in which no control signal is transmitted and one or more update frames in which the control signal is transmitted for the receiver, wherein the update frames are staggered such that only one of the transmitters is active at any time. 22. The method of claim 20 wherein simplex communication is used between the transceiver and a different transceiver connected to the network. 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the transmitter is one of a plurality of transmitters included in the transceiver, and wherein each transmitter transmits a control signal on a different channel at a different time, such that simplex communication is used on each channel. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the transceiver includes a plurality of receivers corresponding to the plurality of transmitters, and wherein while one of the transmitters is transmitting a control signal on one of the channels, one of the receivers is receiving a different control signal on a different one of the channels. 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the plurality of transmitters are four transmitters, the plurality of receivers are four receivers, and each of four channels is connected to a different pair of the transmitters and receivers, and wherein the simplex communication is ordered among the channels such that a first channel is used as a transmitting channel while a third channel, non-adjacent to the master channel, is used as a corresponding receiving channel. 26. A method for reducing power consumption of a transceiver connected to a communication network, the method comprising: entering a low-power idle mode of the transceiver; andin the low-power idle mode, repeatedly turning off a transmitter of the transceiver and turning on the transmitter according to a pattern, wherein while the transmitter is turned on, a control signal is transmitted from the transmitter to the network for reception by a receiver, and while the transmitter is turned off, no control signal is transmitted to the network from the transmitter to conserve power consumed by the transceiver, andwherein the pattern is provided as at least one super-frame including a plurality of frames implementing the pattern, the frames in the super-frame including one or more quiet frames in which no control signal is transmitted and one or more update frames in which the control signal is transmitted for the receiver, andwherein a wakeup signal is transmitted in one of the update frames to indicate that the transmitter is to exit low-power idle mode. 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the receiver listens during predefined frames of the one or more update frames for the wakeup signal. 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the pattern and the predefined frames are customized based on a negotiation of parameters performed by the transmitter and the receiver before the low-power idle mode is entered. 29. A transceiver including a mode for reducing power consumption, the transceiver connected to a communication network, the transceiver comprising: a transmitter operative to transmit data on the communication network; anda near-end receiver operative to receive data from the communication network,wherein the transceiver includes a low-power idle mode in which the transmitter is repeatedly turned off and turned on according to a pattern, wherein while the transmitter is turned on, a control signal is transmitted from the transmitter to the network for reception by a far-end receiver, and while the transmitter is turned off, no control signal is transmitted to the network from the transmitter to conserve power consumed by the transceiver, wherein the pattern is customized based on characteristics of the far-end receiver. 30. The transceiver of claim 29 wherein the pattern is customized based on a duration and a frequency that the far-end receiver requires for the transmitted control signal to be received by the receiver in order to maintain the receiver in a ready state, the maintaining the receiver in a ready state including updating at least one filter of the receiver and maintaining a timing lock of the receiver relative to the transmitter. 31. The transceiver of claim 29 wherein the turning off of the transmitter provides a quiet interval and the turning on of the transmitter provides a refresh interval, and wherein the pattern includes providing at least one quiet interval and a plurality of refresh intervals, at least two of the refresh intervals having different durations. 32. The transceiver of claim 29 wherein the pattern is customized based on a negotiation of parameters performed by the transmitter and the receiver before the low-power idle mode is entered.