Product and Software: This article applies to all Aruba controllers and ArubaOS 3.3.2 and later.
The battery boost feature converts all multicast traffic to unicast before it is delivered to the client.
This feature is disabled by default. When you enable this feature on an SSID, you can set the DTIM interval from 10 to 100, which equals 1,000 - 10,000 milliseconds. (Previously, allowed values were 1 or 2.)
This longer interval keeps associated wireless clients from activating their radios for multicast indication and delivery, which leaves them in power-save mode longer and lengthens battery life. The DTIM configuration is performed on the WLAN, so no configuration is necessary on the client.
Note: Although you can enable battery boost on a per-virtual AP basis, it must be enabled for any SSIDs that support voice traffic.
Although the multicast to unicast conversion generates more traffic, that traffic is buffered by the AP and delivered to the client when it emerges from power-save mode. This option can be enabled only if the voice license is installed.
An associated parameter available on some clients is the Listening Interval (LI).
This parameter defines the interval (in number of beacons) after which the client must wake to read the Traffic Indication Map (TIM). The TIM indicates whether unicast traffic is buffered for each sleeping client. With battery boost enabled, the DTIM is increased, but multicast traffic is buffered and delivered as unicast.
An increased LI can further increase battery life, but it can also decrease client responsiveness.
You enable the battery boost feature and set the DTIM interval in the SSID profile.
Using the CLI
Using the WebUI
