1 Introduction

A dying gasp or last gasp refers to a final, brief signal or message that is sent by a system or device just before the device loses power or is shut down. This is commonly used in the context of network equipment, such as routers, servers, or other hardware, to send an alert or notification that the device is about to stop functioning due to power loss or failure. This can involve error messages, status updates or even smooth shutdown process. In some cases, the dying gasp is sent as a type of emergency signal, helping administrators or monitoring systems detect and respond to imminent outages before the full loss of service occurs.

In the context of access points, which allows wireless devices (like laptops, smartphones, or tablets) to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi or other wireless communication standards, acting as a bridge between the wired network (such as a router or switch) and wireless clients, providing network connectivity to the wireless devices. A dying gasp can help in achieving battery health monitoring, provide graceful shutdown, and make sure that power loss protection occurs during failover cases, as a result enhancing the reliability of the system.

The dying gasp in access points serves as a crucial tool for network administrators and IT systems to detect, diagnose, and respond to power loss or device failure issues. This feature is particularly useful in environments where high availability is critical, such as business offices, schools, and data centers.

This application uses TPS61381-Q1 as a boost converter with LDO charging operation which can be used to maintain a backup battery or supercap through charging during normal power operation and this is then used during failover cases to issue a final message and even act as a backup power supply, which can be tailored to the requirements of the required application.