In order to support connectivity requirements for today's pervasive devices, the present invention provides an asymmetric two-way request-response communication protocol in which the end user or application is an active participant in the power management scheme. No power is consumed until a user-initiated client request is made. At that time, the client activates its transceiver and attempts to connect to the server; if it succeeds, it requests information, receives its response, and disconnects again, totally shutting down the transceiver. The server's transceiver always stays in a listening mode and waits for a client request. The protocol does not provide a direct method for the server to send unsolicited messages to the client.