User experiences on wireless devices are affected by communication, computation, and user interface capabilities. Another key performance indicator of a wireless device is its battery life. A method, algorithm and apparatus for improving the communication, computation and user interface capabilities of a mobile device is disclosed, which requires the expenditure of less energy and increases battery life. The trade-off between battery life and user experience related to the communication capability is managed by a protocol stack power optimization algorithm that optimally allocates energy resources. The power management algorithm inputs and combines measurements made at various layers of the protocol stack to selectively control a set of actions impacting energy usage. The algorithm maps from a set of measurements to a set of actions that provides the best trade-off between user experience and energy consumption.