Contending for the medium with a mixture of backwards-compatible wireless devices
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising a first wireless device to transmit and receive wireless communications, the first wireless device to:
- transmit first and second packets, each packet to direct recipients of the packet to operate in a first mode in which contending for a transmission medium by the recipient is not permitted; and
transmit a third packet to cause each recipient of the third packet to operate in a second mode in which contending for the transmission medium by the recipient of the third packet is permitted;
wherein the first and third packets are formatted to be recognizable by a first type of mobile wireless devices but not recognizable by a second type of mobile wireless devices, and the second packet is formatted to be recognizable by both the first and second types of mobile wireless devices; and
wherein the wireless device is further to transmit the first, second, and third packets in a sequence that causes the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode simultaneously during a first time period, and causes the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode simultaneously during a second time period.
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Abstract
In a wireless network in which a central network device (e.g., an access point) communicates with multiple generations of mobile wireless devices that are backward compatible but not forward compatible, each generation of device may be selectively put into a mode that permits contending for the medium or a mode that does not permit contenting for the medium, through the use of packets that are formatted to be recognizable by some generations but not all generations.
5 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising
a first wireless device to transmit and receive wireless communications, the first wireless device to: -
transmit first and second packets, each packet to direct recipients of the packet to operate in a first mode in which contending for a transmission medium by the recipient is not permitted; and
transmit a third packet to cause each recipient of the third packet to operate in a second mode in which contending for the transmission medium by the recipient of the third packet is permitted;
wherein the first and third packets are formatted to be recognizable by a first type of mobile wireless devices but not recognizable by a second type of mobile wireless devices, and the second packet is formatted to be recognizable by both the first and second types of mobile wireless devices; and
wherein the wireless device is further to transmit the first, second, and third packets in a sequence that causes the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode simultaneously during a first time period, and causes the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode simultaneously during a second time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method, comprising:
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transmitting first and second packets over a wireless medium from a wireless device, each of the first and second packets directing recipients of that packet to operate in a first mode in which contending for the wireless medium is not permitted; and
transmitting a third packet over the wireless medium from the wireless device, the third packet directing recipients of the third packet to operate in a second mode in which contending for the wireless medium is permitted;
wherein the first and third packets are recognizable by a first type of mobile wireless devices but not recognizable by a second type of mobile wireless devices, and the second packet is recognizable by both the first and second types of mobile wireless devices; and
wherein the first, second, and third packets are transmitted in a sequence to cause the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode simultaneously during a first time period, and to cause the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode simultaneously during a second time period. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An article comprising
a machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a computing platform, result in at least one machine performing operations comprising: -
transmitting first and second packets from a wireless device, each of the first and second packets to cause recipients of that packet to operate in a first mode in which contending for a transmission medium by the recipient is not permitted; and
transmitting a third packet from the wireless device to cause each recipient of the third packet to operate in a second mode in which said contending for the transmission medium by the recipient is permitted;
wherein the first and third packets are recognizable by a first type of mobile wireless devices but not recognizable by a second type of mobile wireless devices, and the second packet is recognizable by both the first and second types of mobile wireless devices; and
wherein said first, second, and third packets are transmitted in a sequence to cause the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode simultaneously during a first time period, and to cause the first type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the first mode and the second type of mobile wireless devices to operate in the second mode simultaneously during a second time period. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification