MULTI-MODE WLAN/PAN MAC
First Claim
1. A wireless communication device, comprising:
- a processor configured to generate a first plurality of beacons based on a first wireless communication protocol and a second plurality of beacons based on a second wireless communication protocol; and
a communication interface configured to transmit the first plurality of beacons and the second plurality of beacons simultaneously to at least one wireless communication device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A novel solution is presented in which a MAC (Medium Access Controller) is implemented that includes multiple functionality types. This MAC may include functionality supporting communication according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) related standards and also to one or more of the standards generated by the IEEE 802.15.3 PAN (Personal Area Network) working group. By providing this dual functionality of a multi-mode WLAN/PAN MAC, a communication device may adaptively change the manner in which it communicates with other communication devices. For example, in an effort to maximize throughput and overall efficiency of communication within a communication system, certain of the various devices may change from using the WLAN related standards to using the PAN related standards, and vice versa, based on any one or more of a variety of operational parameters including system configuration.
18 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A wireless communication device, comprising:
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a processor configured to generate a first plurality of beacons based on a first wireless communication protocol and a second plurality of beacons based on a second wireless communication protocol; and a communication interface configured to transmit the first plurality of beacons and the second plurality of beacons simultaneously to at least one wireless communication device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A wireless communication device, comprising:
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a processor configured to generate a first plurality of beacons based on a piconet/PAN (Personal Area Network) communication protocol and a second plurality of beacons based on a wireless local area network (WLAN/WiFi) communication protocol; and a communication interface configured to; transmit the first plurality of beacons and the second plurality of beacons simultaneously to a first wireless communication device; support first communications with the first wireless communication device based on the piconet/PAN communication protocol; and support second communications with the first wireless communication device or a second wireless communication device based on the WLAN/WiFi communication protocol. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for operating a first wireless communication device, the method comprising:
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generating a first plurality of beacons based on a first wireless communication protocol; generating a second plurality of beacons based on a second wireless communication protocol; and via a communication interface of the first wireless communication device, transmitting the first plurality of beacons and the second plurality of beacons simultaneously to a second wireless communication device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification