Managing distributed access to a shared medium
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for communicating between stations in a network, the method comprising:
- coordinating among a plurality of the stations according to a distributed protocol and based on a contention period to select a first station to transmit over a shared medium; and
transmitting between the first station and a second station over the shared medium during a first time period, wherein the first station is allocated the first time period for transmitting over the shared medium in response to contending with others of the plurality of stations during the contention period, in which stations other than the first and second stations refrain from transmitting over the shared medium, including transmitting from the first station information that grants permission to the second station to transmit for a specified amount of time during the first time period and transmitting information that indicates the specified amount of time to the second station, wherein the first station transmits the information that grants permission after receiving a transmission from the second station that includes an amount of time that is requested, andwherein a second time period, non-overlapping with the first time period, is allocated to the second station.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Communicating between stations in a network is described. A plurality of stations coordinate according to a distributed protocol to select a first station to transmit over a shared medium. The communication includes transmitting between the first station and a second station over the shared medium during a time period in which stations other than the first and second stations refrain from transmitting over the shared medium. The first station transmits information that grants permission to the second station to transmit during the time period.
237 Citations
55 Claims
-
1. A method for communicating between stations in a network, the method comprising:
-
coordinating among a plurality of the stations according to a distributed protocol and based on a contention period to select a first station to transmit over a shared medium; and transmitting between the first station and a second station over the shared medium during a first time period, wherein the first station is allocated the first time period for transmitting over the shared medium in response to contending with others of the plurality of stations during the contention period, in which stations other than the first and second stations refrain from transmitting over the shared medium, including transmitting from the first station information that grants permission to the second station to transmit for a specified amount of time during the first time period and transmitting information that indicates the specified amount of time to the second station, wherein the first station transmits the information that grants permission after receiving a transmission from the second station that includes an amount of time that is requested, and wherein a second time period, non-overlapping with the first time period, is allocated to the second station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 47, 48, 49)
-
-
35. A system for communicating between stations, the system comprising:
-
a first station configured to coordinate among a plurality of the stations according to a distributed protocol and based on a contention period to gain access to transmit over a shared medium; and transmit to a second station over the shared medium during a first time period, wherein the first station is allocated in response to contending with others of the plurality of stations during the contention period, in which stations other than the first and second stations refrain from transmitting over the shared medium, including transmitting information that grants permission to the second station to transmit for a specified amount of time during the first time period and to transmit information that indicates the specified amount of time to the second station, wherein the first station is configured to transmit the information that grants permission after receiving a transmission from the second station that includes an amount of time that is requested; and the second station configured to, in response to receiving the information that grants permission, transmit to the first station over the shared medium during specified amount of time during the first time period, and configured to gain access to a second time period, non-overlapping with the first time period, allocated to the second station. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52)
-
-
36. A system for communicating between stations, the system comprising:
-
a first station configured to coordinate among a plurality of the stations according to a distributed protocol and based on a contention period to gain access to transmit over a shared medium; and transmit to a second station over the shared medium during a first time period, wherein the first station is allocated in response to contending with others of the plurality of stations during the contention period, in which stations other than the first and second stations refrain from transmitting over the shared medium; the second station configured to transmit to the first station over the shared medium during the first time period in response to receiving from the first station information that grants permission to the second station to transmit for the specified amount of time during the first time period and to transmit information that indicates the specified amount of time to the second station, wherein the first station transmits the information that grants permission after receiving a transmission from the second station that includes an amount of time that is requested, and configured to gain access to a second time period, non-overlapping with the first time period, allocated to the second station; and a third station configured to coordinate among the plurality of stations according to the distributed protocol to gain access to transmit over the shared medium after receiving information over the shared medium from the first station or the second station that indicates that the first time period has ended. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55)
-
Specification