Managing contention-free time allocations in a network

US7756152B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• Atheros Communications, Inc. · US
• SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA · JP
• CopperGate Communications Ltd. · IL

Inventors

• Srinivas Katar · Gainesville, US
• Lawrence W. Yonge, III · Summerfield, US
• Neal Riedel · Carlsbad, US
• Min Wang · San Diego, US
• George M. Peponides · Encinitas, US
• Wai-Chung Chan · Vancouver, US
• Sherman Gavette · Camas, US
• Deepak Ayyagari · Vancouver, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 23, 2006
• Grant date: Jul 13, 2010
• Expiry date: Jun 17, 2028

Classification

• Technology area (CPC —): General

Abstract

A method and corresponding system for communicating between stations in a network are presented. The method includes providing repeated beacon transmissions from a coordinator station for coordinating transmissions among a plurality of the stations; transmitting from a first station to a second station during a time slot assigned to the first station by at least one of the beacon transmissions; and transmitting from the first station information that grants permission to the second station to transmit during at least a portion of a time slot assigned to the first station.