Importance

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Abstract

The present invention provides a technique for an access point (AP) to maintain a basic service set (BSS) on two or more channels simultaneously by temporarily blocking one BSS and servicing the other BSS while the other BSS is blocked, thereby providing an efficient way to create a dual cell AP with only a single radio. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for servicing a first set of wireless stations operating on a first channel of an access point and a second set of wireless stations operating on a second channel of the access point comprises transmitting, at a first time, a first frame from the access point to the first set of wireless stations via the first channel, the first frame having duration data directing the first set of wireless stations to cease transmitting until a second time represented by the duration data and servicing the second set of wireless stations via the second channel of the access point for at least a part of a time period between the first time and the second time. The method further comprises transmitting, at the second time, a second frame from the access point to the second set of wireless stations via the second channel, the second frame having duration data directing the second set of wireless stations to cease transmitting until a third time represented by the duration data of the second frame and servicing the first set of wireless stations via the first channel of the access point for at least a part of a time period between the second time and the third time. The method also may comprise transmitting a Delivery Transmission Indication Map (DTIM) frame prior to transmitting each of the first and second frames. The transmission of the DTIM frame preferably occurs substantially simultaneously with a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT) of the access point.

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First Claim