Patent ID: 9320048
Filing Date: 2016-04-19
CPC Classification: H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method, comprising: determining a primary access category for a transmission opportunity (TXOP) to transmit data to a primary wireless communication device, the primary access category being an access category included in a group of access categories that are associated with different transmission priorities, respectively, wherein determining the primary access category comprises determining the TXOP based on a first back-off timer associated with the primary access category; retrieving one or more primary data units belonging to the primary access category to transmit to the primary wireless communication device during the TXOP; determining a secondary access category for the TXOP, the secondary access category being an access category included in the group of access categories, the secondary access category having a transmission priority different from the primary access category, wherein determining the secondary access category comprises (i) determining whether there is an access category having a higher transmission priority than the primary access category and having data ready to send, and (ii) selecting as the secondary access category, the access category with the higher transmission priority; retrieving one or more secondary data units belonging to the secondary access category to transmit to a secondary wireless communication device during the TXOP; transmitting, via two or more antennas, spatially steered streams during the TXOP, the steered streams embodying (i) the one or more primary data units and (ii) the one or more secondary data units, wherein the steered streams concurrently provide separate data to respective devices comprising the primary wireless communication device and the secondary wireless communication device; controlling a second back-off timer associated with the secondary access category, wherein the second back-off timer is not penalized for a communication failure associated with the primary access category during the TXOP; and controlling a contention window associated with the secondary access category, wherein the contention window is not penalized in response to a communication failure associated with the secondary access category during the TXOP, wherein the second back-off timer is not penalized for the communication failure associated with the secondary access category during the TXOP.