Patent ID: 9591650
Date: 2017-03-07
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A communication method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) comprising: determining, by a communications apparatus, a first channel and a second channel of the WLAN such that stations in the WLAN see the first and second channels as first and second local area networks, respectively, where a bandwidth of the WLAN is divided between the first and second channels such that the first local area network includes the first channel as a primary channel and the second channel as a secondary channel; sending, by the communications apparatus, a first beacon frame using all or a part of a bandwidth of the first channel, wherein the first beacon frame comprises system information of the first local area network describing protocol information for communications over the first local area network, wherein (a) when the first and second channels have a bandwidth of 40 MHz, the system information of the first local area network comprises information indicating that the first local area network is an 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of 80 MHz and the second channel is a 40 MHz secondary channel of the 802.11ac WLAN and (b) when the first and second channels have a bandwidth of 80 MHz, the system information comprises information indicating that the first local area network is an 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of 160 MHz and the second channel is an 80 MHz secondary channel of the 802.11ac WLAN; sending, by the communications apparatus, a second beacon frame using all or a part of a bandwidth of the second channel, wherein the second beacon frame comprises system information of the second local area network describing protocol information for communications over the second local area network, wherein (a) when the first and second channels have a bandwidth of 40 MHz the system information of the second local area network comprises at least one of the following: (i) information indicating that the second local area network is an 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n or 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of 20 MHz, and (ii) information indicating that the second local area network is an 802.11n or 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of the second channel 40 MHz; and (b) when the first and second channels have a bandwidth of 80 MHz, the system information of the second local area network comprises at least one of the following: (i) information indicating that the second local area network is an 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n or 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of 20 MHz, (ii) information indicating that the second local area network is an 802.11n or 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of the second channel 40 MHz, and (iii) information indicating that the second local area network is an 802.11ac WLAN with a system bandwidth of the second channel 80 MHz; and coordinating, by the communications apparatus, communications over the first and second local area networks to prevent interference between the channels and to provide a bandwidth of both the first and second channels to the first local area network depending on circumstances of communications over the first and second local area networks.