Patent ID: 7706376
Filing Date: 2010-04-27
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of communicating with mobile stations over an extended range comprising: identifying a mobile station as either a regular range mobile station or an extended range mobile station; and generating a packet to include an extended range header in addition to a regular range header when the mobile station is identified as an extended range mobile station, the packet with the extended range header being destined for the extended range mobile station; refraining from including the extended range header in the packet when the mobile station is identified as a regular range mobile station; and including a start frame delimiter (SFD) in the packet for both a regular range and a standard range mobile station, wherein the extended range header and a data portion of the packet have a lower data rate than packets generated for regular range mobile stations, the packet being encoded in a manner to correspond to higher rates for transmissions to the regular range mobile stations, and wherein the extended range header indicates one of a plurality of extended range data rates of the data portion of the packet following the extended range header.