Patent ID: 7724766
Filing Date: 2010-05-25
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A data communication system comprising: an access point; and a plurality of stations each for receiving polling messages transmitted from the access point and for transmitting response messages to the access point, said polling messages and said response messages being wireless data communication messages; wherein at least some of said polling messages are in a format that includes at least one message header and a plurality of data units, each of said data units including a respective data unit header and a respective data frame, each data unit header identifying a respective one of the stations as a recipient station to receive the respective data frame of the data unit, and wherein said message header in said format of said at least some polling messages identifies the same recipient station that is identified by the respective data unit header of a first one of said data units; and wherein the access point polls the stations and the stations transmit response messages to the access point only in response to being polled by the access point; wherein: the recipient station identified by the respective data unit header included in the first one of said data units of one of said polling messages that is sent by the access point receives said one of said polling messages and acknowledges receipt of the respective data frame included in said first one of the data units, said recipient station identified by the respective data unit header in the first one of said data units and also being identified by the message header of said one of said polling messages; and a second recipient station identified by the respective data unit header included in a second one of said data units in said one of said polling messages receives said one of said polling messages that was sent by the access point and received by said recipient station identified by the respective data unit header included in the first one of said data units, said one of said polling messages including said message header that identifies the recipient station identified by the respective data unit header included in the first one of said data units of said one of said polling messages, and the second recipient station reads said second one of said data units but does not acknowledge receipt of the respective data frame included in said second one of the data units until said second recipient station is polled by a polling message transmitted by said access point and including a message header that identifies said second recipient.