Patent ID: 7916746

Claim:
In a network of stations interconnected by a transmission medium, a method of carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) communication in which a plurality of peer stations desiring to transmit a frame may contend for access to the medium during a contention period, the method characterized by including a contention control field in at least some transmitted frames, the contention control field including contention control information indicating whether the peer stations have permission to contend during a following contention period; having a first peer station establish a contention-free access interval for transmission of a plurality of frames, wherein the contention-free access interval is established by having the first peer station contend for access during a contention period and successfully gain access to the medium, having the first peer station transmit the plurality of frames with contention control information that informs at least some other peer stations that they are not permitted to contend during contention periods within the contention-free access interval; having at least a second peer station that receives the transmitted frames determine from the contention control information whether the second peer station is permitted to contend during a contention period within the contention-free access interval, wherein the first and second peer stations when they contend for access do so using a carrier sense multiple access protocol comprising listening for transmission by other stations.