Patent ID: 7554999

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: N queues to store MAC service data units (MSDUs), where N is an integer and each of the N queues is configured to store MSDUs of a respective access category, wherein N equals a number of access categories supported by the apparatus; a mapper coupled to the N queues to map and store MSDUs into the N queues; one or more enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) control units coupled to n 1 of the N queues to access one or more channels for the MSDUs stored in the n 1 queue(s), for transmission in accordance with an EDCA transmission protocol, where n 1 is an integer smaller or equal to N; and one or more hybrid coordination function (HCF) controlled channel access (HCCA) control units coupled to n 2 of N queues to access one or more channels for the MSDUs stored in the n 2 queue(s), for transmission in accordance with an HCCA transmission protocol, where n 2 is equal to N, and at least a first of the N queues is a member of the n 1 queue(s), as well as a member of the n 2 queue(s).