Patent ID: 7860055

Claim:
A wireless channel determination / selection method for use in an access point device for configuring a wireless local area network (LAN) system with a terminal device, comprising: selecting, sequentially, one of a plurality of wireless channels available for use, and, for each of the selected wireless channels, detecting a reception signal level of the selected wireless channels, determining whether a wireless LAN signal is included in the selected wireless channel, and receiving data transmission/reception state notice information included within a beacon frame provided by another access point device in the selected wireless channel, to indicate a state of data transmission/reception at the another access point device; detecting, from the received data transmission/reception state notice information, a state of a data transmission/reception level of the another access point device for each of the wireless channels; and determining and selecting, based on a process of a processor of the access point device, any of the wireless channels considered optimum for communications through reference to, for each of the wireless channels, the detected reception signal level, a determination result of whether the wireless LAN signal is included, and the detected state of the data transmission/reception level, wherein, in the determining, when any of the wireless channels available for use are detected as not including a wireless LAN signal, one of the wireless channels detected as not including a wireless LAN signal that has a minimum detected reception signal level is determined and selected as being optimum for communications, when all of the wireless channels available for use are detected as including a wireless LAN signal and a single wireless channel having an optimum detected state of the data transmission/reception level exists, the wireless channel having the optimum detected state of the data transmission/reception level is determined and selected as being optimum for communications, and when all of the wireless channels available for use are detected as including a wireless LAN signal and multiple wireless channels exist having an optimum detected state of the data transmission/reception level, one of the wireless channels having the optimum detected state of the data transmission/reception level that has the minimum detected reception signal level is determined and selected as being optimum for communications.