Patent ID: 8565084

Claim:
A method comprising: setting a wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement message threshold based on an average fade duration over a frame time; receiving a number of wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement messages at a device over a given period; comparing, at the device, the number of wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement messages to the wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement message threshold; requesting a higher data rate if the number of wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement messages is below the wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement message threshold; and requesting a lower data rate if the number of wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement messages is above the wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement message threshold, wherein the wireless network layer two negative acknowledgement message threshold, M, is set based on: M=Ave_fade_duration/frame_time, where Ave_fade_duration is an average signal fade duration comprising an average time that a signal envelope stays below a target level, and where frame_time is a length of time for wireless network frames.