Patent ID: 7489650

Claim:
A method for protecting packet transmissions by a multi-mode wireless communication station operating in a wireless network, the multi-mode wireless communication station configurable to transmit using either orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) modulation or direct sequence spread spectrum/complementary code keying (DSSS/CCK) modulation, the method comprising: collecting information to identify a legacy communication station currently operating in the network; estimating a first time period (T CTS ) to successfully transmit a data packet using the OFDM modulation with request-to-send/clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) protection, estimating a second time period (T RTS ) to successfully transmit the data packet using the OFDM modulation with CTS-to-self protection, and estimating a third time period (T CCK ) to successfully transmit the packet using the DSSS/CCK modulation without protection; and selecting the modulation and protection having the shortest of the time period for transmitting the data packet when a legacy communication station has been identified.