Patent ID: 8804495

Claim:
A method for execution by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: computing a first backoff start count to perform a first backoff for a first of a plurality of clusters that is a primary cluster employed for all wireless signaling within a carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) communication system that includes the wireless communication device when the primary cluster is detected as being idle; when the first backoff is completed after a countdown from the first backoff start count reaches zero, computing a second backoff start count to perform a second backoff for the plurality of clusters and determining whether the plurality of clusters are idle, wherein the plurality of clusters being a plurality of mappings of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) tones within a corresponding at least one channel among a corresponding at least one frequency band; after completion of the second backoff and when the plurality of clusters is idle, via a communication interface of the wireless communication device, transmitting at least one signal to at least one additional wireless communication device using at least one of the first and a second of the plurality of clusters; and when the first and the second of the plurality of clusters is idle for a predetermined amount of time, via the communication interface of the wireless communication device, transmitting the at least one signal or at least one additional signal to at least one additional wireless communication device using at least one of the first and the second of the plurality of clusters.