Patent ID: 7352728

Claim:
A method for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes, located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS1) or infrastructure basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN), from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed; (b) broadcasting, by a source node, a management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined in step (a) that said second communication channel is needed, said CSAE including at least a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; (c) switching, at said at least two wireless nodes receiving said management frame including said CSAE, from said first communication channel to said second communication channel within a countdown time corresponding to said channel-switch time, wherein said channel-switch time is specified in microseconds independent of a beacon interval; (d) determining, in a second node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and (e) re-transmitting, in dependence on said determination, said management frame including said CSAE from said second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said management frame including said CSAE.