Patent ID: 8204509

Claim:
A method of air time management on a channel in a multi-access channel network, in which a master station coordinates communications among a number of subscriber stations sharing the channel and operating, at a physical layer of a connection, according to an adaptive operating mode assigned by the master station, the method comprising: a) allotting a default physical layer operating mode to each terminal station during a planning phase; b) during operation, whenever bandwidth is to be allocated to an uplink or a downlink communication, determining whether the physical layer mode currently used by a subscriber station associated with the communication is less efficient than the default mode of the station; and c1) if the currently used physical layer mode is as efficient as, or more efficient than, the default mode, allotting the communication a time slot with such a duration as to meet the bandwidth need; and c2) if the currently used physical layer mode is less efficient than the default mode, allotting the communication a time slot having a duration that would meet the bandwidth need if the station would operate with the default mode, whereby only a portion of a data burst can be transmitted.