Patent ID: 8767631

Claim:
A method of wireless communication of data via a wireless relay node in a network including one or more relay nodes, comprising: establishing a communication path via the relay node for communication of the data to the relay node and from the relay node; mapping physical layer (PHY) communication mediums to wireless channels; performing multi-channel communication including: selecting one of said wireless channels as an uplink channel for uplink transmission of the data to the relay node; and selecting an alternate one of said wireless channels as a downlink channel for downlink transmission of the data from the relay node, and checking for an available channel that is alternate from downlink channels selected for previous relay nodes in the communication path, wherein the communication path comprises a virtual link path including one or more relay node connections from a sender to a receiver, wherein each relay node selects a downlink channel that is alternate to an uplink channel for transmission of the data to that relay node, and if an alternate channel is unavailable, then selecting a channel as the downlink channel which is least likely to interfere with downlink channels selected for previous relay nodes in the communication path, wherein each relay node receives a current channel number used between the sender or prior relay node in a request from the sender or prior relay node and selects an available downlink channel different from downlink channels selected by the sender or prior relay nodes for all relay nodes in the virtual link path based on comparing the current channel number to channel numbers previously recorded in the request.