Patent ID: 7876717

Claim:
A method for facilitating simultaneous Power Line Communication (PLC) communication using first and second PLC protocols that are different from each other, comprising: dynamically assigning frequency bands on demand to first and second PLC home networks using the respective first and second PLC protocols; assigning a first frequency band to a receiver in the first PLC home network, wherein the receiver can communicate with both a first and a second transmitter; determining whether the first transmitter in the first PLC home network is too distant from the second transmitter in the first PLC home network to communicate therewith; determining whether the receiver can respond to a tone map request from the first transmitter; in response to determining that: the first transmitter in the first PLC home network is too distant from the second transmitter in the first PLC home network and the receiver cannot respond to the tone map request from the first transmitter because a conflict occurs with the second transmitter, and further responsive to a determination that the first transmitter fails to receive a response from the receiver after a predetermined time period, the fist transmitter relinquishing the first frequency band and attempting a tone map exchange with the receiver on a second frequency band, the second frequency band having a lower frequency than the first frequency band that was attempted to be used by the first transmitter, the second frequency band including at least first and second sub-bands that are not consecutive in a frequency spectrum such that a portion of the frequency spectrum between the first and second sub-bands is notched.