Patent ID: 7733766

Claim:
A method for responding to congestion in a wireless communication network, the wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes and at least one access point operating to provide at least one of the nodes with access to another network, the method comprising: operating an access point to: evaluate an amount of traffic that the access point is receiving and an amount of traffic that the access point is transmitting; determining whether congestion exists at the access point based on the evaluated amounts of received and transmitted traffic; when the access point determines that congestion exists, operating the access point to determine a source and a reason for the congestion and to transmit a message including the source and the reason for the congestion; and operating those of the nodes that receive the message to: determine whether to adjust their respective transmission rates based on the source and the reason for the congestion included in the message, and transmit another message to one or more other nodes including the source and the reason for the congestion of the access point.