Patent ID: 6950404

Claim:
A duty cycle management method for limiting the transmission duty cycle of a transmitter of a wireless device whereby said transmitter transmits packets in the form of individual packets and/or packet bursts, said packet bursts comprising a predetermined maximum number of contiguous packets, said transmitter being operable over a duration measurable as a series of time windows whereby each said time window comprises a predetermined number of timeslots with each timeslot having a predetermined nominal duration, said transmitter being configured for transmitting a packet during one said timeslot and having an associated predetermined duty cycle limit for said transmitted packets, said method comprising limiting the number of packets transmitted during each time period defined by one time window or adjacent time windows, on a sliding basis, so as to limit the duty cycle of transmissions during successive adjacent time windows to said predetermined duty cycle limit, whereby the transmission of packets is delayed as needed to establish sufficient idle period(s) during said one time window or adjacent time windows to maintain said duty cycle within said duty cycle limit.