Patent ID: 7570972

Claim:
A wireless network system having an access point (AP) station and a first client station communicating over a selectable channel, the first client station comprising: a memory; a plurality of wireless parameters corresponding to a plurality of wireless modes of operation of the first client station, wherein the plurality of wireless parameters comprise a plurality of infrastructure parameters that correspond to an infrastructure mode and a plurality of ad-hoc parameters that correspond to an ad-hoc mode; and a control device that is operable to switch the wireless mode of operation of the first client station in response to a request, wherein in response to a request to switch the wireless mode of operation from the infrastructure mode to the ad-hoc mode, the control device stores a current set of the plurality of infrastructure parameters in the memory, retrieves an initial set of the plurality of ad-hoc parameters from the memory, loads the initial set of ad-hoc parameters, and switches the wireless mode of operation of the first client station to the ad-hoc mode, wherein in response to a request to switch the wireless mode of operation from the ad-hoc mode to the infrastructure mode, the control device loads the current set of the plurality of infrastructure parameters stored in the memory and switches the wireless mode of operation of the first client station to the infrastructure mode and wherein operation in the infrastructure mode enables wireless communication between the AP and the first client station using the selectable channel and operation in the ad-hoc mode enables a direct wireless communication between the first client station and a second client station using the selectable channel.