Patent ID: 8169933

Claim:
A method of load adjustment in a communications network comprising a plurality of access points, and further comprising a plurality of wireless terminals, wherein a wireless terminal communicates with the network by way of an assigned access point, the method comprising: monitoring access point loading for a plurality of access points; evaluating access point loading across multiple access points to determine whether a loading imbalance exists in the network; and changing a coverage area of an access point to mitigate a determined loading imbalance, wherein changing the coverage of an access point comprises at least one of: adjusting a beam pattern of a first access point so as to at least partially exclude the wireless terminal from the first coverage area; and adjusting a beam pattern of a second access point so as to at least partially include the wireless terminal in the second coverage area, wherein changing the coverage of an access point is performed solely by adjusting a beam pattern and in which no transmit power changes of the access point are made.