Patent ID: 7616655

Claim:
A method comprising: maintaining at a node a first timer, referred to as a Network Allocation Vector Request To Send (NaV_RTS), for a channel which, if set, prevents the node from authorizing a transmission on the channel to itself; maintaining at the node a second timer, referred to as a Network Allocation Vector Clear To Send (NAV_CTS), for the channel which, if set, prevents the node from transmitting on the channel; updating said NAV_RTS when a transmission request, referred to as a Control Channel Request To Send (CC-RTS), frame is received for that channel having a reservation duration value greater than zero and greater than a current value of said NAV_RTS; and updating said NAV_CTS when a transmission response, referred to as a Control Channel Clear To Send (CC-CTS), frame is received for that channel having a reservation duration value greater than zero and greater than a current value of said NAV_CTS, wherein said updating said NAV CTS when a transmission response (CC-CTS) is received for the channel having a reservation duration value greater than zero and greater than a current value of said NAV CTS comprises updating said NAV CTS time period for the CC-CTS reservation duration value.