Patent ID: 8626068

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: one or more transceivers operable to communicate in a wireless network by using a low-rate omni directional mode and a high rate directional millimeter wave (mm wave) communications mode with beamformed antennas and a transmission is done using consecutive in time superframes divided into functional periods with the functional period intervals set by a piconet controller (PNC), wherein the wireless network is a wireless personal area network (WPAN) and wherein the WPAN is a piconet that includes a central station, and other station devices (DEVs); wherein one superframe includes the following functional periods: Omni-Beacon Period, Omni-Contention Access Period (Omni-CAP), Directional Beacons Period, Announcement Period, Directional Channel Time Allocation Period (Directional CTAP) and Beamforming Period; wherein when a request is received from a device for a Beamforming Period to perform beamforming training between different DEVs the piconet controller places the Beamforming Period after the Announcement Period or at the end of the superframe after the Directional CTAP; wherein if the Beamforming Period is placed after the Announcement Period then a pair of devices are able to perform the beamforming training and to transmit during the Directional CTAP within the same superframe; wherein if the beamforming period is placed after the Directional CTAP then the Beamforming Period is adjacent to the Omni-Beacon Period or after the Directional Beacon Period.