Patent ID: 8031711

Claim:
A method for conducting communications over a shared communication medium involving a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: (a) sending a symbol-level request for assignment of a scheduled transmission segment for a data transmission, the symbol-level request sent from a first node in the plurality of nodes, the shared communication medium organized to include a request signal space and a scheduled transmission signal space, the request signal space including a plurality of request segments each having a different location within the request signal space, the scheduled transmission signal space including a plurality of scheduled transmission segments each having a different location within the scheduled transmission signal space, the symbol-level request sent in a request segment that is one of the plurality of request segments; (b) at the first node, making the assignment associating the symbol-level request with the scheduled transmission segment selected from the plurality of scheduled transmission segments, the assignment made locally at the first node in response to the symbol-level request and one or more other symbol-level requests detected at the first node, the one or more other symbol-level requests sent from one or more nodes in the plurality of nodes, the assignment taking into account location of the symbol-level request within the request signal space; and (c) from the first node, sending the data transmission in the scheduled transmission segment associated with the symbol-level request in accordance with the assignment, wherein the plurality of nodes comprises a mixture of nodes operating under different assignment modes, the mixture of nodes comprising: a node operating under a first assignment mode, wherein the node obtains an assignment made remotely at another node in response to one or more symbol-level requests received at the other node; a node operating under a second assignment mode, wherein the node makes an assignment locally in response to one or more symbol-level requests detected at the node operating under the second assignment mode, without taking into account information communicated from the other node; and a node operating under a third assignment mode, wherein the node makes an assignment locally in response to one or more symbol-level requests detected at the node operating under the third assignment mode, taking into account information communicated from the other node.