Patent ID: 8660061

Claim:
An access point that provides voice and data communications for use in a wireless local area network having a plurality of mobile units, said access point being configured to: receive signals carrying communications packets directed to particular mobile units; prioritize said communications packets for transmission based on: whether a current packet is a network management packet, a voice communication packet or other communication packet, wherein the network management packet is prioritized higher than the voice communication packet and the voice communication packet is prioritized higher than the other communication packet; the total number of packets that have been transmitted to each mobile unit, wherein the packets are prioritized in order to maintain fair distribution of packets among the mobile units; and the order in which the packets were received by the access point, wherein earlier received packets have higher priority than later received packets; transmit the current packet; and retransmit the current packet if the current packet is not acknowledged on transmission, wherein the current packet is retransmitted a predetermined number of times dependent on the priority of the current packet.