Patent ID: 7773577

Claim:
A wireless communication method comprising: at a media access controller of all stations in a communication system, detecting, in a received signal, an indication of whether or not a response is expected or whether or not there is an intent to continue and transmitting a detecting result to each station; at a station receiving, in a received signal, the detecting result indicating a response is expected or there is an intent to continue, interpreting a first idle time slot subsequent to the received signal as being a time that is reserved for a signaled response/continuation, interpreting a second idle time slot subsequent to the received signal as being reserved for a network controller to gain a prioritized medium access, and interpreting a third idle time slot subsequent to the received signal as being a minimum time a station waiting to initiate a transmission on a medium must wait before commencing a backoff procedure or initiating a transmission, and responding to and continuing communicating with the media access controller in the first idle time slot; and at a station receiving, within a received signal, the detecting result indicating a response is not expected or there is no intent to continue, redefining an interpretation of an inter-frame space to omit a time slot for responding to and continuing communicating with the media access controller, interpreting a first idle time slot subsequent to the received signal as being reserved for the network controller to gain a prioritized medium access, and interpreting a second idle time slot subsequent to the received signal as being a minimum time a station waiting to initiate a transmission on a medium must wait before commencing a backoff procedure or initiating a transmission.