Patent ID: 8081996

Claim:
A wireless communications method, comprising: providing a wireless network comprising a plurality of sensors that communicate with said wireless network at a particular operating frequency hopping spectrum through at least one infrastructure node associated with said wireless network, said wireless network further comprising 802.11 slots and non-802.11 slots; establishing an integrated auxiliary wireless communications network comprising a plurality of wireless communications stations that communicate with said at least one infrastructure node; transmitting an unsolicited CTS signal at an end of a time period from said at least one infrastructure node; varying a power level of a transmission from said at least one infrastructure node; and modifying said at least one infrastructure node to additionally function as a wireless access point for said auxiliary wireless communications network, permitting said wireless network to coexist and accommodate said auxiliary wireless communications network, wherein modifying said infrastructure node comprises: freezing transmission during said non-802.11 slots; rejecting a Request to Send (RTS) if successive data transmissions are not accomplished before said 802.11 slot ends; setting a timer for the end of said 802.11 slot and the start of a next 802.11 slot among said 802.11 slots; and sending a beacon during said 802.11 slots utilizing a counting beacon timer.