Patent ID: 8442066

Claim:
A method of communicating data by a second device of a first wireless network which comprises at least a coordinator, a first device, and the second device, the method comprising: receiving a beacon broadcast by the coordinator on a first channel which comprises a first high-rate physical channel and a first low-rate physical channel; switching the first channel to a second channel which comprises a second high-rate physical channel and a second low-rate physical channel; receiving a beacon broadcast by the first device on the second low-rate physical channel in a sub-network established by the first device, wherein the coordinator continues to broadcast a beacon on the first low-rate physical channel in the first wireless network after the sub-network is established on the second channel; and returning to the first channel periodically for a certain period to receive a beacon broadcast by the coordinator and an unreserved region following the beacon broadcast by the coordinator, wherein the second device comes back to the second channel after receiving the beacon and the unreserved region on the first channel to communicate with the first device in the sub-network.