Patent ID: 8855088

Claim:
A method for communication from a wireless station according to an IEEE 802.11 standard, the method comprising: at the wireless station: identifying a message that requires a response from another wireless station, the message identified as being a message that the another wireless station will be unable to respond to within a short interframe sequence (SIFS) timeframe from a transmission of the message; generating a media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) including at least a portion of the message; setting a reverse direction grant (RDG)/more physical protocol data unit (PPDU) field in a header of the MPDU to a value indicating that a reverse direction grant has been granted; responsive to identifying the message as being a message that the another wireless station will be unable to respond to within a SIFS timeframe, setting a reverse direction (RD) response time field in the header of the MPDU to a value indicating that no response from the another wireless station is required within a short interframe sequence (SIFS) in order for the another wireless station to preserve the reverse direction grant; transmitting the MPDU to the another wireless station; and after transmitting the MPDU, holding a transmission opportunity (TXOP) or service period (SP) for the another wireless station until a response MPDU is received having a RDG/more PPDU field set to a value of zero.