Patent ID: 8483155

Claim:
A client station comprising: a transceiver module configured to receive a beacon from an access point, wherein the beacon includes information of a first available channel that is not assigned for licensed use in a regulated frequency spectrum and that is available for use at a location of the access point, wherein the first available channel is a television white space channel; an association module configured to associate the client station with the access point via the first available channel in response to the client station being within range of the location of the access point, associate the client station with the access point via the first available channel in response to a distance of the client station from the location of the access point being greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, and associate the client station with the access point via a channel in a 2.4 GHz band or a 5 GHz band in response to the distance of the client station from the location of the access point being less than the predetermined distance; a channel selection module configured to switch a connection of the client station to the access point between (i) the channel in the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band and (ii) the first available channel based on (a) the distance of the client station from the location of the access point, (b) a state of the connection, and (c) a quality of service requirement of the client station; and a convergence module configured to select (i) a first type of data for transmission through the first available channel and (i) a second type of data for transmission through the channel in the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band, route the first type of data to be transmitted from the client station to the access point through the first available channel, route the second type of data to be transmitted from the client station to the access point through the channel in the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band, and combine (i) data received by the client station through the first available channel with (ii) data received by the client station through the channel in the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band.