Patent ID: 7457620

Claim:
A method in a first wireless device, the wireless device including a transmitter and modulator for transmitting, and MAC hardware coupled to the transmitter and modulator, the method comprising: for a particular network identifier of at least one network identifier active in a wireless network that supports at least one network identifier, each network identifier identifying an infrastructure wireless network, each infrastructure wireless network having an access point transmitting beacon frames at a beacon frame rate, transmitting frames (“off-channel beacons”) from the first wireless device, the off-channel beacon frames configured to advertise the infrastructure wireless network of the particular network identifier by including advertising information advertising the infrastructure wireless network, the transmitting of off-channel beacons being in a provided dedicated channel for broadcasting off-channel beacons (“the off-channel-beacon channel”) different than the channel in which the access point of the infrastructure wireless of the particular network identifier transmits beacon frames, the transmitting of off-channel beacons further being at a rate higher than the beacon rate frame at which the access point of the infrastructure wireless of the particular network identifier transmits beacon frames, the advertising information in the off-channel frames including information that indicates the channel or channels where the beacon frames of the advertised infrastructure networks or networks are being transmitted, such that a second wireless device receiving the off-channel beacon can use the information in the off-channel beacon to switch to any of the channels of the infrastructure wireless network or networks advertised in the off-channel beacon and/or to choose whether or not to associate or re-associate with the channel of any infrastructure network advertised in the off-channel beacon, the second wireless device being configured to interpret the information in the off-channel beacon that advertises the one or more infrastructure wireless networks, the method further comprising: dissuading a third wireless device from associating with the first wireless device, wherein the third wireless device is a non off-channel beacon aware client and further wherein dissuading includes the first wireless device sending the third wireless device a disassociation response to any association request received from the third wireless device.