Patent ID: 8325610

Claim:
In a first networked device having capability to enter and exit a power saving mode, a method for controlling access to a communication medium, the method comprising: exiting a sleep state of the power-saving mode; acquiring control of a communication medium in a communication network utilizing a contention-based medium access protocol; transmitting by the first networked device, at least one message to a second networked device, wherein the at least one message comprises information that indicates a request for pass of control of the communication medium from the first networked device to the second networked device; and receiving a plurality of packets by the first networked device from the second networked device, wherein the second networked device is configured to acquire control of the communication medium from the first networked device in response to the request for pass of control without requesting the contention-based medium access protocol to access the communication medium when the first networked device has power saving capability.