Patent ID: 7221667

Claim:
A wireless LAN communication system having an infrastructure mode in which stations communicate with each other via an access point and also having an ad-hoc mode in which communication is performed directly between stations located near each other, the wireless LAN communication system comprising: an analyzer monitoring data transmitted from the source station to an access point and addressed, as a final destination, to one's own station in the infrastructure mode, and detecting such data, in the destination station; a controller being informed the above fact from the analyzer, determining that communication with the source station in the ad-hoc mode is possible, and notifying that communication is possible in the ad-hoc mode to the access point under communication, in the destination station; a storage unit temporarily storing the data to prevent the data from being lost, in the destination station or the access point notified that communication is possible in the ad-hoc mode; a searcher selecting and reserving one of available channels for use in communication in the ad-hoc mode, and transmitting a notice indicating the selected channel to the source station of the data, in the destination station or the access point notified that communication is possible in the ad-hoc mode; and each switching controller switching the communication mode into the ad-hoc mode using the selected channel, in the source and destination stations respectively.