Patent ID: 7330472

Claim:
A method for maintaining a hybrid coordinator (HG) in a wireless communications local area network (LAN), the method comprising: a first station (STA) seeking a guaranteed quality of service (QoS) by sending a probe messages to a first AP requesting the identity of an HC and communicating its eligibility for performing an HC task; establishing a first basic service set (BSS) through association with a first access point (AP); the first AP selecting the first HC from STAs in the first BSS as follows: the first AP sending a response to the first STA with the identity of the first HC; and, if there is no first HC, selecting a first HC; the first AP broadcasting the first HC information selected from a group consisting of media access control (MAC) address and capabilities, to STAs in the first BBS; the first HC maintaining a QoS table including information selected from a group consisting of STA streams being managed, STAs receiving QoS, QoS parameters, and transmit queue state; and, the first STA initiating a transmission specification (TSPEC) with the first HC wherein the first AP selecting the first HC from STAs in the first BSS includes intergrating the HC function into the first AP wherein establishing the first BSS with the first AP includes: the first STA being unable to communicate with an established AP; and, the first STA issuing a MAC layer Management Entity START (MLME-STARt) primitive, instantiating a first BSS with itself as the first AP.