Patent ID: 7969921

Claim:
A method of wireless communication over a channel, comprising: determining if one or more data blocks pending transmission in a current transmission opportunity period over the channel will expire before the start of another transmission opportunity period by determining if for a pending Media Access Control Service Data Unit (MSDU) block, an expiry time representing the difference between a MSDU expiry timer and the time to transmit the MSDU, is greater than the time required for obtaining another transmission opportunity period, wherein the time required for obtaining another transmission opportunity period includes time durations for: the sender waiting for a short interframe space duration period, then the sender sending a clear-to-send message to self (CTS-to-self), and then the sender waiting for another interframe space duration period before transmission in the obtained transmission opportunity period can begin; and if a data block will expire before the start of another transmission opportunity period, then extending the current transmission opportunity period by an extension period for transmitting the expiring data block during the extension period at a same data rate or at a reduced data rate, as that of an immediate previous transmission opportunity period.