Patent ID: 7715350

Claim:
A WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) interactive device, the device comprising: a classifier; a gain control functional block; a plurality of PHY (physical layer) receivers wherein each PHY receiver of the plurality of PHY receivers is communicatively coupled to the classifier; and wherein: the device receives a frame of data; each PHY receiver of the plurality of PHY receivers performs pre-processing of the received frame to calculate a confidence level indicating whether the received frame is intended for that PHY receiver; each PHY receiver of the plurality of PHY receivers that calculates a confidence level that is equal to or exceeds a threshold that corresponds to that PHY receiver asserts a claim to the classifier; when 2 or more PHY receivers of the plurality of PHY receivers assert claims to the classifier, the classifier arbitrates the claims and designates 1 of the 2 or more PHY receivers as being an intended PHY receiver; when only 1 PHY receiver of the plurality of PHY receivers asserts a claim to the classifier, the classifier designates that 1 PHY receiver as being the intended PHY receiver; the classifier asserts a PHY select signal to the intended PHY receiver; the intended PHY receiver processes the received frame; the intended PHY receiver asserts a PHY done signal to the classifier after the intended PHY receiver finishes processing the received frame; the gain control functional block performs scaling of the received frame using a first gain when each PHY receiver of the plurality of PHY receivers performs pre-processing of the received frame; the gain control functional block performs scaling of the received frame using a second gain when the intended PHY receiver processes the received frame; the first gain performs scaling of the received frame to a range that is appropriate for a majority of the PHY receivers; and the second gain performs scaling of the received frame to a range that is appropriate for the intended PHY receiver.