Patent ID: 7554966

Claim:
A method of operating a transmitter of a communication device for communicating a plurality of data frames using a single access to a shared communication medium in a network comprising communication devices each having a receiver of one of at least a first type and a second type, the method comprising: when the transmitter is communicating to a communication device having a receiver of the first type: (a) transmitting preamble information; (b) after transmitting the preamble information, transmitting a first information portion comprising a representation of a duration of transmission of one of the plurality of data frames; (c) after transmitting the first information portion, transmitting the one of the plurality of data frames; (d) after transmitting the one of the plurality of data frames, generating an inter-frame gap; and (e) repeating (a) through (d) until all of the plurality of data frames have been transmitted; and when the transmitter is communicating to a communication device having a receiver of the second type: (f) transmitting preamble information; (g) after transmitting the preamble information, transmitting a second information portion comprising a representation of a duration of transmission of one of the plurality of data frames; (h) after transmitting the second information portion, transmitting the one of the plurality of data frames; (i) repeating (g) through (h) without use of the shared communication medium by another transmitting entity, until all of the plurality of data frames have been transmitted in an essentially continuous transmission; and (j) after all of the plurality of data frames have been transmitted, generating an inter-frame gap.