Patent ID: 8238925

Claim:
A hybrid access method, comprising: determining a load for a wireless channel; operating a wireless transceiver in a first mode while the load is less than a predetermined threshold, wherein while operating in the first mode, the wireless transceiver alternates between a power save state and an active state, and upon exiting the power save state and entering the active state, the wireless transceiver employs a first channel access protocol for sending a first uplink frame; operating the wireless transceiver in a second mode while the load is greater than the predetermined threshold, wherein while operating in the second mode the wireless transceiver remains in the active state and does not enter the power save state, wherein the wireless transceiver employs a second channel access protocol for sending a second uplink frame; and sending a reverse poll to an access point to solicit a downlink frame while operating in the first mode; wherein the first channel access protocol is a contention based protocol wherein the first uplink frame is sent after waiting for a predetermined time; and wherein the second channel access is a contention controlled protocol wherein the second uplink frame is sent responsive to receiving a downlink poll; wherein at least one uplink frame sent in the first mode is an isochronous voice frame; and wherein at least one uplink frame sent in the second mode is an isochronous voice frame.