Patent ID: 8406175

Claim:
A receiving node in a wireless ad hoc network that employs multi-packet reception, the receiving node comprising: a physical layer radio configured to, while in the process of a CSMA communication exchange, decode multiple packets received in overlapping transmissions being transmitted over a wireless transmission medium; an access controller in a media access control (MAC) layer module of the receiving node configured to: receive the decoded multiple packets from the physical layer radio while the receiving node is involved in a targeted communication transaction with a first transmitting node, detect that at least one of the decoded multiple packets is associated with an untargeted communication from one or more second transmitting nodes, and process the at least one or more packets without aborting the targeted communication transaction; and a multi-user detection compliance module (MCM) configured to maintain a plurality of network allocation vector (NAV) entries each comprising a plurality of communication status entries for respective one-hop neighbor nodes of the receiving node, wherein each communication status entry includes a duration, a direction, and a transmit power level associated with a targeted communication in which the one-hop neighbor is involved.