Patent ID: 8848730

Claim:
In a communication system wherein a plurality of electronic devices connect and disconnect from communication over a medium and wherein the communication system has a protocol such that it is followed by the plurality of electronic devices when using the communication system, a method for device detection wherein a probing device attempts to detect presence of a listening device and parameters associated with a connection to be set up between the probing device and the listening device, comprising: sending, from the probing device, a probe request packet directed to the listening device that also reserves the medium for a medium reservation period, wherein the medium reservation period includes an amount of time following the sending of the probe request packet that is greater than or equal to an amount of time needed to receive a probe response packet and less than an amount of time needed for the probing device to transmit a data packet to the listening device in a data session; sending, from the listening device, the probe response packet in response to the probe request packet, wherein the probe response packet is sent during the medium reservation period; detecting, at the probing device, the existence of the listening device based on the probe response packet; and at a time after detecting the existence of the listening device, initiating a connection between the listening device and the probe device using at least one parameter determined as a result of the detecting.