Patent ID: 8064371

Claim:
A radio communication apparatus that can receive radio waves from a first radio communication apparatus and a second radio communication apparatus and performs radio communication with the first radio communication apparatus via plural radio channels, the first radio communication apparatus and the second radio communication apparatus being unable to detect the radio waves transmitted by the radio communication apparatuses to each other, the radio communication apparatus characterized by comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive, through at least one or more radio channels among the plural radio channels, a first signal transmitted from the first radio communication apparatus via each of the plural radio channels; a carrier sense unit configured to detect, for each of the plural radio channels used for the transmission of the first signal, a radio wave transmitted from another radio communication apparatus; a selecting unit configured to select, when the radio wave transmitted from the second radio communication apparatus is detected by the carrier sense unit, a radio channel other than the plural radio channels used for the transmission of the first signal, which are the radio channels in which the radio wave transmitted from the second radio communication apparatus is detected; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit a response signal for the first signal to the first radio communication apparatus via the radio channel selected by the selecting unit, wherein channel identifiers indicating the plural radio channels used for the transmission of the first signal by the first radio communication apparatus are included in the first signal, and the carrier sense unit detects, for each of the plural radio channels designated by the channel identifiers, a radio wave transmitted from the second radio communication apparatus or the other radio communication apparatus.