Patent ID: 8045575

Claim:
A method of providing access to a network, comprising: detecting, by a network adapter, a collision on the network during transmission of a first frame containing data according to a first type; waiting, by the network adapter, a time delay before retransmitting the first frame; selecting, by the network adapter, the time delay using a first algorithm that generates a random time delay based on a predetermined mean delay, wherein generating the random time delay based on the predetermined mean delay comprises using the predetermined mean delay, by a random number generator, to generate the random time delay, wherein the first algorithm is applied to frames containing data according to the first type; detecting a collision on the network during transmission of a second frame containing a second type of data; and waiting a second time delay before retransmitting the second frame, wherein waiting the second time delay before retransmitting the second frame uses an exponential backoff algorithm that selects the second time delay from a group of delay periods that increases exponentially with a number of collisions.