Patent ID: 8599701

Claim:
A method of managing communication at a wireless access point, comprising: receiving a request from a first access terminal for access to system resources provided from the wireless access point; determining whether the first access terminal is a member of a group or a non-member; determining a level of service from one of a plurality of levels of service for the first access terminal based on whether the first access terminal is a member or a non-member, wherein the respective levels of service for members and non-members are different; determining whether at least one access terminal has an established link to the wireless access point and is a non-member having a respective quality of service (QoS) that can be decreased to accommodate providing access to the first access terminal; and selectively adjusting a QoS of communication between the wireless access point and at least one second access terminal comprising the at least one access terminal based on both at least one value indicative of system resources and whether at least one of the first and at least one second access terminals is a member of a group, wherein a member has priority access to system resources over a non-member.