Patent ID: 7570612

Claim:
A wireless network apparatus comprising: a plurality of channel queues each to store packets of data to be transmitted on a respective wireless channel in one of a plurality of frequency bands, wherein at least two of the channel queues correspond to wireless channels in different ones of the frequency bands; a memory to store a channel access time value and a return to channel value for each of the wireless channels; and a controller to select one of the wireless channels according to a channel polling scheme, cause a start beacon packet to be sent to the selected one of the wireless channels, exchange packets of data with the selected one of the wireless channels for an interval specified by the channel access time value for the selected one of the wireless channels, cause a stop beacon packet to be sent to the selected one of the wireless channels at the end of the interval specified by the channel access time value for the selected one of the wireless channels, and cause a further start beacon packet to be sent to the selected one of the wireless channels at the end of an interval specified by the return to channel value for the selected one of the wireless channels.