Patent ID: 8688978

Claim:
A method comprising: a communication device preparing a plurality of frames, each frame having a header, data, and a plurality of security features; on a frame-by-frame basis, said communication device processing each frame by: determining a frame type of the frame based on a type of transmission being sent in the frame, wherein a policy indicates appropriate security features for said frame type; and including frame type data in said header of the frame, the frame type data indicating, based on said frame type, the type of transmission; wherein said frame type is one of a plurality of predetermined frame types, the plurality of predetermined frame types includes two or more of data-type, command-type, acknowledgement-type, and beacon-type, the header includes a representation of a key and an indication of a security level, said policy indicates an acceptable frame type for said key, and said policy indicates an acceptable frame type for said security level; and said communication device providing the plurality of frames for transmission.