Abstract: A method in a communication system including an access point and a plurality of stations, includes: selecting, at the access point, a quasi-omni-directional beam for use in transmitting and receiving control frames to and from the stations; selecting, at each station, one of a plurality of directional beams for use in transmitting and receiving control frames to and from the access point; at each of the stations, pausing transmission of Request To Send (RTS) control frames responsive to detecting (i) a RTS control frame from the access point to any one of the stations, or (ii) a Clear to Send (CTS) control frame from the access point to any one of the stations; wherein pausing transmission of RTS control frames is for a duration of time provided in the detected RTS control frame or CTS frame.

Abstract: A computing system for recovery of lost access points in a distributed wireless local area network, including: (a) a host controller, (b) a plurality of access point, and (c) a plurality of stations. When setting up the network, the host controller is configured to register the plurality of access points, instruct the access points to send beacons to the plurality of stations, and perform a handshake to generate a unique encryption key for each of the plurality of stations. When the host controller detects that a physical access point has been lost and then recovered, it can optionally perform a handshake to generate a new encryption key and transmit this new encryption key to the other access points in the network before data communication commences to any of the stations through the recovered physical access point.

Abstract: A method in a wireless access point (AP) having an antenna controllable to transmit and receive using a set of AP sectors, includes: transmitting a plurality of beacon instances using each of the AP sectors, each beacon instance associated rotation schedule data defining a plurality of listening time slots corresponding to respective AP sectors; activating a rotating listening mode using the AP sectors in sequence according to the rotation schedule data; in response to detecting a sector sweep initiation message from a client device using an active one of the AP sectors, communicating with the client device to select an AP sector to use in establishing a link with the client device.

Abstract: A method in a wireless access point (AP) for controlling medium access includes: transmitting a beacon frame defining (i) a beacon header interval (BHI), and (ii) a data transmission interval (DTI) divided into a predetermined number of scheduled periods, each scheduled period containing a set of uplink allocation request sub-periods; sending, to a client device, an uplink allocation request assignment indicating an assigned uplink allocation request sub-period from the set, that corresponds to the client device; during a current one of the scheduled periods, receiving an uplink allocation request from the client device during the assigned uplink allocation request sub-period; determining an uplink allocation sub-period for the client device based on the uplink allocation request; and during a next one of the scheduled periods, sending an indication of the uplink allocation sub-period to the client device.

Abstract: A method in a wireless access point (AP) for controlling medium access includes: transmitting a beacon frame defining (i) a beacon header interval (BHI), and (ii) a data transmission interval (DTI) divided into a predetermined number of scheduled periods, each scheduled period containing a set of uplink allocation request sub-periods; sending, to a client device, an uplink allocation request assignment indicating an assigned uplink allocation request sub-period from the set, that corresponds to the client device; during a current one of the scheduled periods, receiving an uplink allocation request from the client device during the assigned uplink allocation request sub-period; determining an uplink allocation sub-period for the client device based on the uplink allocation request; and during a next one of the scheduled periods, sending an indication of the uplink allocation sub-period to the client device.

Abstract: A method in a wireless access point (AP) having an antenna controllable to transmit and receive using a set of AP sectors, includes: transmitting a plurality of beacon instances using each of the AP sectors, each beacon instance associated rotation schedule data defining a plurality of listening time slots corresponding to respective AP sectors; activating a rotating listening mode using the AP sectors in sequence according to the rotation schedule data; in response to detecting a sector sweep initiation message from a client device using an active one of the AP sectors, communicating with the client device to select an AP sector to use in establishing a link with the client device.