Abstract: A wireless computer system (30) is formed to have a host section (31) and a wireless hardware section (40). A first portion of a transmission frame is formed in system memory (36) of a host section (31) and a second portion of the transmission frame is formed in the wireless hardware section (40). The wireless hardware section (40) begins transmitting the first transmission frame portion while downloading the second transmission frame portion from the system memory (36) into the wireless hardware section (40).

Abstract: A wireless computer system (30) is formed to have a host section (31) and a wireless hardware section (40). A first portion of a transmission frame is formed in system memory (36) of a host section (31) and a second portion of the transmission frame is formed in the wireless hardware section (40). The wireless hardware section (40) begins transmitting the first transmission frame portion while downloading the second transmission frame portion from the system memory (36) into the wireless hardware section (40). Bus latencies are masked by at least overlapping transmitting the first portion of the transmit frame while downloading the second portion.

Abstract: A wireless computer system (30) is formed to have a host section (31) and a wireless hardware section (40). A first portion of a transmission frame is formed in system memory (36) of a host section (31) and a second portion of the transmission frame is formed in the wireless hardware section (40). The wireless hardware section (40) begins transmitting the first transmission frame portion while downloading the second transmission frame portion from the system memory (36) into the wireless hardware section (40).

Abstract: A compact low-power radio frequency (RF) transceiver with a built-in antenna provides wireless communication between a computer and another device. A direct conversion receiver together with a voltage controlled oscillator, phase lock loop circuits, digitally controlled divider circuits and a patch antenna are packaged into a compact enclosure, having dimensions within the PCMCIA format. In some embodiments, the transceiver enters a sleep mode whenever it is idle in order to further conserve power. In other embodiments, a signature detector enables the transceiver to distinguish between noise and valid messages by recognizing a signature word embedded in the data packet.

Abstract: A station in the WLAN monitors each transmitted frame to determine whether the frame transmission was protected by an existing outstanding airtime reservation. If a frame is transmitted without an airtime reservation and no response frame is received, the station assumes that the transmission failed due to contention, and monitors the number of contention attempts made to transmit each frame, and the number of failures to receive an acknowledgement. Based on this information, the station dynamically adjusts an RTS/CTS threshold used to determine whether or not an RTS/CTS exchange mechanism should be enabled. If a frame is transmitted during a time interval protected by an outstanding airtime reservation and no response frame is received, the station assumes that the transmission failed due to a bit error, and monitors the number of bit error rate (BER) attempts made to transmit each frame, and the number of BER failures to receive an acknowledgement.