METHOD AND APPARTUS FOR ALLOCATION OF SHARED SPECTRUM IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

摘要

A method and apparatus for allocation of shared spectrum in a wireless communication system uses a radio frequency (RF) beacon signal that is transmitted between access points of the wireless communication system. The information content of the RF beacon signal includes an identifier of the access point that generated the signal, identifiers of clients of that access point; and identifiers of the communication channels assigned to those clients. The client identifier may include at least part of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the client. Additionally the beacon signal may contain client attributes to enable negotiation of the sharing of available communication channels between access points and clients.