Transmitter and receiver for multiple channel operation

1 . A device for transmitting data to a receiver in a wireless local area network communication system, said device comprising circuitry including a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to:

determine a candidate channel list including at least one channel available for transmission at the transmitter;

transmit a request packet including said candidate channel list, a plurality of receiver addresses, and a request to transmit a data packet;

receive at least one response packet via at least one selected channel included in the candidate channel list from at least one receiver in response to the request packet, said at least one selected channel being available for reception at the at least one receiver; and

transmit the data packet to the receiver via the at least one selected channel after receiving the response packet, wherein

the request packet further includes a unique code corresponding to the receiver, the unique code determined according to orthogonalization coding; and

the circuitry is configured to identify the receiver from which a response packet is received via at least one selected channel included in the candidate channel list in response to the request packet based on the unique code which is applied to the response packet, and

the at least one selected channel is a combined channel corresponding to a combination of at least two non-contiguous channels of the selected channels.

2 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the request packet via a channel in the candidate channel list.

3 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the request packet via all channels in the candidate channel list.

4 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit to said identified receiver a data packet intended for said identified receiver via the at least one selected channel included in the candidate channel list.

5 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the processor is configured to transmit and receive packets in compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standard; and/or

the at least one channel in the candidate channel list is determined based on the channels as specified by the IEEE 802.11 standard.

6 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit a data packet to a plurality of receivers via a channel being available for reception at each receiver of the plurality of receivers.

7 . A device for receiving data from a transmitter in a wireless local area network communication system, said device comprising circuitry including a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to:

receive a request packet including a candidate channel list including at least one channel available for transmission at the transmitter, a plurality of receiver addresses, and a request to transmit a data packet;

select from the candidate channel list at least one selected channel being available for reception at the receiver; and

transmit a response packet via the at least one selected channel to the transmitter in response to the request packet; and

receive the data packet from the transmitter via the at least one selected channel after transmitting the response packet, wherein

the request packet further includes a unique code corresponding to the receiver, the unique code determined according to orthogonalization coding;

the circuitry is configured to apply the unique code to the response packet prior to transmitting the response packet; and

the at least one selected channel is a combined channel corresponding to a combination of at least two non-contiguous channels of the selected channels.

8 . The device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the processor circuitry is configured to receive the request packet via a channel in the candidate channel list.

9 . The device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the processor circuitry is configured to receive the request packet via all channels in the candidate channel list.

10 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the request packet is a request-to-send (RTS) packet.

11 . The device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the RTS packet includes a plurality of receiver addresses.

12 . The device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the RTS packet further includes an expected transmission time for the data packet.

13 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor determines the candidate channel list based on power density measurements on all available channels.

14 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the candidate channel list identifies the at least one channel via a channel identifier.

15 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one selected channel from the candidate channel list through which the at least one response packet is received is different than a channel through which the request packet is transmitted.

16 . The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the response packet is received via more than one channel of the candidate channel list.

17 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the request packet further includes a transmitter address.