Method and apparatus preventing plurality of stations in wlan from colliding with each other when attempting to access medium

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for performing a method of preventing a plurality of stations in a wireless local area network (WLAN) from colliding with each other when attempting to access a medium, the method comprising:

• determining transmission capabilities of the plurality of stations in the WLAN;
• arranging a frame of a station to prevent the plurality of stations from colliding with each other when attempting to access the medium according to a result of the determining the transmission capabilities;
• and
• transmitting the arranged frame to be used in the WLAN to the other stations,
• wherein, if the result of the determining the transmission capabilities of the plurality of stations indicates that at least one high throughput (HT) station and at least one legacy station coexist in the WLAN or that at least two HT stations using channel bandwidths which are different from each other coexist in the WLAN, the arranging the frame comprises determining that a data frame which has an HT format should contain time information in a physical layer (PHY) header which is in the data frame and has a legacy format, wherein the time information indicates how long the plurality of stations, other than a sending station transmitting the data frame and a destination station receiving the transmitted data frame, must wait and refrain from attempting to access the medium.

An apparatus for preventing a plurality of stations in a wireless local area network (WLAN) from colliding with each other when attempting to access a medium, the apparatus comprising:

• a determination unit which determines transmission capabilities of the plurality of stations in the WLAN;
• a decision unit which arranges a frame of a station to prevent the plurality of stations from colliding with each other when attempting to access the medium according to a result of the determination performed by the determination unit;
• and
• a transmission unit which transmits the arranged frame to be used in the WLAN to the other stations,
• wherein, if the result of the determination performed by the determination unit indicates that at least one high throughput (HT) station and at least one legacy station coexist in the WLAN or that at least two HT stations using channel bandwidths which are different from each other coexist in the WLAN, the decision unit determines that a data frame which has an HT format should contain time information in a physical layer (PHY) header which is in the data frame and has a legacy format, wherein time information indicates how long the plurality of stations, other than a sending station transmitting the data frame and a destination station receiving the transmitted data frame, must wait and refrain from attempting to access the medium.