Method of accessing a communication medium

A method of accessing a communication medium of a local area network for isochronous and asynchronous communication between a plurality of communication stations which communicate by way of a base station, comprising the steps of:

• generating uniform timing periods in said base station;
• accessing the medium each period with at least one isochronous packet from the base station With a higher access priority than any asynchronous packets pending at the commencement of each timing period;
• delaying any asynchronous packets in each timing period until the at least one isochronous packet and any isochronous traffic transmitted in response thereto have attempted access to the medium;
• and
• accessing the medium for transmission of the asynchronous packets during the remainder of each timing period,
• wherein one isochronous packet is transmitted from the base station each timing period and the one packet contains all the isochronous communication data which is to be transmitted to the communication stations in that period,
• wherein each communication station having an asynchronous packet to transmit in a timing period receives the one isochronous packet to determine how much isochronous traffic will occur in the period and adjust its access delay accordingly.