High speed media access control and direct link protocol

A method for communicating on a shared medium, comprising:

• accessing a shared medium with a first station using a contention-based procedure, during a first period, to transmit to a second station;
• accessing the shared medium with a third station in accordance with scheduled access, during a second period, to transmit to a fourth station, wherein the first period corresponds to a first transmission opportunity and the second period corresponds to a second transmission opportunity;
• receiving, at one or more of the first or third stations, a first beacon from an access point prior to the first transmission opportunity;
• and
• receiving, at one or more of the first or third stations, a second beacon from the access point after the second transmission opportunity, wherein the first and second periods occur within a beacon interval between the first and second beacons.

A wireless communication system, comprising:

• a first station configured to access a shared medium using a contention-based procedure, during a first period, to transmit to a second station;
• and
• a third station configured to access the shared medium in accordance with scheduled access, during a second period, to transmit to a fourth station,
• wherein the first period corresponds to a first transmission opportunity and the second period corresponds to a second transmission opportunity,
• wherein one or more of the first or third stations receives a first beacon from an access point prior to the first transmission opportunity,
• wherein one or more of the first or third stations receives a second beacon from the access point after the second transmission opportunity,
• wherein the first and second periods occur within a beacon interval between the first and second beacons.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a wireless communication system, cause the wireless communication system to perform actions, the instructions comprising:

• program code to access a shared medium with a first station using a contention-based procedure, during a first period, to transmit to a second station;
• program code to access the shared medium with a third station in accordance with scheduled access, during a second period, to transmit to a fourth station, wherein the first period corresponds to a first transmission opportunity and the second period corresponds to a second transmission opportunity;
• program code to receive, at one or more of the first or third stations, a first beacon from an access point prior to the first transmission opportunity;
• and
• program code to receive, at one or more of the first or third stations, a second beacon from the access point after the second transmission opportunity, wherein the first and second periods occur within a beacon interval between the first and second beacons.