US Patent 10128999 Efficient protection of basic service set traffic

Methods, systems, and devices are described for wireless communication. An access point may use a protection mechanism to cause stations to defer from accessing the wireless medium during a quiet duration. During the quiet duration the access point may transmit data packets to stations. After the quiet duration, a contention period may be present to allow stations to monitor the medium to make sure the medium is continuously idle before attempting a transmission. The access point may determine a quiet duration based on a number of data packets pending transmission to at least one station. Furthermore, the access point may transmit data packets to a number of stations during the quiet duration. By determining the quiet duration based on a number of data packets, the access point may reduce the overall number of contention periods which may increase throughput and decrease power consumption.