Wireless Communication Apparatus

1. A wireless communication apparatus supporting a first wireless communication scheme and a second wireless communication scheme, wherein minimum reception sensitivity levels of physical schemes of the first wireless communication scheme and the second wireless communication scheme are equal to a first level, the apparatus comprising: a management information base which holds an attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme; a first processing unit configured to (a) when a FALSE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, set a first power value for a maximum transmission power and set the first level for a carrier sense level and (b) when a TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, set a second power value lower than the first power value for the maximum transmission power and set a second level higher than the first level for the carrier sense level; a second processing unit configured to carry out carrier sense using the carrier sense level; and a third processing unit configured to control transmission and reception of a frame via the second processing unit, wherein: the third processing unit, upon receiving an instruction to start formation of a wireless communication group from the first processing unit, and when the TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, generates at least one of a beacon frame and a probe response frame both including a frame body which carries information indicating that an attribute of the wireless communication group is the second wireless communication scheme, and a communication range of the second wireless communication scheme is narrower than a communication range of the first wireless communication scheme.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: the second processing unit decodes a reception signal and passes information on the reception signal to the third processing unit when the reception level is equal to or greater than the carrier sense level, and avoids decoding the reception signal when the reception level is less than the carrier sense level, and the third processing unit passes information on a transmission signal to the second processing unit when the reception level is less than the carrier sense level.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the third processing unit excludes a period for another wireless communication apparatus using the first wireless communication scheme to transmit a data frame, from a schedule within a beacon interval, when the TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first processing unit sets a contention parameter specifying a contention window narrower than a contention window for the first wireless communication scheme when the TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first processing unit ignores a network identifier included in the reception signal information when the TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first processing unit, upon determining to join to a wireless communication group having the attribute for the second wireless communication scheme, rewrites the value of the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme to TRUE, sets the second power value for the maximum transmission power, and sets the second level for the carrier sense level.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: the third processing unit, upon receiving a search instruction for a wireless communication group from the first processing unit, collects at least one of a beacon frame and a probe request frame, and notifies the first processing unit of information on the collected frame, and the first processing unit determines whether or not the apparatus can join the wireless communication group when the collected frame by the third processing unit carries information indicating that the attribute of the wireless communication group is the second wireless communication scheme.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the third processing unit, upon receiving a search instruction for a wireless communication group from the first processing unit, collects at least one of a beacon frame and a probe request frame, and notifies the first processing unit of information on the collected frame and a reception level of the collected frame.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an antenna which transmits and receives the frame.

10. A wireless communication method performed by a wireless communication apparatus supporting a first wireless communication scheme and a second wireless communication scheme, wherein minimum reception sensitivity levels of physical schemes of the first wireless communication scheme and the second wireless communication scheme are equal to a first level, and wherein the method comprises: setting, by a first processing unit, a first power value for a maximum transmission power and setting the first level for a carrier sense level when a FALSE value is set for an attribute held by a management information base, the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme; setting, by the first processing unit, a second power value lower than the first power value for the maximum transmission power and setting a second level higher than the first level for the carrier sense level when a TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme; carrying out, by a second processing unit, carrier sense using the carrier sense level; controlling, by a third processing unit, transmission and reception of a frame via the second processing unit; and upon receiving an instruction to start formation of a wireless communication group from the first processing unit, and when the TRUE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, generating, by the third processing unit, at least one of a beacon frame and a probe response frame both including a frame body which carries information indicating that an attribute of the wireless communication group is the second wireless communication scheme, wherein a communication range of the second wireless communication scheme is narrower than a communication range of the first wireless communication scheme.

11. A wireless communication apparatus supporting a first wireless communication scheme and a second wireless communication scheme, wherein the first wireless communication scheme uses a first set of modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) and the second wireless communication scheme uses a second set of MCSs, the apparatus comprising: a first processing unit configured to set a maximum transmission power and a carrier sense level; a second processing unit configured to carry out carrier sense using the carrier sense level; and a third processing unit configured to control transmission and reception of a frame via the second processing unit, wherein: the second set of MCSs corresponds to a part of the first set of MCSs, a common minimum reception sensitivity level is specified for each of the second set of MCSs and corresponding ones of the first set of MCSs, the first processing unit sets a second level higher than a first level for the carrier sense level and sets a second power value lower than a first power value for the maximum transmission power, when the second wireless communication scheme is used, the first level corresponds to a lowest level among minimum reception sensitivity levels specified for the second set of MCSs, the third processing unit controls an exchange of data frames using the second wireless communication scheme in a wireless communication group having an attribute for the second wireless communication scheme, and a communication range of the second wireless communication scheme is narrower than a communication range of the first wireless communication scheme.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a management information base which holds an attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, wherein whether or not the second wireless communication scheme is used is determined based on the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein: the first wireless communication scheme is used when a FALSE value is set for the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, the first processing unit sets the first power value for the maximum transmission power and sets a third level for the carrier sense level, when the first wireless communication scheme is used, and the third level corresponds to the lowest level among the minimum reception sensitivity levels specified for the first set of MCSs.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the attribute indicating whether or not the apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme is written to a TRUE value when the apparatus joins to the wireless communication group having the attribute for the second wireless communication scheme.

15. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein when the apparatus forms a wireless communication group based on the second wireless communication scheme, a management frame carries information indicating that an attribute of the wireless communication group is the second wireless communication scheme.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein when an association request frame from another wireless communication apparatus does not carry information indicating that the other apparatus operates in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme, a status code in an association frame corresponding to the association request frame describes a reason of rejection that the other apparatus does not operate in accordance with the second wireless communication scheme.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein: when the apparatus forms a wireless communication group based on the second wireless communication scheme, a code that is not actually indicating an MCS is defined as an MCS essential for reception in the wireless communication group, and the code is included in a field indicating an attribute of the wireless communication group in a management frame.

18. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein: the first set of MCSs includes an MCS corresponding to a first physical (PHY) scheme and an MCS corresponding to a second PHY scheme, the second set of MCSs does not include the MCS corresponding to the first PHY scheme and includes the MCS corresponding to the second PHY scheme, and a third level corresponding to the lowest level among the minimum reception sensitivity levels specified for the first set of MCSs is equal to one of minimum reception sensitivity levels specified for the first PHY scheme.

19. The apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising an antenna which transmits and receives the frame.

20. A wireless communication method performed by a wireless communication apparatus supporting a first wireless communication scheme and a second wireless communication scheme, wherein the first wireless communication scheme uses a first set of modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) and the second wireless communication scheme uses a second set of MCSs, and wherein the method comprises: setting, by a first processing unit, a maximum transmission power and a carrier sense level; carrying out, by a second processing unit, carrier sense using the carrier sense level; and controlling, by a third processing unit, transmission and reception of a frame via the second processing unit, wherein: the second set of MCSs corresponds to a part of the first set of MCSs, a common minimum reception sensitivity level is specified for each of the second set of MCSs and corresponding ones of the first set of MCSs, the first processing unit sets a second level higher than a first level for the carrier sense level and sets a second power value lower than a first power value for the maximum transmission power, when the second wireless communication scheme is used, the first level corresponds to a lowest level among minimum reception sensitivity levels specified for the second set of MCSs, the third processing unit controls an exchange of data frames using the second wireless communication scheme in a wireless communication group having an attribute for the second wireless communication scheme, and a communication range of the second wireless communication scheme is narrower than a communication range of the first wireless communication scheme.