The rapid diffusion of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access and the increasing demand for WLAN coverage is driving the installation of a very large number of Access Points (AP). The most common WLAN technology is described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE 802.11 family of industry specifications, such as specifications for IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and IEEE 802.11a. Other wireless technologies are being developed, such as IEEE 802.16 or WiMAX technology, etc.
As an example, a wireless relay network may include a multi-hop system in which end nodes such as mobile stations (MSs) or mobile nodes (MNs) may be coupled to an Access Gateway (AG) (also known as Access Point or Base Station) via one or more relay nodes (RNs) (also known as relay stations (RSs)). Thus, traffic between MNs and the AG may pass through and/or be processed by the RNs. However, such a relay network may typically include multiple hops between an AG and a MN, which may in some cases introduce significant latency or delay for communications.
Techniques are desirable that may decrease latency or delay for wireless networks, such as for multi-hop or relay networks.