Method and apparatus for scanning existing networks in TVWS

A method of scanning existing networks at a first station in a communication system, the method comprising:nreceiving, by a first station, a white space map (WSM) comprising information for available channels from a second station; andscanning, by the first station, the existing networks on the available channels identified within the received WSM,wherein scanning the existing networks is performed by one or more of a first scheme or a second scheme, the first scheme comprising listening to a beacon frame from an AP station of a basic service set (BSS) on a specific channel among the available channels identified by the received WSM, the second scheme comprising transmitting a probe request frame to an AP station of the BSS on any channel among the available channels identified by the received WSM; andreceiving a probe response frame in response to the probe request frame.

An apparatus for scanning existing networks in a communication system as a first station, the apparatus comprising:na transceiver configured to receive a white space map (WSM) comprising information for available channels from a second station; anda processor configured to:ncontrol scanning the existing networks on the available channels identified within the received WSM;control the transceiver to perform the scanning by one or more of a first scheme or a second scheme;control the transceiver to listen to a beacon frame from an AP station of a basic service set (BSS) on a specific channel among the available channels identified by the received WSM according to the first scheme;control the transceiver to:ntransmit a probe request frame to an AP station of the BSS on any channel among the available channels identified by the received WSM; andreceive a probe response frame in response to the probe request frame according to the second scheme.