The IEEE 802.11standard for wireless networks utilizes the request to send (RTS) and clear to send (CTS) frames in various circumstances to further minimize collisions. RTS and CTS are especially useful in solving the hidden node and exposed node problems in wireless networks. Exchanging the RTS and CTS between the sender and the receiver informs nearby stations that a transmission is about to begin. Duration information in RTS/CTS frames are used to set the network allocation vector (NAV) in all stations that are within the reception range of the RTS/CTS frames.