Before a retransmission, the CWmax (Contention Window maximum) value doubles and increases by 1. The CWmax is a parameter that determines the upper limit of the random backoff time that a STA (station) has to wait before attempting to access the medium. The random backoff time is chosen from a range of values between CWmin (Contention Window minimum) and CWmax. The CWmin and CWmax values depend on the AC (Access Category) of the traffic and the PHY type of the STA. If a transmission fails due to a collision or an error, the STA has to retransmit the frame after waiting for another random backoff time. However, to reduce the probability of another collision, the STA increases its CWmax value by doubling it and adding 1. This increases the range of possible backoff values and spreads out the STAs more evenly. The STA resets its CWmax value to its original value after a successful transmission or after reaching a predefined limit. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 7: QoS Analysis, page 196-197