Self synchronizing network protocol

Claim 2

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising, at a second node, the steps of: receiving a first packet from a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; observing a characteristic of an appended field of the first packet; detecting a suspected overlap with the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node before a component, other than the appended field, of the first packet is damaged; and sending an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of-transmission time to be applied to a subsequent packet transmitted from the first node in a subsequent frame period in order to prevent in advance damage to a component, other than the appended field, of subsequent packets transmitted from the third node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is bit-errors.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is signal strength.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is a degree of signal distortion.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is a combination of bit-errors and signal strength.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is a combination of bit-errors and degree of signal distortion.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is a combination of signal strength and degree of signal distortion.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the appended field of the first packet is a combination of bit-errors, signal strength and degree of signal distortion.

Claim 10

The method of claim 1 wherein the appended field is a trailing field.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 wherein the instruction adjusts the start-of-transmission time as an advancement in time.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 wherein the appended field is a leading field.

Claim 13

The method of claim 11 wherein the instruction adjusts the start-of-transmission time as a retardation in time.

Claim 14

The method of claim 1 wherein the appended field comprises a known bit pattern.

Claim 15

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of sending an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of transmission time is applied to a plurality of subsequent packets transmitted from the first node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 16

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period, wherein the first frame period is equal to the second frame period and a time interval between the first transmission time in the first frame period and the second transmission time in the second frame period is shorter than the first frame period.

Claim 17

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period, wherein the first frame period is equal to the second frame period and a time interval between the first transmission time in the first frame period and the second transmission time in the second frame period is shorter than the first frame period.

Claim 18

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period, wherein the first frame period is equal to the second frame period and a time interval between the first transmission time in the first frame period and the second transmission time in the second frame period is longer than the first frame period.

Claim 19

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period, wherein the first frame period is equal to the second frame period and a time interval between the first transmission time in the first frame period and the second transmission time in the second frame period is longer than the first frame period.

Claim 20

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self-synchronizing network protocol comprising, at a second node, the steps of: receiving a first packet from a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; observing a characteristic of an appended field of the first packet; detecting a suspected overlap with the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node before a component, other than the appended field, of the first packet is damaged; measuring a size of the suspected overlap; and sending an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of-transmission time to be applied to a subsequent packet transmitted from the first node in a subsequent frame period in order to prevent in advance damage to a component, other than the appended field, of subsequent packets transmitted from the third node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 21

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self-synchronizing network protocol comprising, at a second node, the steps of: receiving a first packet from a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; observing a characteristic of an appended field of the first packet; detecting a suspected overlap with the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node before a component, other than the appended field, of the first packet is damaged; measuring a size of the suspected overlap; and sending an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of-transmission time to be applied to a subsequent packet transmitted from the first node in a subsequent frame period in order to prevent in advance damage to a component, other than the appended field, of subsequent packets transmitted from the third node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 22

The method of claim 17 wherein the size of the suspected overlap is measured over a single frame period.

Claim 23

The method of claim 17 wherein the size of the suspected overlap is measured over a plurality of frame periods, thus estimating a rate of overlap.

Claim 24

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: at a second node: receiving a first packet from a first node in a first frame period; observing an appended field of the first packet in response to the step of receiving; detecting a suspected overlap between the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node, as a result of the step of observing; instructing the first node to adjust a start-of-transmission time of a further packet; at the first node: adjusting the start-of-transmission time of the further packet relative to a start-of-transmission time of the first packet in the first frame period; transmitting the further packet at an adjusted start-of-transmission time in a second frame period; and at the second node: receiving the further packet in the second frame period with the adjusted start-of-transmission time.

Claim 25

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: at a second node: receiving a first packet from a first node in a first frame period; observing an appended field of the first packet in response to the step of receiving; detecting a suspected overlap between the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node, as a result of the step of observing; instructing the first node to adjust a start-of-transmission time of a further packet; at the first node: adjusting the start-of-transmission time of the further packet relative to a start-of-transmission time of the first packet in the first frame period; transmitting the further packet at an adjusted start-of-transmission time in a second frame period; and at the second node: receiving the further packet in the second frame period with the adjusted start-of-transmission time.

Claim 26

The method of claim 20 wherein the appended field is a trailing field.

Claim 27

The method of claim 21 wherein the adjusted start-of-transmission time is an advancement in time.

Claim 28

The method of claim 20 wherein the appended field is a leading field.

Claim 29

The method of claim 23 wherein the adjusted start-of-transmission time is a retardation in time.

Claim 30

The method of claim 20 wherein the appended field comprises a known bit pattern.

Claim 31

The method of claim 20 wherein the step of adjusting the start-of-transmission time is applied to a plurality of further packets.

Claim 32

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period.

Claim 33

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: transmitting a packet, having an appended field, to a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; experiencing a suspected overlap in the appended field with another packet transmitted from another node; receiving an instruction from the first node to shift start-of-transmission time of a subsequent packet by delta after a start of a last transmission in order to prevent an overlap in the subsequent packet; and transmitting the subsequent packet to the first node at a second transmission time in a second frame period.

Claim 34

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a system comprising: a receiver for receiving a first packet from a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; a baseband demodulator coupled to the receiver; and a data recovery module, coupled to the baseband demodulator, having a symbol synchronization component, a payload extraction component, a packet header component, an appended field evaluation circuit and a decision logic component, wherein the data recovery module performs, when operational, the following functions: observes a characteristic of an appended field of the first packet; detects a suspected overlap with the first packet and a second packet from a third node before a component, other than the appended field, of the first packet is damaged; and sends an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of-transmission time to be applied to a subsequent packet transmitted from the first node in a subsequent frame period in order to prevent in advance damage to components, other than the appended field, to subsequent packets transmitted from the third node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 35

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time without a central controller, wherein each node has its own start-of-frame reference and each node can start its transmission of packets at any time in a frame, a system comprising: a receiver for receiving a first packet from a first node at a first transmission time in a first frame period; a baseband demodulator coupled to the receiver; and a data recovery module, coupled to the baseband demodulator, having a symbol synchronization component, a payload extraction component, a packet header component, an appended field evaluation circuit and a decision logic component, wherein the data recovery module performs, when operational, the following functions: observes a characteristic of an appended field of the first packet; detects a suspected overlap with the first packet and a second packet from a third node before a component, other than the appended field, of the first packet is damaged; and sends an instruction to the first node on how to shift start-of-transmission time to be applied to a subsequent packet transmitted from the first node in a subsequent frame period in order to prevent in advance damage to components, other than the appended field, to subsequent packets transmitted from the third node in subsequent frame periods.

Claim 36

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: at a second node: receiving a first packet from a first node in a first frame period; observing an appended field of the first packet in response to the step of receiving; detecting a suspected overlap between the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node as a result of the step of observing; measuring a size of the suspected overlap between the first packet and the second packet, and wherein the step of instructing is based on the size of the suspected overlap between the first packet and the second packet; instructing the first node to adjust a start-of-transmission time of a further packet; at the first node: adjusting the start-of-transmission time of the further packet relative to a start-of-transmission time of the first packet in the first frame period; transmitting the further packet at an adjusted start-of-transmission time in a second frame period; and at the second node: receiving the further packet in the second frame period with the adjusted start-of-transmission time.

Claim 37

In an ad hoc wireless network in which nodes communicate packets periodically over a plurality of frames of time, a method of a self synchronizing network protocol comprising the steps of: at a second node: receiving a first packet from a first node in a first frame period; observing an appended field of the first packet in response to the step of receiving; detecting a suspected overlap between the first packet and a second packet transmitted from a third node as a result of the step of observing; measuring a size of the suspected overlap between the first packet and the second packet, and wherein the step of instructing is based on the size of the suspected overlap between the first packet and the second packet; instructing the first node to adjust a start-of-transmission time of a further packet; at the first node: adjusting the start-of-transmission time of the further packet relative to a start-of-transmission time of the first packet in the first frame period; transmitting the further packet at an adjusted start-of-transmission time in a second frame period; and at the second node: receiving the further packet in the second frame period with the adjusted start-of-transmission time.

Claim 38

The method of claim 29 wherein the step of measuring occurs over a single frame period.

Claim 39

The method of claim 29 wherein the step of measuring occurs over a plurality of frame periods.