Frequency hopping piconets in an uncoordinated wireless multi-user system

Claim 2

A wireless network comprising: a master unit; and a slave unit, wherein the master unit comprises: means for sending a master address to the slave unit; means for sending a master clock to the slave unit; and means for communicating with the slave unit by means of a virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the slave unit comprises: means for receiving the master address from the master unit; means for receiving the master clock from the master unit; and means for communicating with the master unit by means of the virtual frequency hopping channel; and wherein: a hopping sequence of the virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the master address, and the master address is a unique unit identifying address; and a phase of the hopping sequence is a function of the master clock.

Claim 3

The wireless network of claim 1 , wherein: the master unit further comprises means for transmitting an inquiry message that solicits a slave address from the slave unit, wherein the slave address is a unique unit identifying address; and the slave unit further comprises: means for receiving the inquiry message; and means, responsive to the inquiry message, for transmitting the slave address to the master unit.

Claim 4

The wireless network of claim 2 , wherein the master unit further comprises: means for receiving slave address and topology information from more than one slave unit; and means for generating a configuration tree from the address and topology information.

Claim 5

The wireless network of claim 3 , wherein the master unit further includes means for utilizing the configuration tree to determine a route for a connection between the master unit and the slave unit.

Claim 6

The wireless network of claim 3 , wherein: the slave address and topology information comprises an own address from each of the more than one slave units and only first order address lists from each of the more than one slave units; and the means for generating the configuration tree from the address and topology information comprises: means for generating n connectivity rings from the first order address lists, wherein n is a positive integer, and wherein the generating means generates each of the connectivity rings in accordance with a rule that a higher-numbered connectivity ring cannot include nodes representing units that are already represented by a node in a lower-numbered connectivity ring.

Claim 7

The wireless network of claim 3 , wherein: the slave address and topology information comprises an own address from each of the more than one slave units and only first order address lists from each of the more than one slave units; and the means for generating the configuration tree from the address and topology information comprises: means for generating n connectivity rings from the first order address lists, wherein n is a positive integer, and wherein the generating means generates each of the connectivity rings by considering a present numbered connectivity ring having parent nodes, and including in a next higher-numbered connectivity ring those nodes representing all children of the parent nodes that satisfy the following rules: no descendant of a parent can represent the same unit as is represented by the parent; no descendant of a child of the parent can represent the same unit as any of the children of the parent; and no child of any parent can have the same name as any other child of said any parent.

Claim 12

A wireless network having a scatter topology, the wireless network comprising: a first master unit; a second master unit; a first slave unit; and a second slave unit, wherein the first master unit comprises: means for sending a first master address to the first slave unit; means for sending a first master clock to the first slave unit; and means for communicating with the first slave unit by means of a first virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the first slave unit comprises: means for receiving the first master address from the first master unit; means for receiving the first master clock from the first master unit; and means for communicating with the first master unit by means of the first virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the second master unit comprises: means for sending a second master address to the second slave unit; means for sending a second master clock to the second slave unit; means for communicating with the second slave unit by means of a second virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the second slave unit comprises: means for receiving the second master address from the second master unit; means for receiving the second master clock from the second master unit; and means for communicating with the second master unit by means of the first virtual frequency hopping channel; and wherein: a first hopping sequence of the first virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the first master address, and the first master address is a unique unit identifying address; a phase of the first hopping sequence is a function of the first master clock; a second hopping sequence of the second virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the second master address; a phase of the second sequence is a function of the second master clock; the first master clock is uncoordinated with the second master clock; and the first virtual frequency hopping channel uses the same radio spectrum as the second virtual frequency hopping channel, whereby the first virtual frequency hopping channel is different from the second virtual frequency hopping channel, thereby permitting communication between the first master unit and the first slave unit to take place without substantially interfering with communication between the second master unit and the second slave unit.

Claim 13

A wireless network having a scatter topology, the wireless network comprising: a first master unit; a second master unit; a first slave unit; and a second slave unit, wherein the first master unit comprises: means for sending a first master address to the first slave unit; means for sending a first master clock to the first slave unit; and means for communicating with the first slave unit by means of a first virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the first slave unit comprises: means for receiving the first master address from the first master unit; means for receiving the first master clock from the first master unit; and means for communicating with the first master unit by means of the first virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the second master unit comprises: means for sending a second master address to the second slave unit; means for sending a second master clock to the second slave unit; means for communicating with the second slave unit by means of a second virtual frequency hopping channel; wherein the second slave unit comprises: means for receiving the second master address from the second master unit; means for receiving the second master clock from the second master unit; and means for communicating with the second master unit by means of the first virtual frequency hopping channel; and wherein: a first hopping sequence of the first virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the first master address, and the first master address is a unique unit identifying address; a phase of the first hopping sequence is a function of the first master clock; a second hopping sequence of the second virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the second master address; a phase of the second sequence is a function of the second master clock; the first master clock is uncoordinated with the second master clock; and the first virtual frequency hopping channel uses the same radio spectrum as the second virtual frequency hopping channel, whereby the first virtual frequency hopping channel is different from the second virtual frequency hopping channel, thereby permitting communication between the first master unit and the first slave unit to take place without substantially interfering with communication between the second master unit and the second slave unit.

Claim 14

The wireless network of claim 9 , wherein: each of the first and second master units further comprises means for transmitting an inquiry message that solicits a slave address from the first and second slave units; and each of the first and second slave units further comprises: means for receiving the inquiry message; and means, responsive to the inquiry message, for transmitting the slave address to the first and second master units.

Claim 15

The wireless network of claim 10 , wherein each of the first and second master units further comprises: means for receiving slave address and topology information from more than one slave unit; and means for generating a configuration tree from the address and topology information.

Claim 16

The wireless network of claim 11 , wherein each of the first and second master units further includes means for utilizing the configuration tree to determine a route for a connection between the first and second master unit and the respective first and second slave units.

Claim 17

The wireless network of claim 11 , wherein: the slave address and topology information comprises an own address from each of the more than one slave units and only first order address lists from each of the more than one slave units; and the means for generating the configuration tree from the address and topology information comprises: means for generating n connectivity rings from the first order address lists, wherein n is a positive integer, and wherein the generating means generates each of the connectivity rings in accordance with a rule that a higher-numbered connectivity ring cannot include nodes representing units that are already represented by a node in a lower-numbered connectivity ring.

Claim 18

The wireless network of claim 11 , wherein: the slave address and topology information comprises an own address from each of the more than one slave units and only first order address lists from each of the more than one slave units; and the means for generating the configuration tree from the address and topology information comprises: means for generating n connectivity rings from the first order address lists, wherein n is a positive integer, and wherein the generating means generates each of the connectivity rings by considering a present numbered connectivity ring having parent nodes, and including in a next higher-numbered connectivity ring those nodes representing all children of the parent nodes that satisfy the following rules: no descendant of a parent can represent the same unit as is represented by the parent; no descendant of a child of the parent can represent the same unit as any of the children of the parent; and no child of any parent can have the same name as any other child of said any parent.

Claim 19

The network of claim 1 , wherein the unique unit identifying address is 64 bits long.

Claim 20

The network of claim 1 , wherein the virtual frequency hopping channel is includes 79 hops of 1 MHZ width.

Claim 21

The network of claim 1 , wherein only one packet is transmitted between the master unit and slave unit per frequency hop.

Claim 22

The network of claim 1 , wherein packets transmitted from the master unit and from the slave unit include the master unit's unique unit identifying address.

Claim 23

The network of claim 1 , wherein the network further comprises: another slave unit, wherein the slave unit and the another slave unit can communicate with each other over the frequency hopping channel only through the master unit.

Claim 24

The network of claim 19 , wherein the slave and the another slave each have a unique unit identifying address and the slave and the another slave is identified in the network by a member address.

Claim 25

The network of claim 20 , wherein the member address is a three bit address.

Claim 26

The network of claim 1 , wherein the virtual frequency hopping channel includes a plurality of time division duplex frames, each time division duplex frame consisting of a transmit slot and a receive slot.

Claim 27

The network of claim 1 , wherein the slave examines each received packet to determine whether the packet includes the master node's unique unit identifying address.

Claim 28

The network of claim 1 , wherein the network implements an automatic retransmission query (ARQ) scheme for transmitted packets.

Claim 29

The network of claim 24 , wherein the success or failure of a packet in a frame is indicated in a succeeding frame.

Claim 30

The network of claim 19 , wherein if the slave unit and the another slave unit need to communicate directly with one another, the slave unit and the another slave unit communicate over another virtual frequency hopping sequence, wherein the hop sequence of the another virtual frequency hopping sequence is a function of an address of the slave unit or the another slave unit, and the phase of the hopping sequence is a function of the clock of the slave unit or the another slave unit.

Claim 31

The network of claim 1 , wherein the slave unit does not reset its clock to correspond to the master clock.

Claim 32

A wireless network comprising: a master unit; and a slave unit, wherein the master unit comprises: means for sending a master address to the slave unit; means for sending a master clock to the slave unit; means for communicating with the slave unit by means of a virtual frequency hopping channel; means for transmitting an inquiry message that solicits the slave address from the slave unit; and means for transmitting a page message that includes a request to establish a connection with the slave unit; wherein the slave unit comprises: means for receiving the master address from the master unit; means for receiving the master clock from the master unit; means for communicating with the master unit by means of the virtual frequency hopping channel; means for receiving the inquiry message; means, responsive to the inquiry message, for transmitting the slave address to the master unit; and wherein: a hopping sequence of the virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the master address; and a phase of the hopping sequence is a function of the master clock.

Claim 33

A wireless network comprising: a master unit; and a slave unit, wherein the master unit comprises: means for sending a master address to the slave unit; means for sending a master clock to the slave unit; means for communicating with the slave unit by means of a virtual frequency hopping channel; means for transmitting an inquiry message that solicits the slave address from the slave unit; and means for transmitting a page message that includes a request to establish a connection with the slave unit; wherein the slave unit comprises: means for receiving the master address from the master unit; means for receiving the master clock from the master unit; means for communicating with the master unit by means of the virtual frequency hopping channel; means for receiving the inquiry message; means, responsive to the inquiry message, for transmitting the slave address to the master unit; and wherein: a hopping sequence of the virtual frequency hopping channel is a function of the master address; and a phase of the hopping sequence is a function of the master clock.