Patent ID: 8422380

Claim:
A method for dynamically reconfiguring a broadcast power line network having at least four nodes, comprising the step of: spatially dividing, by a hardware CPU, said network into at least two sub-networks, wherein the broadcast power line network comprises at least four nodes, wherein each node is initially configured to be in direct communication with each other node, wherein at least two of said nodes share one of said sub-networks and at least two other of said nodes shares another one of said sub-networks, and wherein spatially dividing comprises: using at least one interference distance and at least one communications distance, wherein the at least one interference distance is a difference between a transmitted signal power at an interfering source node and a received signal power at a destination node, and wherein the at least one communications distance is a difference between a transmitted power from a source node and a received power at the destination node, the interfering source node being different than the source node; determining a difference between the at least one interference distance and the at least one communications distance; comparing the difference between the at least one interference distance and the at least one communications distance with a signal-to-noise ratio; calculating a power margin by using the difference between the at least one interference distance and the at least one communications distance and a minimum signal-to-noise ratio; determining a throughput of: (a) a first signal transmitted on a second sub-network at a first maximum power and a first data rate simultaneously with a second signal transmitted on a first sub-network at a second maximum power and a second data rate; determining a throughput of: (b) said first signal transmitted at a power greater than said first maximum power and said second signal transmitted at a power greater than said second maximum power, said first and second signals sharing a single sub-network; and causing, if throughput (b) exceeds throughput (a), said nodes to share said single sub-network.