Patent ID: 7162260

Claim:
A communication network system in which a plurality of registered communication devices communicate with one another in a communication network which is identified by a network ID, wherein each communication device is identified by registered station information comprising a unique ID) and has acquired a station ID in the communication network, wherein one of the communication devices that acquired a station ID is selected as a hub terminal which periodically transmits network management information including the network ID and assignment status information about station IDs available for inclusion in the network, and the rest of the communication devices form leaf terminals which periodically transmit terminal synchronization information in accordance with the network management information, the terminal synchronization information indicating the operating condition of each leaf terminal, and wherein each of the leaf terminals includes a determination/monitoring portion that determines which communication channel or channels are used by the hub terminal in communicating with the various leaf terminals and sequentially monitors the so determined communication channel or channels for transmissions of said network management information, and if no transmission of network management information is present on the so determined channel or channels for a preselected period of time, the one of said leaf terminals that acquired a station ID and that includes the determination/monitoring portion that first determined that network transmission information was not present on the so determined channel or channels for the preselected period of time is assigned the function of a hub terminal in a different communication network whose network ID corresponds to the station ID of the one of said leaf terminals such that the one of said leaf terminals periodically transmits different network management information including the network ID corresponding to the station ID of the one of said leaf terminals and assignment status information about station IDs available for inclusion in the different network on a different channel or channels than the channel or channels used by said network to the remainder of said communication devices of said network, and the remainder of the communication devices of said network form different communication network leaf terminals which periodically transmit terminal synchronization information in accordance with the different communication network management information indicating the operating condition of each different communication network leaf terminal.