Patent ID: 8254301

Claim:
A method of establishing and maintaining an ad-hoc wireless network between a plurality of moving nodes, where said plurality of moving nodes are divided into a dynamically formed local peer group (LPG) without ordering said plurality of moving nodes, said method comprises the steps of: selecting a group header node (GH) for said LPG from said plurality of moving nodes, said GH is assigned a unique group header identification, said GH controls and manages membership in said LPG; broadcasting a plurality of control messages identifying said LPG and providing information regarding said LPG, including a heartbeat message signal from said selected GH, said heartbeat message is broadcast at a fixed interval; determining if others of said plurality of moving nodes can join said LPG based upon a predetermined threshold value; and creating a network link between said others of said plurality of moving nodes if it is determined that said other of said plurality of moving nodes can join the LPG as group nodes (GNs); wherein if there is more than one GHs within the LPG, said selection step further comprises the steps of: broadcasting a header resolution message from each of said more than one GH; performing header resolution to select only one GH as the GH for the LPG, based upon a predetermined selection criterion; and broadcasting a GH selected message by the new GH that was selected, and the others said more than one GHs join the LPG via the new GH.