Patent ID: 7653042

Claim:
A method, comprising: (a) at a receiving node of a communication network, receiving a request to schedule at least one timeslot of a recurrent cycle for receipt of burst transmissions from a sending node of the network; (b) in response to the scheduling request, selecting at least one timeslot of the cycle in a manner which is independent of timeslot selections to be made by other existing receiving nodes of the network for receipt of burst transmissions; and (c) communicating the selected timeslot or timeslots to the sending node; wherein said receiving node is one of at least a first and a second receiving node; wherein the first and second receiving nodes each select at least one timeslot in which bursts are to be received; and wherein the method further comprises, at the sending node; determining a departure time within the recurrent cycle for bursts which are to be received at the first receiving node in the timeslot which it has selected; assigning said departure time to at least one burst destined for the first receiving node; determining a departure time within the recurrent cycle for bursts which are to be received at the second receiving node in the timeslot which it has selected; detecting at least one instance of conflict in which the departure time of bursts destined for the first receiving node overlays the departure time of bursts destined for the second receiving node; and reassigning the assigned departure time to at least one burst destined for the second receiving node, such that said departure time is no longer available to bursts destined for the first receiving node.