Patent ID: 8923163

Claim:
A multihop network, comprising: a source node; a neighboring node; an active node; and a destination node; wherein the neighboring node is within reach of the source node, the active node and the destination node; wherein the multihop network has a topology; wherein the active node is located in a connection between the source node and the destination node and is capable of receiving from another active node and transmitting to the neighboring node a beacon containing a measure of performance for the connection between the source node and the destination node, wherein the measure of performance contained in the beacon is related to a change of the topology of the multihop network, and wherein the change of the topology includes one or more of the following: quality variations in a channel between the source node and the destination node, which quality variations comprises channel fading; changes in transmit patterns of data traffic in the multihop network; or changes in allocations of a network resource in the multihop network; wherein nodes implement a reactive routing protocol where the network resource of the multihop network is adapted in a distributed manner by the neighboring node or the active node in response to the change of the topology in the multihop network to optimize performance of the connection between the source node and the destination node; wherein the change of the topology is determined to have occurred based on the measure of performance contained in the beacon; wherein the distributed manner provides one resource adaptation at a time; wherein the network resource includes one or more of the following: the channel; or physical layer parameters; and wherein the connection between the source node and the destination node is defined through the channel.