Patent ID: 8861483

Claim:
A method of setting a beacon slot in a WPAN device by using beacon slot information of neighbors of the WPAN device and its neighbors' of each such neighbors and using a beacon table in the WPAN which uses superframes each having a beacon-only period during which two or more beacons are transmitted, comprising the steps of: receiving beacon slot information from one or more neighbors of the WPAN device and beacon slot information from neighbors of each such neighbor with the beacon slot information being obtained from payload information of beacons transmitted from both the neighbors of the WPAN device and from the neighbors of each such neighbor; wherein the WPAN device obtains the beacon slot information of the one or more neighbors from the payload information of the beacon transmitted from said one or more neighbors; using the obtained beacon slot information transmitted from the one or more neighbors of the WPAN device to further transmit by the WPAN device to said one or more neighbors a request to identify the neighbors of each such neighbor who have beacon slot information; wherein said one or more neighbors receives the beacon slot information transmitted of the neighbors of each such neighbor device from the payload information of beacons transmitted from the neighbors of each such said neighbor; wherein the WPAN device receives the beacon slot information of said neighbors of each such neighbor in a response frame from said one or more neighbor devices with said one or more neighbor devices transmitting the obtained beacon slot information of the neighbors of each such neighbor to the WPAN device in response to the request; excluding beacon slots, earlier than a beacon slot of a parent device from all of the beacon slots received, which are not the beacon slots to avoid; setting the beacon slot in the WPAN device, from all of the received beacon slots which have beacon-only period except for excluded beacon slots based upon following the additional steps of: arranging beacon slots of the beacon-only period except for excluded beacon slots; and setting the earliest slot among beacon slots remaining in the beacon-only period as the beacon slot of the WPAN device after excluding the beacon slots earlier than a beacon slot of a parent device from all of the beacon slots received including the receipt of beacon slot information of all the neighbors and after excluding a beacon slot of a coordinator.