Patent ID: 8542806

Claim:
A telecommunications system, for communicating data to and from a mobile device, the system comprising a plurality of repeater nodes and a control node, each repeater node having a transceiver unit operable to transmit and receive data to or from one or more other of the repeater nodes or the control node or the mobile device within a predetermined range, wherein the control node is operable to transmit data in a downstream direction from the control node to the mobile device via one or more of the repeater nodes and to receive data from the mobile device transmitted in an upstream direction from the mobile device to the control node via one or more of the repeater nodes, and the control node, the mobile device and the plurality of repeater nodes are arranged to communicate the data in the downstream direction from the control node to the mobile device via the repeater nodes using a time frame divided into a plurality of time slots, and to communicate the data in the upstream direction from the mobile device to the control node via the repeater nodes using the time frame, wherein the control node is allocated a control time slot in the time frame in order that the control node can communicate control data to the plurality of repeater nodes and each of the repeater nodes includes a processor for controlling the transceiver unit, and when deployed each repeater node is operable to communicate a node identity to the control node and the control node is operable to allocate the repeater node a time slot of the time frame in accordance with an order of the repeater nodes determined by the control node on the basis that one of the repeater nodes that transmits to another one of the repeater nodes in one of the upstream or the downstream directions is allocated a time slot which is a minimal time from the time slot in which the other repeater node transmits in the upstream or downstream direction, and the processor of the repeater node is operable to receive the time slot from the control node and to control the repeater node to transmit data in the allocated time slot, wherein the system is operable to reverse the order of the time slots in one time frame with respect to the order of the time slots in another time frame.