Patent ID: 7212833

Claim:
A radio communication system that includes a radio network having a plurality of radio communication apparatuses, each one of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses being capable of operating as a control station of the radio network, and being capable of directly communicating with at least another of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses so that a given one of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses directly communicates with a particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses, said system comprising: means for designating at least two of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses to be initial control stations; and each one of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses including: means for receiving and storing a plurality of judgment values from the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses that directly communicate with that radio communication apparatus such that a given one of the plurality of judgment values is received from and is associated with a specific one of the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses, the given one of the plurality of judgment values indicating the number of radio communication apparatuses that directly communicate with the specific one of the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses, means for determining the number of radio communication apparatuses in the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses by counting each of the radio communication apparatuses from which its associated judgment value was received, means for generating a further one of the plurality of judgment values based on the number of radio communication apparatuses counted, the further one of the plurality of judgment values indicating the number of radio communication apparatuses that directly communicate with that radio communication apparatus, means for transmitting the further one of the plurality of judgment values to each one of the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses, means for selecting, when that radio communication apparatus is one of the at least two initial control stations, that radio communication apparatus to be the working control station of said radio network when the further one of the plurality of judgment values is greater than each one of the received judgment values that are associated with all other ones of the at least two initial control stations whereby that radio communication apparatus directly communicates with a greater number of communication apparatuses than any other one of the at least two initial control stations, and means for transmitting, from that radio communication apparatus to each one of the particular portion of the plurality of radio communication apparatuses when said means for selecting selects that communication apparatus to be the working control station, notification that it is the working control station.