Patent ID: 8233443

Claim:
A wireless communication apparatus in a mesh network, comprising: means for detecting another wireless communication apparatus around the wireless communication apparatus; means for comparing a first reference value managed in the wireless communication apparatus with a second reference value managed in the another wireless communication apparatus to produce a comparison result; means for correcting the first reference value based on the comparison result; means for announcing the first reference value to the another wireless communication apparatus; means for generating an announcement signal including the first reference value which is changed to the second reference value; and means for sending the generated announcement signal to the another wireless communication apparatus, wherein a channel of the wireless communication apparatus is conformed to a channel of still another wireless communication apparatus to which a radio wave of the wireless communication apparatus does not reach, but a radio wave of the another wireless communication apparatus reaches, and each of the first and the second reference values is at least one of a random number and a number of wireless communication apparatuses connected to the mesh network.