Patent ID: 8885548

Claim:
A method comprising: listening on a dynamically-determined frequency for a network management message sent from a sending node in a wireless mesh network, the wireless mesh network including a neighbor node connected to the wireless mesh network and operating in a low power listening (LPL) mode, the neighbor node in the LPL mode deactivating its radio for at least a period of time; synchronizing, by use of a processor, a node timer to the network management message, if the network management message is received, the network management message being received periodically throughout normal operation of the wireless mesh network to keep nodes of the wireless mesh network synchronized to a common clock; sending, by use of the processor, jamming messages to the neighbor node from a joining node not currently connected to the wireless mesh network, the joining node not being connected to the wireless mesh network if the network management message is not received by the joining node, the jamming messages sent from the joining node being data packets each having a header with a unique message identifier, the jamming messages being sent continuously by the joining node for a pre-determined length of time on each of a plurality of different network channels until a response is received from the neighbor node, the jamming messages being varied based on the network channel upon which a particular jamming message is sent, wherein the jamming messages being varied includes at least one of varying the size of the jamming messages, transmitting the jamming messages at different intervals or varying the pre-determined length of time during which the jamming messages are transmitted, the neighbor node transitioning out of the LPL mode to respond to the jamming messages from the joining node, the neighbor node sending the network management message in response to the jamming messages; receiving the network management message at the joining node from the neighbor node in response to the jamming messages from the joining node; and beginning data communications with nodes of the wireless mesh network using the synchronized node timer.