Patent ID: 8442028

Claim:
A packet communication system for transferring a packet to a destination address, the system comprising: a plurality of nodes performing radio communication, wherein each of the said nodes: stores therein routing information for determining a transmission path of said packet, transmits and receives said packets to a transfer destination node and from a transfer source node on a transmission path determined by use of said routing information, through transmission and reception radio waves each of which is given a certain directivity by controlling a phase of said radio wave, and has a function of performing a cut-through transmission in which transfer of said packet to said transfer destination node is initiated after reading of a destination address included in said packet and before reception of said packet is completed, and wherein said packet communication system: performs time synchronization and transmission and reception of packet communication records during a certain time period by carrying out said cut-through transmission, while controlling said phases of said transmission and reception radio waves so that all of the said nodes form one or more closed loops, and transfers said packet to said destination address at a time other than said certain time period in accordance with said routing information and a time frame assigned to each of the said nodes as a time when each said node is allowed to transmit and receive a packet, updates said routing information held by each said node on the basis of said packet communication records, and shares said updated routing information among said nodes after said time synchronization; wherein: said node comprises an antenna formed of a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a certain order, phase control means for controlling said phases of said transmission and reception radio waves of each of the said antenna elements, and transmission and reception means for transmitting and receiving said packet through said transmission and reception radio waves, and said phase control means converts said destination address included in said packet into a phase difference of a radio wave to be applied to each of the said antenna elements included in said transfer destination node.