Patent ID: 6891857

Claim:
A collection of networked apparatuses comprising: a first plurality of apparatuses including first and second subsets wirelessly networked together, with each apparatus being equipped to communicate wirelessly in accordance with a first frequency hopping protocol, with the first and second subsets operating in accordance with a first and a second frequency hopping pattern based on a first and a second pseudo random pattern; a second plurality of apparatuses wirelessly networked together, with each apparatus being equipped to communicate wirelessly in accordance with a second protocol; wherein said first and second subsets of said first plurality of apparatuses are operationally synchronized and in wireless communication with a common wireless device, and said second plurality of apparatuses are operated in a manner complementary to said synchronized operation of said first and second subsets of said first plurality of apparatuses, to proactively reduce interference between said first and second plurality of apparatuses and wherein the common wireless device comprises a multi-protocol apparatus equipped with a first and a second transceiver to communicate wirelessly with said first and second plurality of apparatuses in accordance with said first and second protocols respectively, and in a manner that is complementary to said synchronized operation of said first and second subsets of said first plurality of apparatuses to proactively reduce interference with said first and second plurality of apparatuses; wherein said first and second subsets are operationally synchronized to a reference signal, and said second plurality of apparatuses are operationally aligned to the same reference signal and said multi-protocol apparatus includes control logic to operate in a manner that is complementary to said synchronization as well as said alignment with respect to said reference signal, to effectuate said proactive reduction of interference among said apparatuses; and wherein said control logic includes logic to effectuate said alignment to said reference signal incrementally, and in a selected one of at least a first and a second manner depending on an amount of misalignment with a transmission time slot.