Patent ID: 7031716

Claim:
A method of communicating data comprising: transmitting a first signal from a communication controller to at least one network node including a first node, the first signal including information relating to at least one timeslot in which the first node may transmit a first request signal to the communication controller; receiving the first request signal transmitted from the first node to the communication controller in response to the first signal, said first request signal including a request to transmit a second request signal for transmitting data from the first node to the communication controller; transmitting a second signal from the communication controller to the first node in response to the first request signal, said second signal allocating at least one timeslot to the first node for transmitting a second request signal for transmitting the data from the first node to the communication controller; receiving the second request signal transmitted from the first node to the communication controller in response to the second signal; transmitting a third signal from the communication controller to the first node in response to the second request signal, said third signal allocating at least one timeslot to the first node for transmitting the data to the communication controller; and receiving the data transmitted from the first node to the communication controller in response to the third signal.