Patent ID: 8073014

Claim:
A method for synchronizing a node within a communication system, the method comprising the steps of: a node listening for transmissions from other nodes; the node determining future transmit times from the transmissions of the other nodes; the node storing future transmit times of the other nodes; the node choosing a transmit time to utilize as part of an active duty cycle based on the future transmit times of the other nodes; the node broadcasting the chosen transmit time; and the node utilizing the chosen transmit time as part of its active duty cycle; wherein the step of choosing the transmit time to utilize as part of the active duty cycle comprises the step of choosing a future transmit time most utilized by the other nodes; wherein the step of choosing the transmit time to utilize as part of the active duty cycle comprises the steps of: grouping the future transmit times into bins of future transmit times; mathematically weighting each bin; and choosing the transmit time to utilize as part of the active duty cycle based on a weighted probability of each bin.