Patent ID: 7813373

Claim:
In an ad hoc network comprising a first node which is assigned a particular time slot for transmission of a first data stream and a second node which has been assigned the particular time slot for transmission of a second data stream, a method comprising: detecting time slot interference on the particular time slot at either one or more of: a receiver node that receives on the particular time slot when the transmission of the first data stream on the particular time slot interferes with the transmission of the second data stream on the particular time slot; a transmitter node that transmits on the particular time slot when the transmission of the first data stream on the particular time slot interferes with the transmission of the second data stream on the particular time slot; and recovering from time slot interference on the particular time slot, wherein recovering from time slot interference on the particular time slot, comprises: marking the status of the particular time slot as interfered at any of the nodes which detect time slot interference upon detecting time slot interference such that the particular time slot is not used for a time period after being designated as interfered and is designated as being free after the time period; and transmitting, from either the transmitter node or the receiver node which detect time slot interference on the particular time slot, either: a broadcast Slot Interference message to all the neighbor nodes upon detecting time slot interference on the particular time slot; or Slot Interference messages upon detecting time slot interference on the particular time slot, wherein the Slot Interference messages comprise: a unicast reverse Slot Interference message transmitted towards source node, and a unicast forward Slot Interference message transmitted towards destination node.