Patent ID: 8619754

Claim:
A method of allocating channels in a PTMP (point-to-multi-point) system having a master and a plurality of nodes, the master having a master clock and each of said plurality of nodes having a node clock, the method comprising the steps of: a. transmission by the master to the nodes of a plurality of synch beacons, the sync beacons having a first frequency and a substantially fixed time period between successive sync beacon transmissions; b. synchronizing node clocks with transmitted synch beacons; c. dividing the time period into a slotted time and an unslotted time; d. allocating a plurality of slots in the slotted time for RF activity of the nodes that have resolved a sync beacon of a few last synch beacons of said plurality of synch beacons; and e. identifying the unslotted time for unallocated RF activity of certain nodes that have not resolved a sync beacon of a few last synch beacons of said plurality of synch beacons, said identifying being based on previous synchronization of respective clocks of said certain nodes with transmitted synch beacons.