Patent ID: 7843848

Claim:
A method of determining if a destination node in a time division multiple access (TDMA)-based network is localized within a bridging network, comprising: transmitting a round trip time (RTT) measurement packet to the destination node; measuring the RTT from transmission of the RTT measurement packet to reception of a response from the destination node to determine if the RTT is greater than a predetermined time period; and repeatedly retransmitting the RTT measurement packet after a time interval from a previous transmission and remeasuring the RTT until either the RTT measurement packet has been transmitted a predetermined number of times or the RTT is not greater than the predetermined time period, wherein each of time intervals between successive transmissions is different, wherein the RTT measurement packet includes a challenge to the destination node, wherein the response from the destination node includes an answer to the challenge from the destination node, further comprising authenticating the destination node to thereby permit delivery of predetermined data to the destination node if one of the measured RTTs is less than the predetermined time period and the answer to the challenge is correct.