Patent ID: 7443820

Claim:
A method for operation of a communication path between at least two communication terminals, comprising: connecting, at least at a start time, the at least two communication terminals via at least one intermediate station; interchanging signals between the at least two communication terminals via the communication path, wherein within the communication path in at least one intermediate station, signals are received from at least one predecessor station, and signals are transmitted to at least one successor station; determining, via at least two of (i) at least one intermediate station and (ii) at least one communication terminal, a first signal transmission quality from a direction of a respective predecessor station, wherein the first signal transmission quality comprises a received signal field strength; cyclically measuring, via at least two of (i) at least one intermediate station and (ii) at least one communication terminals, a second signal transmission quality from the direction of a respective predecessor station to a respective successor station, wherein the second signal transmission quality comprises a received signal field strength; transmitting, via at least two of (i) at least one intermediate station and (ii) at least one communication terminal, the second signal transmission quality to at least one of one adjacent intermediate station and one adjacent communication terminal; comparing, in at least one of (i) at least one intermediate station and (ii) at least one communication terminal, the first signal transmission quality with the second signal transmission quality; disconnecting existing connections; and making new connections based on comparing the first signal transmission quality and the second signal transmission quality.