Patent ID: 7680152

Claim:
A method for establishing one user corresponding to a transceiver, from multiple users of a data network, as a pilot master for emitting a pilot signal to which other users of the data network can synchronize themselves, comprising: providing at least two of the users as pilot-master-capable; and checking by at least the pilot-master-capable users, during a checking time interval of random duration individually assigned to them, whether an external pilot signal generated by another user is being transmitted on the data network; wherein at least one of the pilot-master-capable users, which detects an external pilot signal on the data network during its checking time interval, enters a temporary slave state, wherein one of the pilot-master-capable users, which detects no external pilot signal on the data network during its checking time interval and randomly ends its assigned checking time interval earliest in comparison to the checking time intervals of the other pilot-master-capable users, actually becomes a pilot master and emits the pilot signal after the random duration of its checking time interval has elapsed, and wherein: a) the pilot master assigns the pilot mastership to itself only temporarily for a transmission time interval of random duration and it ends the emission of the pilot signal again after expiration of this transmission time interval; b) the last temporary pilot master, after expiration of the transmission time interval, checks again, during a further checking time interval of random duration assigned to it, whether a pilot signal generated by another user is being transmitted on the data network; c) the last temporary pilot master becomes pilot master again and emits the pilot signal if it detects no external check signal on the data network during the further checking time interval and no other pilot-master-capable user claims the pilot mastership for itself earlier; and d) the steps a) through c) are repeated for a predefined number of times X−1.