Patent ID: 8224992

Claim:
A communication device, wherein the communication device is a first communication device that participates in a group consisting of three or more communication devices, in which group one of the three or more communication devices will become a provisional parent node, the first communication device comprising: a communication interface for transmitting to and receiving signals from a network; a game data transmitter-receiver that transmits and receives game data using said communication interface; and a measurement data generator that measures a response time between said first communication device and a second communication device of the group and a response time between said first communication device and a third communication device of the group, and that generates measurement data indicating a sum of the measured response times, each response time including a transmission delay time between said first communication device as an origin and the second or the third communication devices and a process delay time at the second or the third communication device, wherein, in a case in which said first communication device is not the provisional parent node, said first communication device further comprises: a measurement data transmitter that transmits the measurement data to another communication device that is the provisional parent node of the group; and a decision data receiver that receives decision data indicating which one of the three or more communication devices of the group is a parent node from the provisional parent node, wherein, in a case in which said first communication device is the provisional parent node, said first communication device further comprises: a measurement data receiver that receives measurement data from the second and the third communication devices of the group; a decision data generator that, in a case in which it is determined, based on the measurement data received by said measurement data receiver and the measurement data generated by said measurement data generator, that the measurement data of said first communication device is only data piece that indicates a minimum value from among pieces of measurement data of the communication devices in the group, generates the decision data indicating that said first communication device is the parent node, and otherwise generates the decision data indicating that one of the second and the third communication devices that has transmitted the only data piece is the parent node; and a decision data transmitter that transmits the decision data to each of the second and the third communication devices of the group, and wherein said game data transmitter-receiver, in transmitting game data, performs the transmission through a direct communication when said first communication device is the parent node, and performs the transmission through an indirect communication via the parent node when the first communication device is not the parent node.