Patent ID: 8908621

Claim:
A method, comprising: operating in a frequency hopping communication network according to a common broadcast schedule for the network that simultaneously overlays a configured portion of all independently determined unicast listening schedules in the network, wherein the overlaid configured portion is based on broadcast schedule parameters consisting of a first time spent for broadcast transmissions in each broadcast period and a second time between broadcast periods; monitoring network characteristics relating to unicast traffic and broadcast traffic in the network; determining updated broadcast schedule parameters based on the network characteristics; and updating operation of the common broadcast schedule with the updated broadcast schedule parameters by adjusting the first time spent for broadcast transmissions in each broadcast period, the second time between broadcast periods, or both, wherein an amount by which to increase or decrease the first time spent for broadcast transmissions in each broadcast period, the second time between broadcast periods, or both, is determined based on results of the monitoring of network characteristics relating to unicast traffic occurring according to the unicast listening schedules in the network and broadcast traffic occurring according to the common broadcast schedule in the network that simultaneously overlays the configured portion of the unicast listening schedules.