Patent ID: 8115593

Claim:
An adaptive network including a plurality of interactive modules, and comprising: at least one of the modules operable as a leaf node in the network and operable in a sleep mode of operation of low-power expenditure and in an active mode of operation including, following transition from said sleep mode of operation, transmitting a burst of N number of messages of a first type; a plurality of the modules each receiving at least one of the messages in the burst transmission and then counting the number of messages actually received up to the expected number N of messages, determining a received value (PR) as a function of the number of messages actually received and the number of N expected messages and transmitting a response message comprising the respective received value (PR); the leaf node module receiving a plurality of response messages; and the leaf node module selecting a parent module, from the plurality of modules from which response messages were received, as a function of the received values (PR) in the received response messages.