Patent ID: 6950418

Claim:
A method for automatically managing the communication channel resources between two transceiver nodes having neighboring transceiver nodes in a network of transceiver nodes, wherein each node communicates during specific time slots and uses multiple frequencies on a time multiplex basis, the method comprising: storing possible communication time slots and frequencies between nodes in the network at each transceiver node; and assigning each node to at least one of a plurality of cliques, wherein each of the plurality of cliques consists of a plurality of nodes that are positioned to directly communicate with each other, wherein multiple transceiver nodes in a clique utilize the same time slot for transmitting; wherein the assigning step for each node comprises: (a) identifying one of the nodes: (b) identifying a first group of nodes, said first group of nodes comprising any nodes that directly communicate with the node identified in step (a); (c) for each node in the first group of nodes, identifying a second group of nodes, said second group of nodes comprising any nodes that directly communicate with said each node in the first group of nodes; and (d) including within a clique with the node identified in step (a) a node in said first group of nodes, and a node in said second group of nodes that communicates directly with the node identified in step (a) and with said node in said first of nodes.