Patent ID: 6920171

Claim:
A data communication system comprising: a plurality of radio devices communicating together in groups defining networks, at least certain member devices of the networks transmitting on the respective said network during time slots and at radio frequencies determined by a frequency hopping sequence; wherein at least two of said groups having different frequency hopping sequences are sufficiently related that messages transmitted by at least two of the member devices can collide by causing at least one of co-channel and related channel interference between messages of the at least two said groups; wherein at least one of the devices compares the different radio frequency hopping sequences of the at least two said groups and identifies time slots at which said sequences coincide sufficiently to produce said interference; and, wherein at least one of said networks alters its behavior during the time slots at which the sequences coincide sufficiently to produce said interference, in a manner that reduces one of an incidence and an effect of collisions during the time slots when the sequences collide, the behavior being altered according to priorities assigned and reassigned periodically based upon current conditions of the first and second networks.