Patent ID: 7593374

Claim:
A method for forming an ad-hoc network with a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: electing a coordinating node from the plurality of nodes, the coordinating node then: assigning an ad-hoc network address to each of the other nodes with the ad-hoc address recognizing participation of a respective node in the network; and assigning a local address to each of the other nodes with the local address setting a position of a respective node in the network, wherein the electing step comprises: emitting pings from each of the nodes to locate nodes within a radio range; broadcasting a tag from each of the located nodes to identify each of the located nodes; sending out an election-ballot packet by each of the identified nodes to each of the other identified nodes, wherein the electing step further comprises electing the coordinating node based on information in the tags, wherein each of the tags includes a serial number, the electing step further comprises electing the node with the highest serial number.