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SYNCHRONIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED NODES

  • US 20150173034A1
  • Filed: 09/23/2014
  • Published: 06/18/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of communicating between an array of ad hoc nodes and a target, the array comprising a master node and a plurality of slave nodes, the method comprising steps of:

  • communicating between the master node and each slave node of the array to enable synchronization of said each slave node to the master node, the step of communicating with said each slave node being performed on a radio frequency (RF) side channel link associated with said each slave node, wherein a plurality of RF side channel links are established by the array, each RF side channel link operating on an upward frequency for transmissions to the master node and on a downward frequency for transmissions from the master node;

    performing frequency, time, and phase synchronization of said each slave node to the master node based on the step of communicating;

    distributing across the array common data for transmission to the target; and

    coherently transmitting from said each node of the array to the target signals at a common RF frequency, the signals at the common frequency carrying the common data, so that the signals carrying the common data add constructively in a general direction from the array to the target and/or in a general location of the target, the step of coherently transmitting comprising directional beamforming or location-focusing using time-reversal;

    wherein;

    the plurality of slave nodes comprises a first slave node associated with a first RF side channel link, and a second slave node associated with a second RF side channel link;

    the first RF side channel link operates at a first upward frequency from the first slave node to the master node and on a first downward frequency from the master node to the first slave node;

    the second RF side channel link operates at a second upward frequency from the second slave node to the master node and on a second downward frequency from the master node to the second slave node; and

    at least one frequency selected from the group consisting of the first upward frequency, the second upward frequency, the first downward frequency, and the second downward frequency is different from at least one other frequency selected from the group.

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