Techniques for virtual time slotting of communications packets

A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• determining a time slot interval, T, based on a longest data packet to be transmitted on a shared channel in a data communications network;
• determining at a first node in the data communications network a local base time, t0, equal to a time at an end of receipt of a successful acknowledgement control packet on the shared channel;
• causing a local data packet from the first node to be transmitted onto the shared channel at a transmit time that is an integer multiple n of T after the local base time to;
• and
• determining that the local data packet was successfully transmitted when a successful acknowledgement control packet that uniquely indicates the local data packet is received on the shared channel within the interval T of transmitting the local data packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including one or more sequences of instructions,
• the at least one memory and the one or more sequences of instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
• determining a time slot interval, T, based on a longest data packet to be transmitted on a shared channel in a data communications network;
• determining a local base time, to, equal to a time at an end of receipt of a successful acknowledgement control packet on the shared channel;
• causing a local data packet from the first node to be transmitted onto the shared channel at a transmit time that is an integer multiple n of T after the local base time to;
• and
• determining that the local data packet was successfully transmitted when a successful acknowledgement control packet that uniquely indicates the local data packet is received on the shared channel within the interval T of transmitting the local data packet.