Physical layer collision avoidance (PLCA) coordinator redundancy

Abstract

Methods and network interfaces are provided to equip network nodes with PLCA (Physical Layer Collision Avoidance) coordinator redundancy. One illustrative network interface includes: a transceiver configured to send and receive network data packets via a communications medium; and a PLCA controller configured to provide redundancy by causing the transceiver to transmit a beacon signal when detecting a transmit opportunity for a node ID that exceeds a total node count by an amount equal to a local node ID even when the local node ID is greater than zero. An illustrative network interface method includes: sending and receiving network data packets via a communications medium; and providing PLCA coordinator redundancy by sending a beacon signal when detecting a transmit opportunity for a node ID that exceeds a total node count by an amount equal to a local node ID even when the local node ID is greater than zero.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.