Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method

A wireless communication apparatus which transfers information addressed to a master node, the wireless communication apparatus comprising:

• an assessment value generation unit configured to generate an assessment value representing logical proximity to the master node;
• an assessment value transmission and reception unit configured to transmit the generated assessment value to one or more other wireless communication apparatuses and receive assessment values from the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses by wireless communication;
• and
• a communication unit configured to
• when this wireless communication apparatus is a wireless communication apparatus that is logically closest to the master node among wireless communication apparatuses within a communication-enabled range, receive information addressed to the master node from other wireless communication apparatuses, and
• when a wireless communication apparatus that is logically closest to the master node other than this wireless communication apparatus is present among the wireless communication apparatuses within the communication-enabled range, transmit information addressed to the master node to the logically closest wireless communication apparatus, wherein
• the communication unit is configured to generate a delay time based on the assessment value when transferring the information received from the other wireless communication apparatuses to yet another wireless communication apparatus.