Synchronization of media access control (MAC) superframes

A method of synchronizing a MAC superframe of a wireless device to a MAC superframe of at least one neighboring device, the wireless device being located within a plurality of other wireless devices, the method comprising:

• receiving beacons from at least one other device during a superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a superframe offset for each of the other wireless devices based on timing of the received beacons;
• determining a corrective delay based on the superframe offsets;
• inserting the corrective delay within a current superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a predictive delay by estimating a difference between a frequency of a clock of the wireless device and a frequency of a slowest clock of the other wireless devices within the plurality of devices;
• inserting the predictive delay within the current superframe;
• wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• and
• wherein if the average falls below a predetermined low-watermark threshold, then the predictive delay is decreased.

A method of synchronizing a MAC superframe of a wireless device to a MAC superframe of at least one neighboring device, the wireless device being located within a plurality of other wireless devices, the method comprising:

• receiving beacons from at least one other device during a superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a superframe offset for each of the other wireless devices based on timing of the received beacons;
• determining a corrective delay based on the superframe offsets;
• inserting the corrective delay within a current superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a predictive delay by estimating a difference between a frequency of a clock of the wireless device and a frequency of a slowest clock of the other wireless devices within the plurality of devices;
• inserting the predictive delay within the current superframe;
• wherein if a beacon from another wireless device is missed, the wireless device determines the superframe offset of the other wireless device by averaging superframe offset of previous superframes of the wireless device.

A method of synchronizing a MAC superframe of a wireless device, the wireless device being located within a plurality of other wireless devices, the method comprising:

• receiving beacons from at least one other device during a superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a superframe offset for each of the other wireless devices based on timing of the received beacons;
• determining a corrective delay based on the superframe offsets;
• determining a predictive delay by estimating a difference between a frequency of a clock of the wireless device and a frequency of a slowest clock of the other wireless devices within the plurality of devices, wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• inserting the predictive delay within the current superframe;
• wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• and
• wherein if the average falls below a predetermined low-watermark threshold, then the predictive delay is decreased.

A method of synchronizing a MAC superframe of a wireless device, the wireless device being located within a plurality of other wireless devices, the method comprising:

• receiving beacons from at least one other device during a superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a superframe offset for each of the other wireless devices based on timing of the received beacons;
• determining a corrective delay based on the superframe offsets;
• determining a predictive delay by estimating a difference between a frequency of a clock of the wireless device and a frequency of a slowest clock of the other wireless devices within the plurality of devices, wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• inserting the predictive delay within the current superframe;
• wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• and
• wherein if the average exceeds a predetermined high-watermark threshold, then the predictive delay is increased.

A method of synchronizing a MAC superframe of a wireless device, the wireless device being located within a plurality of other wireless devices, the method comprising:

• receiving beacons from at least one other device during a superframe of the wireless device;
• determining a superframe offset for each of the other wireless devices based on timing of the received beacons;
• determining a corrective delay based on the superframe offsets;
• determining a predictive delay by estimating a difference between a frequency of a clock of the wireless device and a frequency of a slowest clock of the other wireless devices within the plurality of devices, wherein the estimate of the frequency of the slowest clock comprises computing an average over time of the corrective delay;
• inserting the predictive delay within the current superframe;
• and
• wherein if a beacon from another wireless device is missed, the wireless device determines the superframe offset of the other wireless device by, averaging superframe offset of previous superframes of the wireless device.