System, apparatus and method for communicating messages using multiple frequency hopping sequences

A method comprising:

• providing a plurality of transmitter frequency hopping sequences from a common set of communication frequencies for each of a respective plurality of transmitting devices, wherein each of the plurality of transmitter frequency hopping sequences includes the common set of communication frequencies in an order different from the transmitter frequency hopping sequences of the other transmitting devices;
• providing a receiver frequency hopping sequence from the common set of communication frequencies, wherein the communication frequencies of the receiver frequency hopping sequence are in an order different from the orders of any of the plurality of transmitter frequency hopping sequences;
• identifying at each transmitting device the next communication frequency of its respective transmitter frequency hopping sequence in which to transmit a message;
• each transmitting device, being privy to the receiver frequency hopping sequence, determining at each transmitting device when its respective next communication frequency corresponds to a receiver-monitored frequency in the receiver frequency hopping sequence;
• and
• waiting until each of the identified communication frequencies of their respective transmitter frequency hopping sequences corresponds to the receiver-monitored frequency in the receiver frequency hopping sequence to transmit messages from the transmitting devices at their respective next communication frequencies.

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmission frequency determination module configured to identify a transmission frequency in a first frequency hopping sequence;
• a transmission timing module, being privy to a second frequency hopping sequence different from the first frequency hopping sequence, configured to determine when the identified transmission frequency occurs during successive intervals of the second frequency hopping sequence;
• and
• a transmitter configured to wait to transmit a message at the identified transmission frequency of the first frequency hopping sequence until the identified transmission frequency occurs at one of the successive intervals of the second frequency hopping sequence.

A system comprising:

• at least one receiving device comprising a receive timing module configured to successively monitor for messages at each frequency of a receiver frequency hopping sequence;
• a plurality of transmitting devices, each comprising:
• a frequency determination module configured to identify a transmission frequency in a transmitter frequency hopping sequence different from the receiver frequency hopping sequence;
• a transmission timing module, being privy to the receiver frequency hopping sequence, configured to determine when the identified transmission frequency occurs during successive intervals of the receiver frequency hopping sequence;
• and
• a transmitter configured to wait to transmit a message at the identified transmission frequency of the transmitter frequency hopping sequence until the identified transmission frequency occurs at one of the successive intervals of the receiver frequency hopping sequence.