Reliable transferring of data between mobile wireless nodes positioned at
two points in a wireless network occurs through the dynamic formation of transmit/receive
groups that collectively establish reliable communications. A mobile node at each
point creates a neighbor list by periodically probing its surroundings to discover
nearby nodes with which it can relaibly communicate. Prior to establishing a route
or transmitting data, a node A first probes a distant next point in the network
to determine if it can reliably communicate with that point. Upon receiving this
probe and knowing one's neighbors, the nodes at this distant point dynamically
form a receive group and choose a controlling node. Members of the group individually
receive all future data from node A and pass the received data to the controlling
node, which combines the individual signals for reliable reception. Similary, the
controlling node reliably transmits data to node A by having each member of the
receive group transmit the data, node A then combining the signals. Lastly, the
nodes neighboring node A can form a transmit/receive group to assist node A in
communicating with the distant point.
