An access scheme in a communication system can deal with a mix of devices
having different power constraints and different latency requirements and
allow highly asymmetric latency behavior. Such a communication system may
include a central control station that broadcasts beacon messages on a
communication channel, such as a radio channel, and at least one remote
terminal that accesses a communication channel based on the beacon
messages. The beacon messages are configured such that individual access
to the communication channel by each terminal is controlled according to
a grouping of the terminals into respective beacon groups. Each beacon
group may have a corresponding beacon message, and beacon messages
corresponding to different beacon groups may be broadcast at staggered
time intervals.