CONNECTION MECHANISM FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS

摘要

A communications system comprising a plurality of nodes communicatively connected via a communications network, each node comprising a processing circuit and network interface circuitry connected to the processing circuit, each node being configured to connect to the communications network and to communicate with other nodes of the communications system, the communications system comprising at least one cluster of nodes, wherein one of the nodes of the cluster is operable to perform a cluster head role connecting the cluster to the communications network, and wherein the cluster is operable to implement a mechanism for transferring the cluster head role from one node of the cluster to another node of the cluster.