Decentralized Tick Synchronization for Multi-Hop Medium Slotting in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks Using Black Bursts

In this paper, the authors present Black Burst Synchronization (BBS), a novel protocol for decentralized network-wide tick synchronization in wireless ad hoc networks, located at MAC level. The authors argue that tick synchronization is sufficient for multi-hop medium slotting, and that it can be used as a basis for time synchronization. BBS is based on the exchange of synchronized tick frames, which are protected against collisions by a special encoding with black bursts. They deduce a deterministic bound for tick accuracy that depends linearly on maximum network diameter, clear channel assessment delay jitter, and transceiver switching time only.