System and method for setting a data rate in TDMA communications

1. A communications system, comprising:

a plurality of mobile nodes comprising an N number of nodes and forming a mobile ad-hoc network;

a plurality of wireless communications links connecting the mobile nodes together;

each mobile node comprising a communications device for transmitting and routing data packets wirelessly to other mobile nodes via the wireless communications links in accordance with a time division multiple access (TDMA) data transmission protocol using a TDMA epoch that is divided into a beacon interval, digital voice interval and digital data interval, wherein mobile nodes are operative for monitoring channel conditions using the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals and providing from each mobile node a network connectivity performance as valid receptions occur within mobile nodes, wherein a mobile node is operative for setting a data rate for the other mobile nodes comprising an N−1 number of nodes using monitored channel conditions for the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals, wherein a mobile node is operative for determining the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength indication (RSSI) and packet error rate (PER) for N−1 mobile nodes based on valid beacon, digital voice and digital data interval receptions, and further comprising a database containing TDMA waveform selections, wherein a mobile node is operative for selecting a TDMA waveform from the database based on the SNR, RSSI and a SNR variance.

2. A communications system, comprising:

a plurality of mobile nodes comprising an N number of nodes and forming a mobile ad-hoc network;

a plurality of wireless communications links connecting the mobile nodes together;

each mobile node comprising a communications device for transmitting and routing data packets wirelessly to other mobile nodes via the wireless communications links in accordance with a time division multiple access (TDMA) data transmission protocol using a TDMA epoch that is divided into a beacon interval, digital voice interval and digital data interval, wherein mobile nodes are operative for monitoring channel conditions using the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals and providing from each mobile node a network connectivity performance as valid receptions occur within mobile nodes, wherein a mobile node is operative for setting a data rate for the other mobile nodes comprising an N−1 number of nodes using monitored channel conditions for the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals, wherein a mobile node is operative for determining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength indication (RSSI) and packet error rate (PER) for N−1 mobile nodes based on valid beacon, digital voice and digital data interval receptions, and maintaining a history of the SNR, RSSI and PER over an interval corresponding to X seconds for each respective N−1 node enhancing the history of the SNR, RSSI and PER using receptions of digital data intervals.

3. A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), comprising:

a plurality of mobile nodes comprising an N number of nodes and operating together and communicating with each other via wireless communications links in a time division multiple access (TDMA) data transmission protocol using a TDMA epoch that is divided into a beacon interval, digital voice interval and digital data interval;

each mobile node comprising a wireless communications device configured to monitor channel conditions using the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals and provide a network connectivity performance as valid receptions occur within mobile nodes and set a data rate at a mobile node using monitored channel conditions for the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals, wherein a mobile node is operative for determining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength indication (RSSI) and packet error rate (PER) for N−1 mobile nodes based on valid beacon, digital voice and digital data receptions, and further comprising a database containing TDMA waveform selections, wherein a mobile node is operative for selecting a TDMA waveform from the database based on the SNR, RSSI and a SNR variance.

4. A method for communicating, comprising:

forming a mobile ad-hoc network from a plurality of mobile nodes comprising an N number of nodes using a plurality of wireless communications links connecting the mobile nodes together;

transmitting and routing data packets wirelessly to other mobile nodes via the wireless communications links in a time division multiple access (TDMA) data transmission protocol using a TDMA epoch that is divided into a beacon interval, digital voice interval and digital data interval;

monitoring channel conditions at each mobile node using the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals;

providing from each mobile node a network connectivity performance as valid beacon, digital voice and digital data receptions occur within mobile nodes;

setting a data rate at a mobile node for the other N−1 mobile nodes using monitored channel conditions from the beacon, digital voice and digital data intervals;

determining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength indication (RSSI) and packet error rate (PER) for N−1 mobile nodes based on valid beacon, digital voice and digital data interval receptions;

maintaining a history of the SNR, RSSI and PER over an interval corresponding to X seconds for each respective N−1 node; and

improving the history of the SNR, RSSI and PER using receptions of digital data intervals.