FH-CODE PHASE SYNCHRONIZATION IN A WIRELESS MULTI-HOP FH/DSSS ADHOC

NETWORK
Teemu Vanninen, Harri Saarnisaari, Matti Raustia and Timo Koskela
Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC)
University of Oulu, Finland
ABSTRACT
A military adhoc network has to have a good LPI (Low
Probability of Intercept) and LPJ (Low Probability of
Jamming) capabilities. These requirements can be met by
using a combined frequency hopping / direct sequence
(FH / DS) spread spectrum (SS) system. Due to characteristics of an adhoc network, the network wide synchronization has to be achieved distributely, which makes especially FH-code phase synchronization a challenging task.
Here, we present an FH-code phase synchronization
method suitable for very long FH-codes and unknown
code-patterns. The synchronization data is spread using a
specific synchronization DS-code (DS(s)-code), i.e., the
control channel is in the code-space. Synchronization messages are broadcasted periodically to allow single nodes
or subnetworks with different FH-code phases to synchronize as a one network. Divergent synchronization hops
are not needed, thus providing excellent LPI & LPJ properties.
In order to achieve and maintain a common FH-code
phase a network time synchronization algorithm has to be
used. Simulations of an adhoc network with a simple network time synchronization algorithm has been made and
the results are presented in this paper. The simulations
prove that the chosen algorithm can maintain a common
timing at a satisfactory level as long as the connectiveness
in a network is tolerable. The effects of clock drift and the
synchronization message size have also been studied.
I INTRODUCTION
A wireless network formed by (mobile) nodes working
without centralized control is called an adhoc network or a
MANET (Mobile Adhoc NETwork). A benefit of such a
network is within a lack of vulnerable infrastructure: there
is no single weak spot when every node has the same task
to be a source, a destination and a router. Applications for
adhoc networking can, for example, be sensor networks,
UAV-systems (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and personal
radio networks just to name a few in the military field.
Because of the absence of the centralized control all the
necessary network functions have to be made distributely,

such as routing, channel access and (network-wide) synchronization. Two former research topics have been popular in the adhoc-area in past years [1], [2]. The synchronization, however, has not gained as much attention, since
the synchronization in an adhoc network does not basically
differ from synchronization in a centralized control network, where both time and frequency domain has to be
considered by the link basis. Unfortunately this is valid
only when excluding the frequency hopping, since the
complexity is increased due to uncertainty of the used hop
frequency (FH-code phase) for a node before its synchronization. Further, the DS-code phase and receiving window have to be estimated by a link basis before a common
FH-code phase can be achieved. If FH is used to increase
LPI & LPJ instead of multiple access, the task is to synchronize the FH-code phase to be the same for every node
in the network. This introduces an ambiguity problem:
who will decide the used FH-code phase and how all the
nodes will end up to the same decision?
Majority of adhoc research is based on the IEEE 802.11
DSSS-mode although the standard specifies also an FHSSmode. The synchronization in FHSS-mode is achieved
through beacon transmission so that nodes can exchange
clock information in order to maintain synchronization [3].
Another example of FH-adhoc-system is a bluetooth network called scatternet. A scatternet is formed of two or
more piconets and a piconet consist of at most 8 nodes (1
master + 7 slaves). The master node determines the used
FH-code and its phase [4], [5]. Synchronization signals,
that include, e.g., network time reference, are sent with a
predefined code pattern. However, due to a known prefix,
the FH-code phase acquiring methods used in these systems cannot be used as such when very long FH-codes are
used and LPI & LPJ are considered.
In this paper we propose a robust military compliant
method to synchronize FH-code phase in an adhoc network. Control channel is in a code-space, i.e., is multiplexed with payload data. Hierarchy is based simply on
node addresses. A discrete network synchronization algorithm is used in order to maintain network-wide timing
(=FH-code phase) approximately the same for every node,
so that FH-code phase prefixes in data packets are not
needed. Remainder of this paper is organized as follow: In

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chapter II synchronization of FH/DS system is discussed.

Our proposed synchronization method is described in
chapter III. In chapter IV clock synchronization is discussed. Simulation results are presented in chapter V and
some conclusion are drawn in chapter VI.

II SYNCHRONIZATION
In order to synchronize nodes in a FH/DS-system the first
task is to make both transmitting and receiving nodes use
the same hop frequency at the same time. As a result nodes
are able to exchange synchronization information after the
DS-code phase and FH-timing synchronization steps are
accomplished. Latter step is needed in a slow hopping system, where several bits are transmitted in each hop.
A. FH-code phase synchronization
The purpose of FH-code phase synchronization is to get a
transmitter-receiver pair to hop to the same frequency at
the same time taking account the propagation delay. A realistic assumption is that the receiver has no prior information about the FH-code phase of a transmitter before synchronization. It is also straightforward to assume that the
transmitters local time reference (clock reading) is used
for FH-code generation. Thus, transmitter should send its
time reference to the receiver as it is done in Bluetooth [4].
The problem that arises here is how the receiver could
know the hop frequency the transmitter is going use before
any synchronization messages (incl. time reference) are
transmitted? The usual solution is to use a specific control
channel in frequency domain or known frequency hops to
transmit the data. An approach based on a repetition of a
short segment of FH-code is presented in [6]. Predefined
frequency hops have to be divergent from actual FH-code
if a very long code is used in order to offer satisfactory
synchronization delay. Both of these methods have obvious weak points if robust military communications are
considered. In [7] an algorithm for FH-code pattern detection without a control channel is proposed. If enough used
frequency hops are detected, the used pattern can be calculated. An assumption is made that every frequency appear
only once per pattern, which is, however, not realistic with
a long FH-code. In [8] a method is presented where some
amount of frequency hops are dedicated for synchronization message transmissions. In every frame of h-hops there
is a synch period where these hops are used for synchronization data transmissions. A receiver can freely choose one
dedicated synchronization hop to listen.

FH

Figure 1. Illustration of matched filtering.

B. DS-code phase synchronization & FH-timing
The first requirement for the receiver to be able to decode
the synchronization message is to get synchronized with
the DS-code phase of the incoming signal. Usually this is
done with a matched filter (MF). The DS-code phase estimate would be the time instant corresponding the maximum of the MF output, as illustrated in Figure 1-a). Note
that post detection integration (PDI) is performed in order
to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Coherent as
well as noncoherent PDI is possible within a frequency
hop if multiple code-periods are transmitted during a hop
and, e.g., all-ones training sequence is used. A threshold
setting would be necessary in order to distinguish correlation peaks due to noise from communication signals. However, that is not on a scope of this paper.
If the system is slow-hopping, by estimating only the DScode phase we cannot assure about the timing of the receiving window. In other words: at this point we may not
be able to receive the whole frequency hop but only either
some of the training bits (or code periods) from end of the
hop or some from the beginning. To overcome this problem and slide the receiving window to the right time instant, we apply a pseudorandom training sequence, i.e., we
replace the all-ones training sequence by pseudorandom
FH-timing chips1 (DS(fh)). Thus, one DS(fh) chip consists
of one DS-code period. DS(fh) chips can be sampled out
from the MF output as shown in Figure 1-b) by using DScode phase estimate ( ). These DS(fh) chips are used as
input to filter that is matched to the DS(fh) sequence. The
time instant corresponding to the maximum of output is
the FH-timing estimate ( FH ) as shown in Figure 1-c).
The efficiency of FH-timing estimation sets lower limit to
the network timing accuracy: Depending on the received
SNR, FH-timing estimation may need more or less DS(fh)chips in order to find the true maximum of the matched
filter output. We make an assumption that 30 % of the hop

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We call these bits as chips since they do not carry any data.

(DS(fh) chips) can be lost corresponding about 1.55 dB

loss in SNR.

for example in [9] 232 bits / synchronization message are

used.

III METHOD DESCRIPTION

The interval synchronization messages should be broadcasted depends on the clock drift rates, hopping frequency,
FH-timing requirement (before its estimation) and the
maximum allowed synchronization delay. If the allowed
FH-timing uncertainty is 30%, clock drift is 10-6 s/s and
the dwell time is 625 s the maximum allowed synchronization message interval is 0.3 625s 2 10 6 s/s = 93.75s .
The synchronization delay is coupled with the message
broadcast interval: at the time a node receives the first
synchronization message it is synchronized to the transmitter. The delays for whole network to attain a common timing reference are not concerned in this paper due to space
limitations.

In this chapter our FH-code phase synchronization method

is described. As stated out above, a very long FH-code can
be used. Without a loss of generality certain parameters
are fixed in order to represent numerical values which are
thought to be more illustrative.
A. Example parameters
Our system is slow hopping. FH-code length is considerably long (days, weeks or longer) but is not fixed. Hopping
rate is adopted from Bluetooth to be 1600 hops/s. In Table
1 all important parameters are summarized.

C. The control channel

Table 1. Parameters used in example system

Parameter:
Hopping rate (HR)
Nominal dwell time (1/HR)
DS(s)-code length
Number of bits in a hop
Number of chips in a hop
Chip duration
Chip rate
DS(fh) code length
Number of hop channels

Value:
1600 hops/s
625 s
32 chips
50
1600
390.63 ns
2.56 Mcps
50 chips
30

Our proposal for FH-code phase synchronization is to put

the control channel in a code-space. Thus, the synchronization signal is DS-spread with a common individual synchronization code (DS(s)-code) which is known by every
node. DS(s)-code is allocated for synchronization message
transmissions only. DS(s)-code is orthogonal to all other
DS-codes used, e.g., data-transmissions, allowing simultaneous transmission (multiplexing) of payload data and
synchronization message.
D. Transmitting

B. The synchronization message

We assume that the used FH-code is known by every node.
For example in a military sensor network or a small form
platoon radio system this is a fair assumption since FH is
indented for interference mitigation instead of multiple
access. If the FH-code is unknown it is simply included in
the synchronization message. However, in our case only
the nodes clock reading and the ID (address) of the origin
node are included in the message (the purpose of ID is explained in part F. of this chapter). The length of the message depends on the hop rate and the FH-timing requirement before its estimation. We make an assumption here
that every node knows a common time reference within an
hour, i.e., synchronization message has to include only the
seconds of an hour. If the intended accuracy is microsecond (i.e., number of decimals in time reference information Dn = 6) 32 bits is enough for that accuracy. 10 bits
could be used for addressing which yields 1024 different
node-IDs. Total size is thus 42 bits leaving 8 bits for synchronization preamble if necessary (DS-code phase estimation before data demodulation). This is moderate, since

The synchronization signal is to be sent within three frequency hops. Prior to synchronization message transmission the receiver should have estimated the DS(s)-code
phase as well as FH-timing. Thus, the first hop contains
signal for DS(s)-code phase estimation with all-ones training sequence. The DS(s)-code phase estimate is applied to
sample DS(fh) chips in the next received frequency hop in
order to estimate FH-timing. The third hop includes the
synchronization message for FH-code phase synchronization. A transmitting node takes care that the whole threepart synchronization signal is sent in every frequency hop
in use so that a node transmits in a certain hop only when
FH-code points to it. Thus, no divergent synchronization
hops are needed since transmitter follows all the time the
FH-code it uses. The idea is shown in Figure 2. MSG corresponds to synchronization message. There are only three
hop channels in the figure for illustrative purposes.
After the power-on, an unsynchronized node functions as
follows:
1. Start listen the possible DS(s)-code transmission at
an arbitrary hop frequency.

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2. If any synchronization messages are not received

in pre-defined time, start following FH-code at the
point nodes clock defines. (Wait time depends on
the message broadcast interval, which is discussed
in III-B.)
3. Transmit the three-part synchronization message
so that every hop frequency is covered.
4. Go to phase 1.
After a node is synchronized to its neighbor nodes (i.e.,
adhoc network is formed) it starts to periodically broadcast
synchronization messages in order to advertise networks
FH-code phase (time reference) and thus offers method for
other nodes or subnetworks to synchronize to them. Further, nodes have to listen possible DS(s)-code transmission
when possible (i.e., not transmitting).
DS(s)

DS(fh)

MSG
DS(s)

DS(s)

DS(fh)

MSG
DS(fh)

MSG

Time

Figure 2. Transmitting the synchronization signal.

E. Acquiring the synchronization message

Since the node that transmits the synchronization signal

will send every three parts of the signal in every frequency
hop using DS(s)-code, the acquiring node can freely
choose a frequency to listen. This offers a robust way for
interference avoidance if jammed hops can be detected.
The idea is outlined in Figure 3 with more hop frequencies
than in Figure 2. The synchronization signal is encountered three times in the same hop and the receiver gets all
necessary information in order to synchronize.

Figure 3. The acquiring phase.

The acquisition time depends on the hopping rate, number
of hop frequencies and length of the synchronization signal. In the outlined case the mean time to receive whole
synchronization message is 625s 29 3 = 54.38ms . It is
obvious that with faster hopping rate the acquisition time
reduces whereas increased number of hop channels increases acquisition time. The mean time between FH-code
points to a certain frequency hop two adjacent times
is 625s 29 = 18.13ms. Thus, in order to sample the
DS(fh) chips our DS(s)-code phase estimate has to be valid

at least 18.13 ms. If our clock drift is 10-6 s/s in the worst
case the deviation between the estimate and the real code
phase could be 2 10 6 18.13ms = 3.63 10 8 s . Thus,
the deviation is 3.63 10 8 s 3.9 10 7 s = 9.3% . That is
just enough to guarantee an efficient DS-code estimation
while the limit is 10% [10]. By using more accurate
clocks and longer chip duration the deviation could be decreased.
F. Hierarchy

Some level of hierarchy is needed at the initializing phase

of the network synchronization in order to attain a common FH-code phase throughout the network. A hierarchy
can be based, e.g., on some external ranking, power capabilities, etc. In our example network hierarchy is simply
based on the node-IDs, so that a node with a larger ID is
higher in the rank than nodes with lower IDs. This is a fair
assumption since all nodes are homogenous. After the
node has adopted synchronization it broadcasts synchronization messages with the ID of the node that has originally
set the timing. Time reference included in the message is
the current time that node has in a moment of message
transmission. Comparisons are made every time a node
receives a new synchronization message and timing (FHcode phase) is changed when necessary. Thereby, a node
adjusts its time reference (applies an algorithm proposed in
chapter IV) if a received message includes the same origin
node-ID than it has, ignores message if origin node-ID is
smaller and changes the time reference if origin node-ID is
larger. The method is robust against node faults, since after
the initialization phase all nodes are equal.
IV CLOCK SYNCHRONIZATION

Due to the fact that the real clocks have tendency to drift
compared to each other, a network synchronization algorithm has to be used [11] - [13]. The purpose of such an
algorithm is to achieve and maintain the synchronism between free running clocks. In a sensor network without FH
or TH (Time Hopping) the main purpose is to enable efficient time stamping for data fusion [12]. When considering
FH-system (as ours) the main purpose is to keep nodes in a
common time reference which has a direct correspondence
to the FH-code phase. Based on the time reference to
which nodes are synchronized a twofold division can be
used: external vs. internal. In the former case a global time
base, called real-time is used and in latter case no such
time base exist and the network-time is floating [12].
According to [12] internal synchronization usually leads to
a better operation. Our method leads to a floating networks-time reference and is thus example of an internal
synchronization.

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The clock synchronization (i.e., network synchronization)

algorithm we have adopted in this study is proposed in
[14]. The difference in our case is within unknown propagation delays. The error measure for clock correction term
is calculated as:
Ni

ei (k + 1) = 1 N i eij (k ) ,(1)
j =1

where eij is calculated error between an ith nodes clock

reading and the time reference in the received synchronization message from node j. Ni is the number of synchronization messages collected before clock correction. There
are proposed two coefficients, =0.15 and h=0.75, in [14]
to weigh the last clock correction term and current error
measure, respectively. The error measure with those coefficients is applied for clock correction as proposed in [14].
V SIMULATIONS

The simulations are run in OPNET environment. Two different scenarios are considered: 1000 X 500 m and 5000 X
5000 m. The former scenario corresponds to a twice platoon size area where soldiers have personal communication radios [15]. The latter case corresponds to a battalion
area where radios are considered to be company-radios
[15]. Static and mobile nodes are considered in both
cases. Mobility is based on the random waypoint model
used as a de facto model in adhoc network studies [1].
The synchronization message transmission interval is set
to be 30 s. There is also a random offset between 0 and
0.1s in transmissions. Clock drift rate is 10-6 s/s, which
corresponds to a low-cost quartz oscillator [16]. The half
of the node-clocks has opposite drift directions. At the initializing phase of the simulation, nodes choose randomly
time reference within 10 s of each other. The number of
averaging Ni before clock adjusting is three. Simulation
time of one run is 10 hours and the number of averaging
runs for nodes placements is 20. Results are given as bias
error and as standard deviation (STD) between clocks of
neighbor nodes. Statistics are calculated from time reference in synchronization message (Tj) and current clock
reading of the node (Ti). By this way we can determine the
relevant FH-code phase mismatch between nodes that are

capable to communicate directly, i.e., are within transmission range of each other. A satisfactory small FH-code
phase mismatch between neighbor nodes is a key enabler
when multi-hop networking is considered.
First, we have studied the effect of clock drift and precision of the time reference information in synchronization
message to the mean timing error between neighbor nodes.
Based on those results we have chosen the number of
decimals in synchronization message (Dn) to be used in
latter simulations where we investigate the behavior of
network timing in the viewpoint of individual nodes.
A. Effect of clock drift and message length

The effect of precision of the time reference information

Dn in synchronization message on the clock bias between
neighbor nodes with different clock drift rates is presented
in Figure 4. Simulation is run with four nodes, so that Ni=3
is achieved. Time difference is measured by one node
which is separated 250 m from other nodes. As seen from
the Figure 4, propagation delay sets lower limit for the
bias. This is expected, since propagation delays are not
compensated in the network timing algorithm. The number
of effective decimals in synchronization message depends
on the clock drift rate. If clock drift rate is 10-6 s/s with
Dn= 5 the bias is almost as low as it gets. Bias saturates at
the same level as the clock drift is in 30 s, but not exactly
because of uncertainty in transmissions of synchronization
messages (i.e., clock correction interval). The same trend
is also seen with other drift rates. Since there is a slight
improvement between Dn = 5 and 6 in the case of 10-6 s/s
drift rate we choose to use 6 decimals in further simulations.
1
1

0.1

Clock drift: 1e-6s/s

Clock drift: 1e-7s/s

0.01

Clock bias (|T i-T j|)

[9] presents a large scale approach to network synchronization. Synchronism is based on a multilevel hierarchy and
for example external time can be used as a reference.
Clocks are adjusted based on neighbor information which
is broadcasted once per second. Only the clocks of the
higher or the same rank nodes are taken into account. Accuracy is partially based on known characteristics of medium (estimate of propagation delay and other channel
effects).

Clock drift: 1e-8s/s

Clock drift: 1e-9s/s

0.001

Limit due to propagation delay

0.0001

0.00001

0.000001

0.0000001

Number of decimals (Dn ) in a synchronization message

Figure 4. The effect of time precision in synchronization

message.
B. Timing results

The biases and STDs of the clock differences between

neighbor nodes are presented in Figures 5 - 8. In the first
two simulation sets there are considered a 1000 X 500 m
area with 13 or 25 operational nodes. Nodes have a nominal 250 m transmission range. According to [15] the network connectivity is determined by the range, the node

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density and the size of the area. 100 % connectivity is

achieved if there are 8 or more neighbors per node. In
1000 X 500 m area this means at least 23 nodes. We have
simulated two cases in order to investigate the effect of the
connectivity: 25 nodes correspond to 100 % connectivity
(9 neighbors) and 13 nodes correspond to 70 % connectivity (4 neighbors) [17]. Both static and mobile situations
are concerned. In the mobile case, speed of the nodes is
randomly between 0.2 m/s to 1.5 m/s, which correspond to
pedestrian movement [1]. The movement is continuous
when started without pause time. As seen in Figures 5 and
6 a low connectivity increases both bias and STD. This
result is expected since without regular synchronization
message exchange, nodes cannot maintain a common network time. Also, the effect of mobility is evident from the
figures: mobility averages the effect of bad node placements, thus reducing the overall bias and STD.

% of the message before FH-timing synchronization, stating that FH-timing synchronization is mandatory before
data transmission. With a poor connectivity the 2-b -error
is about 24.3 % (mobile) to 118 % (static) of the dwell
time. In a battalion level network the 2-b -errors are correspondingly between 19.4 to 26.9 % of the dwell time. If
the FH-timing algorithm can tolerate about 30 % error in
network timing as stated in chapter II-B., these results
show that our example network functions properly in both
platoon and battalion cases if the connectivity is good.
Table 2. 2-b -errors of network timing
Average
2 Platoon area
(mobile), 25 nodes
2 Platoon area
(static), 25 nodes
2 Platoon area
(mobile), 13 nodes
2 Platoon area
(static), 13 nodes
Battalion area (low
mobile nodes)
Battalion area (high
mobile nodes)
Battalion area
(static)

In a battalion area network number of nodes is 4 and

nominal transmission range is 4 km, corresponding about 7
neighbors and 97% connectivity. The number of nodes is
rather chosen based on the number of companies / battalion than the number of nodes for full connectivity. Besides, 97 % of 4 nodes mean that 0.12 nodes are outside of
network, thus virtually network has full connectivity. Two
mobility models are used: In the first case (low mobile
nodes) the same parameters are used as in the twice platoon area case. In the second case (high mobile nodes)
the speed of the nodes is randomly between 8.3 m/s to 19.5
m/s, which corresponds to a vehicle speed. The movement
is continuous when started without pause time. As seen
from the Figures 7 and 8 the mobility reduces both the bias
and the STD. However, the overall performance is reduced due to longer propagation ranges compared to Figures 5 and 6.

% of dwelltime
(average-Max)
10.3% - 11.3%

9.34E-05s

1.39E-04s

14.9% - 22.2%

1.52E-04

2.09E-04

24.3% - 33.4%

3.54E-04

7.43E-04

56.6% - 118%

1.21E-04

1.33E-04

19.4% - 21.3%

1.20E-04

1.31E-04

19.2% - 21 %

1.46E-04

1.68E-04

23.4% - 26.9%

2.00E-04
1.80E-04

mobility, 25 nodes

s tatic, 25 nodes

1.60E-04

mobility,13 nodes

Bias(|Ti-T j|)

1.40E-04

s tatic, 13 nodes

1.20E-04
1.00E-04
8.00E-05
6.00E-05
4.00E-05
2.00E-05
0.00E+00
1

Figures 5 - 8 prove that our network saturates at the common timing reference as long as all nodes can receive synchronization messages. The node-ID based hierarchy is
functional since there is a consensus of the used timing
reference, i.e., all the nodes choose to use the same timing
offset compared to each other.

6.43E-05s

Worstcase
7.08E-05s

11

13

15

17

19

21

23

25

Node ID

Figure 5. Bias error between Ti and Tj. Nodes operating at

1000 X 500 m area.
0.0003

mobility, 25 nodes
0.00025

static, 25 nodes

mobility, 13 nodes

static, 13 nodes

In order to evaluate the quality of network timing algorithm we adopt the two-sigma-bias statistic (2-b = 2
STD + bias) in a worst case and average case. In a worst
case the largest bias and STD of the node participating in
the network are used and in an average case corresponding
average values are used. The results are presented in Table
2. When the connectivity is good in the twice platoon size
network (2 Platoon area) the 2-b -errors are 10.3 %
(mobile) to 22.2 % (static) of the dwell time. This result
means that a received frequency hop lacks about 10 to 22

STD(|Ti-T j|)

0.0002

0.00015

0.0001

0.00005

0
1

11

13

15

17

19

21

23

25

Node ID

Figure 6. STD between Ti and Tj. Nodes operating at 1000

X 500 m area.

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9.00E-05
8.50E-05

high mobile nodes

low mobile nodes

7.50E-05

Bias(|T i-T j|)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

static nodes

8.00E-05

This work was supported by the Finnish Defence Forces

through the Finnish Software Radio Programme
(http://www.mil.fi/laitokset/pvtt/fsrpbook.pdf).

7.00E-05
6.50E-05
6.00E-05
5.50E-05

REFERENCES

5.00E-05
4.50E-05

[1]

4.00E-05
1

Node ID

Figure 7. Bias error between Ti and Tj. Nodes operating at

5000 X 5000 m area.

[3]
[4]

0.00006
static nodes

0.000055

high mobile nodes

STD(|T i-T j|)

0.00005

[2]

[5]

low mobile nodes

0.000045
0.00004

[6]

0.000035
0.00003
0.000025

[7]

0.00002
1

Node ID

[8]

Figure 8. STD between Ti and Tj. Nodes operating at 5000

X 5000 m area.

[9]

VI SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS

A comprehensive study of the synchronization of a slow

hopping FH/DS spread spectrum multi-hop adhoc network
is presented in this paper. First, a method for nodes to exchange necessary synchronization messages is presented.
The method is based on a control-channel in code-space,
which allows using a very long FH-code without divergent
synchronization hops, thus providing excellent LPI & LPJ
properties. Hierarchy at the initializing phase is based on a
node-IDs and a common timing reference is achieved
through periodic broadcasts of synchronization messages
which includes the current timing (clock reading) of a
node. In order to maintain common network time reference
in a satisfactory level a discrete network timing algorithm
is applied to OPNET simulation environment.

[10]

[11]
[12]

[13]
[14]
[15]

The simulations prove that proposed method functions

properly even with low-cost quartz oscillators (clocks): the
whole network attains a common timing reference in both
static and mobile case and the timing error between
neighbor nodes saturates to a satisfactory level as long as
connectivity is good. Improved intelligence in hierarchy at
the initializing phase will be a future research topic.

[16]
[17]

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