Increasing Sync Rate of Pulse-Coupled Oscillators via Phase Response Function Design: Theory and Application to Wireless Networks

This brief addresses the synchronization rate of weakly connected pulse-coupled oscillators (PCOs). We prove that besides the coupling strength, the phase response function is also a determinant of the synchronization rate. Inspired by the result, we propose to increase the synchronization rate of PCOs by designing the phase response function. This has important significance in the PCO-based clock synchronization of wireless networks. By designing the phase response function, the synchronization rate is increased even under a fixed transmission power. Given that the energy consumption in synchronization is determined by the product of synchronization time and transmission power, the new strategy reduces energy consumption in the clock synchronization. QualNet experiments confirm the theoretical results.