Token relay with optimistic joining

Token passing has emerged as an attractive channel access control mechanism for wireless networks with long link turnaround times, such as the HF wide area network (HFWAN) network used in naval battle groups. However, the use of token passing over unreliable links requires sometimes complex recovery protocols, which can reduce network performance both during network formation and in steady-state operation. In this paper we examine the ability of token relaying to add robustness to ring formation as well as during link outages of varying durations