Increasing sync rate of pulse-coupled oscillators via phase response function design: theory and application to wireless networks

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that designing the phase response function of pulse-coupled oscillators can significantly enhance synchronization speed and reduce energy consumption in wireless network clock synchronization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to increase PCO synchronization rate by phase response function design, supported by theoretical proof and practical experiments.

Findings

Synchronization rate increases with phase response function design

Energy consumption in synchronization is reduced

Experimental results confirm theoretical predictions

Abstract

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