Beacon channel for frequency hopping wireless devices

A mobile device for communicating with other devices using a frequency hopping wireless interface such as blue-tooth, sends a sequence of messages each on a different frequency, for finding other devices within range, and listens for a response during a subsequent response window, on one or more response frequencies. It receives information such as location information from the other devices without needing to set up a frequency hopping connection. The response window is long enough to receive more than one response. The overall time for short transactions such as a single request and response for device discovery, can be kept short. This in turn leads to low power consumption by mobile devices and low chance of interference between devices. An interval between sequences of the messages can be increased, thus lowering the total amount of packets broadcast.