DYNAMICALLY SYNCHRONIZED DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORK

The invention provides a distributed sensor network in which each node has a processor configured to transmit a heads-up message to a recipient node in the network informing the recipient node of a data stream to be transmitted along a route including a hop between the node and the recipient node. The heads-up message further informs the recipient node of times at which data packets of the data stream are to be transmitted from the node to the recipient node. Upon receipt of a heads-up message, the processor of the recipient node cycles the receiver of the recipient node between on and off state states in a low latency mode in which the receiver of the recipient node is in the on state when the receiver is to receive a data stream packet from another node in the network.