Synchronization of pulse-coupled oscillators with a refractory period and frequency distribution for a wireless sensor network.

The present paper considers the synchronization of globally pulse-coupled oscillators with a refractory period and frequency distribution. The oscillators are capable of achieving time synchronization for a practical wireless sensor network. Furthermore, as a result of the stability analysis of the synchronization, a procedure for designing the oscillators is provided: the determination of the allowable refractory period under a given frequency distribution range. These analytical results are verified by numerical examples. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.