Distributed synchronization algorithm for infrastructure-less public safety networks

In this paper, we propose a distributed synchronization algorithm for infrastructure-less public safety networks. The proposed algorithm aims to minimize the number of out-of-sync user equipments (UEs) by efficiently forming synchronization groups and selecting synchronization reference (SyncRef) UEs in a distributed manner. For the purpose, we introduce a novel affinity propagation technique which enables an autonomous decision at each UE based on local message-passing among neighboring UEs. Our simulation results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the number of out-of-sync UEs by up to 31% compared to the conventional scan-and-select strategy.