A method and apparatus for guaranteeing packet delivery times in an
asynchronous network includes generating a global timing schedule to
synchronize the communication between the terminals of a network and, in
response to at least one trigger, transmitting and receiving data
according to the generated global timing schedule. To optimize bandwidth
utilization, more than one terminal may transmit data during a specific
time slot of each time frame of the global timing schedule as long as no
more than one terminal attempts to transmit data to a common other
terminal.