Methods and apparatus for providing a transparent bridge associated with a wireless mesh network

• US 20060146846A1
• Filed: 01/05/2005
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Singh, Harkirat, Yarvis, Mark D., Conner, W. Steven, Rangarajan, Anand
• Granted Patent: US 7,626,967 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/406
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4604 LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay

Abstract

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for providing a transparent data-link bridge associated with a wireless mesh network are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying bridging information associated with a destination of a packet at a portal node, the portal node being one of a plurality of mesh nodes associated with a wireless mesh network and communicatively coupling the wireless mesh network to one or more communication networks; and

processing the packet based on the bridging information at one or more of the plurality of the mesh nodes.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the bridging information associated with the destination of the packet at the portal node comprises identifying one of bridging information associated with one of the plurality of mesh nodes of the wireless mesh network or bridging information associated with a node of a communication network communicatively coupled to the wireless mesh network via the portal node.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the bridging information associated with the destination of the packet at the portal node comprises identifying bridging information indicative of a failure to access the destination through the portal node.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the bridging information associated with the destination of the packet at the portal node comprises identifying bridging information associated with a destination of one or more of a unicast data packet, a broadcast data packet, or a multicast data packet.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the packet to the destination based on the bridging information comprises identifying routing information based on the bridging information.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the packet to the destination based on the bridging information comprises forwarding the packet to one or more bridges of the wireless mesh network.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the packet based on the bridging information comprises dropping the packet.

8. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising maintaining a routing table information at one or more of the plurality of mesh nodes based on the bridging information from the portal node.

9. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising identifying one or more portal nodes associated with the wireless mesh network based on the bridging information and forwarding the packet to the one or more portal nodes.

10. An article of manufacture including content, which when accessed, causes a machine to:

identify bridging information associated with a destination of a packet at a portal node, the portal node being one of a plurality of mesh nodes associated with a wireless mesh network and communicatively coupling the wireless mesh network to one or more communication networks; and

process the packet based on the bridging information at one or more of the plurality of the mesh nodes.

11. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to identify the bridging information associated with the destination of the packet at the mesh portal node by identifying one of bridging information associated with one of the plurality of mesh nodes of the wireless mesh network or bridging information associated with a node of a communication network communicatively coupled to the wireless mesh network via the portal node

12. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to identify the bridging information associated with the destination of the packet at the portal node by identifying bridging information indicative of a failure to access the destination through the portal node.

13. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to process the packet to the destination based on the bridging information by identifying routing information based on the bridging information.

14. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to process the packet to the destination based on the bridging information by forwarding the packet to one or more bridges of the wireless mesh network.

15. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to process the packet based on the bridging information by dropping the packet.

16. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to maintain a routing table at one or more of the plurality of mesh nodes based on the bridging information from the portal node.

17. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the content, when accessed, causes the machine to identify one or more portal nodes associated with the wireless mesh network based on the bridging information and forwarding the packet to the one or more portal nodes.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of communication interfaces;

an identifier to identifying bridging information associated with a destination of a packet at a portal node, the portal node being one of a plurality of mesh nodes associated with a wireless mesh network and communicatively coupling the wireless mesh network to one or more communication networks; and

a handler to process the packet based on the bridging information at one or more of the plurality of the mesh nodes.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the identifier is configured to identify one of bridging information associated with one of the plurality of mesh nodes of the wireless mesh network or bridging information associated with a node of a communication network communicatively coupled to the wireless mesh network via the portal node.

20. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the identifier is configured to identify bridging information indicative of a failure to access the destination through the portal node.

21. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the identifier is configured to identify routing information based on the bridging information.

22. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the handler is configured to forward the packet to one or more bridges of the wireless mesh network.

23. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the handler is configured to drop the packet.

24. A system comprising:

a flash memory; and

a processor coupled to the flash memory to identify bridging information associated with a destination of a packet at a portal node and to process the packet based on the bridging information at one or more of a plurality of the mesh nodes of a wireless mesh network,

wherein the portal node is one of the plurality of mesh nodes and communicatively coupling the wireless mesh network to one or more communication networks.

25. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to identify one of bridging information associated with one of the plurality of mesh nodes of the wireless mesh network or bridging information associated with a node of a communication network communicatively coupled to the wireless mesh network via the portal node.

26. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to identify bridging information indicative of a failure to access the destination through the portal node.

27. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to identify routing information based on the bridging information.

28. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to forward the packet to one or more bridges of the wireless mesh network.

29. A system as defined in claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to drop the packet.