Patent ID: 8838103

Claim:
A handoff method for a station in a wireless network, the method comprising: outputting a first reassociation request to a prior access point in the wireless network; receiving, from the prior access point, a first reassociation response in response to the first reassociation request, the prior access point transmitting a context of the station to a post access point in the wireless network in response to the first reassociation response being transmitted to the station, the context allowing the station to directly reassociate with the post access point; outputting, to the post access point, a second reassociation request to begin handoff to access the wireless network through the post access point; and receiving, directly from the post access point, a second reassociation response in response to the second reassociation request, when the post access point is determined to have the context of the station prior to receiving the second reassociation request initiating the handoff procedure to the post access point, wherein the context is transmitted from the prior access point to the post access point based on a neighboring graph including a list of access points within a predetermined path of the station.