Patent ID: 7933247

Claim:
A network architecture, comprising: a first access point coupled to a wired network, the first access point capable of communicating with a plurality of mobile nodes over a wireless network, the mobile nodes capable of communicating with each other using direct wireless links; a dedicated controller coupled to the wired network, wherein the dedicated controller requests non-active nodes to cooperate with the dedicated controller in accumulating information regarding the wired and wireless networks; a first node coupled to the wired network to communicate with the first access point over the wired network, wherein the first node includes a wireless network interface to wirelessly communicate with at least one of the first access point and the mobile nodes over the wireless network, the first node to communicate with the first access point over the wired network and the wireless network using a plurality of communications channels, the wireless network interface of the first node to enable the first node to become a second access point capable of communicating with at least one of the first access point and the mobile nodes over the wireless network, the first node to communicate with the first access point using a first channel and a second channel, the first node to request the first channel for a first type of traffic and to request the second channel for a second type of traffic, and in response to a link request from a first mobile node to communicate with a second mobile node, the dedicated controller to determine, in view of current traffic of the wired and wireless networks and quality of service required by the link request, one of two communication routes available to the first mobile node for the first mobile node to communicate with the second mobile node, the two communication routes to include a first route, which is through the first access point, over the wired network, and through the second access point, and a second route, which is over the direct wireless link that is between the first mobile node and the second mobile node, wherein transactions routed through the second route have more demanding requirements than transactions routed through the first route.