Patent ID: 6870846

Claim:
A method for sending data in a wireless ad-hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes grouped into clusters of nodes and a plurality of wireless links connecting the plurality of nodes, each cluster having a designated cluster leader node, the method comprising: sending a cluster-level route request from a source node of a source cluster to a cluster leader node of the source cluster; determining a cluster-level route between the source cluster and a destination cluster comprising a destination node responsive to the cluster-level route request and using a plurality of the cluster leader nodes; designating at least one cluster target node in a cluster along the cluster-level route; determining a node-level route from the source node to the destination node including the at least one cluster target node; generating a mission data packet comprising an address of the destination node, an address of the at least one cluster target node, the node-level route, and the cluster-level route; and transferring data from the source node to the destination node via the node-level route based upon the mission data packet.