Patent ID: 8599719

Claim:
A system comprising: a first wireless network node; a second wireless network node; and a third wireless network node, wherein the first, second, and third wireless network nodes are part of a plurality of wireless network nodes, wherein the first wireless network node is configured to: listen for a communication from the third wireless network node, wherein the listening is performed based at least in part on information received in a communication from the second wireless network node; receive, in at least one of the communication from the second wireless network node and the communication from the third wireless network node, information indicative of a time to send a join packet for enabling the first wireless network node to join a wireless network; and in response to receiving the communication from the third wireless network node, generate a join packet for enabling the first wireless network node to join the wireless network and transmit the join packet at the indicated time to send the join packet, and wherein the join packet generated and transmitted by the first wireless network node includes a report identifying neighboring wireless network nodes from which the first wireless network node has received communications and including a measure of path stability to each neighboring wireless network node.