Patent ID: 8374124

Claim:
A method for routing a packet in an ad hoc wireless network comprising a plurality of base stations and supporting a plurality of wireless devices, comprising: receiving a user packet at a first base station of the plurality of base stations, wherein the user packet is received from a first wireless device associated with the first base station, wherein the user packet is intended for a second wireless device associated with a second base station of the plurality of base stations, wherein the user packet includes an identifier of the second wireless device; wherein the first base station comprises a plurality of wireless interfaces including a wireless mesh interface configured to support wireless mesh communications between the first base station and at least one other base station of the plurality of base stations and a wireless backhaul interface configured to support wireless backhaul communications between the first base station and a wireless backhaul network; wherein the first base station comprises an association table including, for each of the plurality of wireless devices of the ad hoc wireless network, an indication of the base station with which the wireless device is currently associated; identifying the second base station at the first base station using the identifier of the second wireless device and the association table; encapsulating the received user packet to form an encapsulated user packet, wherein the user packet is encapsulated using a header comprising an identifier of the second base station; and propagating the encapsulated user packet from the first base station toward the second base station via the wireless mesh interface of the first base station.