Patent ID: 8687521

Claim:
A network interface of a first mesh point device, the network interface comprising: a memory; and a medium access controller, wherein in response to the first mesh point device receiving a frame to be transmitted to a second mesh point device, the medium access controller is configured to determine whether a mesh path for routing the frame from the first mesh point device to the second mesh point device is stored in the memory, wherein, in response to a mesh path for routing the frame from the first mesh point device to the second mesh point device not being stored in the memory, and prior to performing a mesh path discovery protocol to determine a mesh path for routing the frame from the first mesh point device to the second mesh point device, the medium access controller is configured to (i) determine, without using the mesh path discovery protocol, whether the second mesh point device is one hop from the first mesh point device, and if so select a one hop path for routing the frame from the first mesh point device to the second mesh point device, otherwise (ii) use the mesh path discovery protocol to determine a mesh path for routing the frame from the first mesh point device to the second mesh point device.