Patent ID: 8363623

Claim:
A method of operating a communication network comprising a plurality of wireless stations, each station being able to transmit and receive data so that the network can transmit a message comprising a plurality of data packets from an originating station to a destination station via at least one intermediate station, wherein at least some stations have a controllable antenna system operable to direct a null selectively, the method including the steps of: (a) selecting, at each station, one or more probing channels for the transmission of probe signals to other stations; (b) detecting, at stations having a controllable antenna system, the presence of out of network interference on said one or more probing channels and selectively directing one or more nulls towards the source or sources of the out of network interference; and (c) transmitting neighbor gathering probe signals from each station on the selected probing channel or channels, other stations which receive the neighbor gathering probe signals from a probing station responding directly or indirectly to thereby indicate to the probing station their availability as destination or intermediate neighbor stations; wherein the presence of said null or nulls affects the ability of other stations to receive the neighbor gathering probe signals, the resulting variations in the connectivity between said each station and other stations thereby providing variations in the availability of neighbor stations to said each station.