Patent ID: 7831206

Claim:
A method for use by a first node in an ad-hoc Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) which first node maintains a table of other nodes within the network which can be used for forwarding messages within the network, said method comprising: receiving a first signal from a second node, analyzing the first signal to determine its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), determining if the second node is a member of a good neighbor group of nodes having net a predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirement and is already listed in the table maintained by the first node, if the second node is a member of the good neighbor group of nodes already listed in the table maintained by the first node, comparing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal to a first predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal exceeds the first predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, maintaining the second node in the table as a member of the good neighbor group of nodes, and if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal does not exceed the first predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, discarding the first signal, and if the second node is not a member of the good neighbor group of nodes already listed in the table maintained by the first node, comparing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal to a second predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold greater than the first predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal exceeds the second predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, adding the second node to the table so that the second node is included as a new member in the good neighbor group of nodes, and if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal does not exceed the second predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, discarding the first signal and continuing to not list the second node in the table, wherein said method is applied in an AODV or DSR system.