Patent ID: 6885847

Claim:
In a short-range wireless networking environment, a method of enabling communication between at least one end device and at least one application server, comprising the steps of: providing at least one access point (AP), wherein each of the APs is adapted for communicating over at least one short-range wireless connection and at least one network connection; providing at least one extension point (EP), wherein: each of the EPs has a directional antenna and an omnidirectional antenna, each of the antennas adapted for short-range wireless connections; and at least one of the EPs communicates with one of the APs, using one of the at least one short-range wireless connections of the AP and the directional antenna of the EP, and also with at least one selected one of the end devices, using the omnidirectional antenna of the EP; and transmitting traffic between a selected one of the application serves and the at least one selected one of the end devices, wherein the transmitted traffic flows between the selected application server and the AP using one of the at least one network connections of the AP, between the AP and a selected EP with which the AP is communicating and with which the at least one selected end device is also communicating, and between the selected EP and the at least one selected end device.