Patent ID: 7720499

Claim:
A method of regulating transmission power of access nodes within a wireless mesh network, the mesh network comprising at least one gateway access node, and a plurality of access nodes, the method comprising: each access node identifying packets for transmission as either data packets or as routing packets; each access node transmitting the routing packets periodically; downstream access nodes selecting a routing path to at least one gateway based upon a quality of received routing packets; each access node setting the transmission power of transmit signals from the device to be lower for routing packets than for data packets; wherein setting the transmission signal power lower for routing packets than for data packets comprises: determining a minimum power level required to sustain a desired transmission rate for the routing packets, wherein the minimum power level is determined by measuring SNR at a receiver of the routing packets, and determining the minimum power level by comparing the measured SNR with an SNR required to maintain the desired transmission rate; adjusting the transmission power level based on the minimum power level and a spacing density of the plurality of access nodes of the mesh network.