Patent ID: 8340106

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for connecting a mesh network to a LAN using a standard MAC Bridge, comprising: determining addresses of stations on the LAN using a bridge node; wherein the bridge node comprises a mesh driver that is located between a MAC bridge layer and a wireless adapter that is coupled wirelessly to the mesh network; wherein upon receiving a packet at the wireless adapter from the mesh network, the mesh driver: checks an address of the packet; determines when the address is a local node on the mesh network without accessing the MAC Bridger layer; determines when the address is not an address of a local node and only when the address is not the address of the local node on the mesh network then the mesh driver moves the packet up to the MAC Bridge layer and stores the address as a LAN station within a list of non-mesh neighbors that have communicated with the bridge node and removing one of the stations from the list when the bridge node has not received any packets that are associated with the one of the stations for a predetermined period of time; proactively advertising each of the determined addresses of the LAN stations to other nodes within the mesh network comprising non-bridge nodes as being a mesh neighbor of the bridge node regardless of the need for a route; and directing packets from nodes on the mesh network destined to stations on the LAN through the bridge node.