Patent ID: 7924727

Claim:
A method for configuring a communications network comprising a plurality of access points, the method comprising: determining communications link state in the communications network, wherein the determination of communications link state comprises, at each access point, (a) transmitting, by the access point, a message on a default link of the access point to a wired access point, wherein the default link is a communications link that is part of a shortest path from the access point to the wired access point; (b) marking, by the access point, a state of the default link with a first hierarchical indicator, wherein the first hierarchical indicator represents a rating of the default link in a hierarchical scale; (c) marking a state of one communications link with a second hierarchical indicator in response to a receipt of a message on the one communications link, wherein the second hierarchical indicator represents a rating of the one communications link in the hierarchical scale; (d) after the marking of said state of said one communications link, marking a state of another communications link with a third hierarchical indicator in response to not receiving a message on the another communications link for a specified period of time, wherein the third hierarchical indicator represents a lower hierarchical value than either the first hierarchical indicator or the second hierarchical indicator; and (e) disabling communications links with states not marked with either the first hierarchical indicator or the second hierarchical indicator; entering a normal operating mode; and periodically repeating the determining and entering steps.