Patent ID: 7826869

Claim:
In a mobility domain comprising a first mobility area having a first designated wireless switch, a redundant designated wireless switch, and a client wireless switch associated with the redundant designated wireless switch, and a second mobility area having a second designated wireless switch, a method for relaying control messages between wireless switches in each mobility area, the method comprising: initiating an internal peering session between a first client wireless switch and a second client wireless switch in the first mobility area, and initiating an internal peering session between the redundant designated wireless switch and the client wireless switch associated with the redundant designated wireless switch in the first mobility area; associating the first client wireless switch and the second client wireless switch with the first designated wireless switch to establish an internal peering session between the first and the second client wireless switches and the first designated wireless switch in the first mobility area; receiving, at the first designated wireless switch, a control message from the first client wireless switch; relaying the control message from the first designated wireless switch to the second client wireless switch and the redundant designated wireless switch; and relaying the control message from the redundant designated wireless switch to the first client wireless switch, second client wireless switch, and the client wireless switch associated with the redundant designated wireless switch.