Patent ID: 8473736

Claim:
A method for making security mechanisms available in wireless mesh network having a plurality of nodes that are connected to each other in a wireless network using mesh routing and including a mesh header in a MAC layer by multi-hop communication, comprising: defining a first Type of Protection (ToP) confidence level for a first node of the plurality of nodes; defining a second ToP confidence level for a second node of the plurality of nodes; the first node sending a first data packet to the second node that is intended for a third node of the plurality of nodes via a multi-hop connection, the first data packet having a third ToP confidence level defined within a header of the first data packet; the second node receiving the first data packet; the second node comparing the third ToP confidence level with the second ToP confidence level of the second node to determine whether the first data packet is to be forwarded by the second node, upon a determination that the third ToP confidence level indicates that the third ToP confidence level is of a lesser or equal confidence level than the second ToP confidence level, the second node forwarding the received first data packet; upon a determination that the third ToP confidence level indicates that the third ToP confidence level is of a greater confidence level than the second ToP confidence level, the second node not forwarding the first data packet.