Patent ID: 7917624

Claim:
A network architecture, comprising: a plurality of access points coupled to a wired network, each of the access points being capable of communicating with a mobile node over a wireless network; and a controller coupled to the access points over the wired network, the controller maintaining network traffic information of the wireless network and communicating the network traffic information with the access points to enable the access points to cooperate with each other to provide network services responsive to real-time network conditions to the mobile node over the wireless network, wherein the controller determines an association between the mobile node and at least one of the access points based on signal strength and the real-time network conditions, wherein the controller communicates with the at least one access point regarding the real-time network conditions over a control and command channel that is different than a data channel where data is transmitted, wherein in response to a connection request from the mobile node, the at least one access point uses an ingress based policy control to determine channel allocation to the mobile node by interrogating already-established connections and the real-time network conditions including traffic congestion, wherein at least one access point is dynamically configurable at real time by the controller to operate in one of an infrastructure mode and an ad-hoc mode based on the signal strength and the real-time network conditions, wherein during the infrastructure mode, the at least one access point operates as an actual access point to allow other mobile nodes operating as clients to access the wired network via one or more wireless interfaces and a wired interface of the at least one access point, and wherein during the ad-hoc mode, the one or more wireless interfaces allow the at least one access point to operate as a client to directly communicate with another mobile node over the wireless network.