Distribution of broadcast traffic through a mesh network

1. A wireless mesh network gateway, comprising:

one or more transceivers for communicating with other devices of a wireless mesh network;

a processor, the processor operative to:

obtain broadcast listening information of a broadcast listening access node, wherein the broadcast listening access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast listening access node is connected to a broadcast listening device, and wherein the broadcast listening information includes an identifier of the broadcast listening access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device;

obtain broadcast sourcing information of a broadcast sourcing access node, wherein the broadcast sourcing access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast sourcing access node is connected a broadcast sourcing device, and wherein the broadcast sourcing information includes an identifier of the broadcast sourcing access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device;

provide the broadcast listening information of the broadcast listening access node to the broadcast sourcing access node upon determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches the broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device; wherein

the wireless mesh network gateway is a part of a first cluster; and

wherein the sourcing access node receives broadcast packets from the broadcast sourcing device connected to the broadcast sourcing access node, and the broadcast sourcing access node encapsulates the broadcast packets into unicast packets, and unicast transmits the unicast packets through the wireless mesh network gateway of the first cluster and a second gateway of a second cluster of the mesh network to a broadcast listening access node of the second cluster after determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device of the second cluster.

2. The gateway of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operative to exchange the broadcast listening information with other gateways within the wireless mesh network.

3. A method of supporting broadcast traffic through a mesh network, comprising:

obtaining, by a gateway of the mesh network, broadcast listening information of a broadcast listening access node, wherein the broadcast listening access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast listening access node is connected to a broadcast listening device, and wherein the broadcast listening information includes an identifier of the broadcast listening access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device;

obtaining, by the gateway, broadcast sourcing information of a broadcast sourcing access node, wherein the broadcast sourcing access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast sourcing access node is connected a broadcast sourcing device, and wherein the broadcast sourcing information includes an identifier of the broadcast sourcing access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device;

providing, by the gateway, broadcast listening information of the broadcast listening access node to the broadcast sourcing access node upon determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches the broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device; and

receiving, by the sourcing access node, broadcast packets from the broadcast sourcing device connected to the broadcast sourcing access node, and the broadcast sourcing access node encapsulating the broadcast packets into unicast packets, and unicast transmitting the unicast packets through a first gateway of a first cluster and a second gateway of a second cluster of the mesh network to a broadcast listening access node of the second cluster after determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device of the second cluster.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the broadcast listening access node is additionally connected to other broadcast listening devices having different broadcast identifiers.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the broadcast sourcing access node is additionally connected to other broadcast sourcing devices having different broadcast identifiers.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein an IP address of the listening access node is maintained when the listening access node roams to a different upstream device or a different cluster.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the unicast packets are unicast transmitted to an IP address of the broadcast listening access node.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the listening access node receiving the encapsulated packets, de-encapsulating the encapsulated packets, and transmitting the de-encapsulated packets to the broadcast listening device.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the gateway exchanging the broadcast listening information with other gateways within the mesh network.

10. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the listening access node and the broadcast sourcing access node each selecting an upstream gateway based on a routing selection protocol.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the listening access node updating its selected upstream gateway with the broadcast listening information, and the broadcast sourcing access node updating its selected upstream gateway with the broadcast sourcing information.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifier of the broadcast listening access node includes an IP address of the broadcast listening access node and the identifier of the broadcast sourcing access node includes an IP address of the broadcast sourcing access node.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the updating is periodic.

14. A method of supporting broadcast traffic through a mesh network, comprising:

obtaining, by a gateway of the mesh network, broadcast listening information of a broadcast listening access node, wherein the broadcast listening access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast listening access node is connected to a broadcast listening device, and wherein the broadcast listening information includes an identifier of the broadcast listening access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device;

obtaining, by the gateway, broadcast sourcing information of a broadcast sourcing access node, wherein the broadcast sourcing access node is downstream from the gateway, and the broadcast sourcing access node is connected a broadcast sourcing device, and wherein the broadcast sourcing information includes an identifier of the broadcast sourcing access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device;

providing, by the gateway, broadcast listening information of the broadcast listening access node to the broadcast sourcing access node upon determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches the broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device;

the listening access node and the broadcast sourcing access node each selecting an upstream gateway based on a routing selection protocol;

the listening access node updating its selected upstream gateway with the broadcast listening information, and the broadcast sourcing access node updating its selected upstream gateway with the broadcast sourcing information;

wherein a roaming listening access node updates a more recently selected upstream device or upstream gateway with its broadcast listening information.

15. A method of supporting broadcast traffic through a mesh network, comprising:

obtaining, by a first gateway of the mesh network, broadcast listening information of a broadcast listening access node, wherein the broadcast listening access node is downstream from the first gateway, and the broadcast listening access node is connected to a broadcast listening device, and wherein the broadcast listening information includes an identifier of the broadcast listening access node, and a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device;

the first gateway exchanging the broadcast listening information with a second gateway within the mesh network;

obtaining, by the second gateway, broadcast sourcing information of a broadcast sourcing access node, wherein the broadcast sourcing access node is downstream from the second gateway, and the broadcast sourcing access node is connected a broadcast sourcing device, and wherein the broadcast sourcing information includes an identifier of the broadcast sourcing access node, and a broadcast identifier the broadcast sourcing device;

providing, by the second gateway, broadcast listening information of the broadcast listening access node to the broadcast sourcing access node upon determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches the broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device; and

receiving, by the sourcing access node, broadcast packets from the broadcast sourcing device connected to the broadcast sourcing access node, and the broadcast sourcing access node encapsulating the broadcast packets into unicast packets, and unicast transmitting the unicast packets through a first gateway of a first cluster and a second gateway of a second cluster of the mesh network to a broadcast listening access node of the second cluster after determining the broadcast identifier of the broadcast sourcing device matches a broadcast identifier of the broadcast listening device of the second cluster.