Resilient mobile meshed network with extended range

1. A wireless device normally configured for communicating with provider equipment (PE) of a mobile network to access therefrom mobile network services for use by the wireless device, comprising:

an interface configured for mobile network communication with mobile network access devices;

an interface configured for wireless network communication with wireless network devices; and

a processor configured to:

establish ad hoc communications with one or more other wireless devices via a wireless network in communication with the wireless network communication interface;

determine local anchor criteria including a quality of service (QoS) level associated with a local mobile network in communication with the mobile network communication interface;

transmit, via said wireless network, a message indicative of the local anchor criteria;

receive, via said wireless network, messages indicative of local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices; and

in response to said local anchor criteria favorably comparing to said local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices, causing said wireless device to enter an anchor mode of operation, said anchor mode of operation comprising:

receiving mobile network traffic via the mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received mobile network traffic for other wireless devices via the wireless network communication interface; and

receiving wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said local anchor criteria comprises a signal strength.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said local anchor criteria comprises one or more of a signal strength and a bit error rate (BER).

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said local anchor criteria comprises at least one of a Quality of Service (QoS) measure and a mobile network type.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said local anchor criteria comprises a signal strength and a mobile network type.

6. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said ad hoc communications are performed in accordance with a peer to peer protocol using a common authentication key.

7. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is further configured to periodically transmit an ad hoc access invitation at a predetermined power level.

8. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein said processor is configured to receive ad-hoc network access requests from wireless devices, and to establish ad hoc communications with those wireless devices having both current and prior private mesh authorization keys (PMAKs) associated with the ad hoc network.

9. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein said processor is configured to receive ad-hoc network access requests from wireless devices, and to establish ad hoc communications with requesting wireless devices having a current private mesh authorization key (PMAK) associated with the ad hoc network.

10. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein said processor is configured to receive ad-hoc network access requests from wireless devices, and to wait for an invoked authentication to the mobile network for requesting wireless devices not having a current private mesh authorization key (PMAK) associated with the ad hoc network.

11. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein said processor is configured to receive ad-hoc network access requests from wireless devices, and to establish ad hoc communications with a requesting wireless devices not having a current private mesh authorization key (PMAK) associated with the ad hoc network in response to receiving a personal ID (PIN) from the requesting wireless devices.

12. The wireless device of claim 11 , wherein said processor is configured to locally generate the PIN in response to receiving an ad-hoc network access request from a wireless devices not having a current PMAK.

13. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is further configured to periodically transmit an ad hoc access invitation at a power level determined using at least one of a number of ad hoc network anchors and a distance to a neighboring ad hoc network anchor.

14. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is further configured to route wireless network traffic with a destination address associated with an ad hoc network member directly toward the destination address ad hoc network member instead of the mobile communications network.

15. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is configured to:

route said mobile network traffic in accordance with an ad hoc network routing table;

update said ad hoc network routing table in response to detected changes in wireless devices connected to said ad hoc network; and

transmit said updated routing table to other anchor devices in response to said updates.

16. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is configured to update said ad hoc network routing table in response to receiving an updated routing table from another ad hoc network member.

17. A method, comprising:

at a wireless device, establishing ad hoc communications with one or more other wireless devices via a local wireless network;

at the wireless device, determining local anchor criteria including a quality of service (QoS) level associated with a mobile network in communication with the wireless device;

at the wireless device, transmitting via said wireless network a message indicative of the local anchor criteria;

at the wireless device, receiving via said wireless network, messages indicative of local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices; and

at the wireless device, entering an anchor mode of operation in response to said local anchor criteria favorably comparing to said local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices, said anchor mode of operation comprising:

receiving mobile network traffic via a mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received mobile network traffic for other wireless devices via a wireless network communication interface; and

receiving wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method, comprising:

establishing ad hoc communications with one or more other wireless devices via a wireless network in communication with a wireless network communication interface;

determining local anchor criteria including a quality of service (QoS) level associated with a local mobile network in communication with a mobile network communication interface;

transmitting, via said wireless network, a message indicative of the local anchor criteria;

receiving, via said wireless network, messages indicative of local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices; and

in response to said local anchor criteria favorably comparing to said local anchor criteria associated with one or more other wireless devices, causing said wireless device to enter an anchor mode of operation, said anchor mode of operation comprising:

receiving mobile network traffic via the mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received mobile network traffic for other wireless devices via the wireless network communication interface; and

receiving wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface, and transmitting received wireless network traffic via the mobile network communication interface.