Frame addressing in an MBSS

4.3.15.5.9 Frame addressing in an MBSS

Three address, four address, and extended address frame formats enable the distribution of messages over
multiple instances of the wireless medium within a mesh BSS and integration to the ESS. Frame format
details are described in Clause 8 and 9.32.3.
4.3.15.5.10 Mesh path selection and forwarding
Mesh path selection enables path discovery over multiple instances of the wireless medium within a mesh
BSS. The overview of the mesh path selection framework is described in 13.8. The hybrid wireless mesh
protocol (HWMP) is defined as the default path selection protocol for the mesh BSS. HWMP provides both
proactive path selection and reactive path selection. The details of HWMP are described in 13.10. The path
selection protocol uses link metrics in the assessment of a mesh path to the destination. The airtime link
metric is the default link metric. It is defined in 13.9.
Once the mesh path of a particular pair of the source mesh STA and the destination mesh STA is found
through the mesh path selection function, mesh STAs propagate the data by the forwarding function. The
details of the forwarding function are described in 9.32.
As a result of the mesh path selection and forwarding, MSDUs are transmitted among all the mesh STAs in
a mesh BSS, even if the mesh STAs are not neighbor STAs of each other. Figure 4-10 depicts the MSDU
transfer within a mesh BSS.