Neighbor discovery and neighbor selection of mesh network devices in a mesh network

A mesh network device comprising:

• a first radio coupled to an omnidirectional antenna;
• a second radio selectively coupled to any one of a plurality of directional antennas;
• a third radio selectively coupled to any one of the plurality of directional antennas;
• a fourth radio selectively coupled to any one of the plurality of directional antennas;
• a fifth radio selectively coupled to any one of the plurality of directional antennas;
• and
• an application processor coupled to the first radio, the second radio, the third radio, the fourth radio, and the fifth radio, wherein the application processor is to:
• i) receive, via the first radio, a 2.4 GHz beacon frame from a second mesh network device, the 2.4 GHz beacon frame including a first informational element identifying the second mesh network device as an available access point in a wireless mesh network (WMN);
• ii) listen, for a defined time period, on a first channel of the second radio, a first channel of the third radio, a first channel of the fourth radio, and a first channel of the fifth radio;
• iii) repeat step ii) on a second channel, a third channel, and a fourth channel for each of the second radio, the third radio, the fourth radio, and the fifth radio;
• iv) in response to steps ii) and iii), receive, via the second radio, a 5 GHz mesh frame from the second mesh network device, the 5 GHz mesh frame including an identifier (ID) of the second mesh network device;
• v) compare the first informational element to the ID to determine a sector identifier that identifies a first antenna from which the 5 GHz mesh frame was transmitted, a first signal strength indicator (RSSI) value corresponding to the 5 GHz mesh frame, an unused radio and an unused channel of the second mesh network device, wherein the unused radio and the unused channel are not currently utilized by the second mesh network device;
• vi) send a discovery request frame to the unused radio of the second mesh network device on the unused channel via each of the second radio, the third radio, the fourth radio, and the fifth radio, wherein during ii) and vi), the second radio is selectively coupled to the first one of the plurality of directional antennas, the third radio is selectively coupled to the second one of the plurality of directional antennas, the fourth radio is selectively coupled to the third one of the plurality of directional antennas, and the fifth radio is selectively coupled to the fourth one of the plurality of directional antennas;
• vii) receive a locate probe from the second mesh network device on the unused channel, in response to the discovery request frame, via at least one of the first radio, the second radio, the third radio, or the fourth radio, the locate probe including a source sector identifier that identifies a second antenna from which the locate probe is transmitted;
• and
• viii) determine a second signal strength indicator value corresponding to the locate probe.