Packet processor steering in wi-fi access points with multiple wi-fi protocol interfaces

An access point on a data network having multiple processing cores and multiple Wi-Fi network interfaces, for steering Wi-Fi network packets of multiple Wi-Fi protocols, the access point comprising:

• a core network interface and multiple Wi-Fi interfaces to receive a network packet for processing between a source and a destination, the source or destination being one of at least one core network interface and the other of the source or destination being one of multiple WLAN interfaces, wherein the multiple Wi-Fi interfaces include at least one Wi-Fi interface dedicated to network packets in compliance with IEEE 802.11ac and at least one WLAN interface dedicated to network packets in compliance with IEEE 802.11bgn;
• a processor classification agent, coupled in to a data path between the at least one core network interfaces and the multiple Wi-Fi network interfaces, the processor classification agent to determine whether the network packet has a destination involving a single station or multiple stations, responsive to a determination of a single station destination, the processor classification agent to determine a packet distribution index for the network packet with respect to each of the multiple processing cores, wherein the packet distribution index is based on at least one of IEEE 802.11ac and the IEEE 802.11b/g/n, and the processor classification agent to select the processing core having a lowest packet distribution index for processing the network packet,
• wherein the selected processing core processes the network packet at the selected processing core;
• and
• a forwarding agent sends the processed network packet for transmission over an appropriate one of multiple Wi-Fi interfaces and the core network interface, opposite of the received network packet.