Systems and methods for monitoring the size of a wireless network

A method of monitoring the number of neighboring wireless devices in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• receiving a message from one of the neighboring wireless devices, the message comprising an identifier associated with the neighboring wireless device;
• adding the identifier into a Bloom filter;
• and
• estimating the number of distinct strings that have been added into the Bloom filter based on the number of zeros in the Bloom filter, the number of distinct strings representing an estimate of the number of neighboring wireless devices in the wireless network.

A wireless device for monitoring the number of neighboring wireless devices in a wireless network, the device comprising:

• means for receiving a message from one of the neighboring wireless devices, the message comprising an identifier associated with the neighboring wireless device;
• means for adding the identifier into a Bloom filter;
• and
• means for estimating the number of distinct strings that have been added into the Bloom filter based on the number of zeros in the Bloom filter, the number of distinct strings representing an estimate of the number of neighboring wireless devices in the wireless network.

A non-transitory physical computer storage comprising computer executable instructions configured to implement a method for monitoring the number of neighboring wireless devices in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• receiving a message from one of the neighboring wireless devices, the message comprising an identifier associated with the neighboring wireless device;
• adding the identifier into a Bloom filter;
• and
• estimating the number of distinct strings that have been added into the Bloom filter based on the number of zeros in the Bloom filter, the number of distinct strings representing an estimate of the number of neighboring wireless devices in the wireless network.