Distributed networking agent and method of making and using the same

A method, implemented in a wireless communication node, for forming a network, the method comprising:

• interfacing with an electromagnetic interference (EMI) sniffer of the communication node to determine spectrum availability within the network;
• receiving information from a network administrator that identifies a planned link between the wireless communication node and a destination node of the network, wherein the information includes an identification of the destination node;
• establishing connectivity for the planned link between the communication node and the destination node based on the spectrum availability;
• making a determination of whether to add an additional link to the network based on an ability of the additional link to lower an impact of a high traffic load between a particular source node and a particular destination node;
• when the determination is made to add the additional link, initiating the additional link to minimize the impact of the high traffic load on the network;
• and
• implementing a defragment algorithm, the defragment algorithm being configured to analyze an existing network topology and determine if all discovered nodes are part of the existing network topology, wherein the defragment algorithm is configured to calculate a score associated with a prospective link to a node not within a network fragment, and wherein the score is:
• α*Distance+β*COI+δ*Mobility value, where α, β and δ are predetermined values established by a network policy.

A method performed within a wireless communication node of a network that includes a network administrator system and a plurality of wireless communication nodes, the method comprising:

• receiving information from the network administrator system that identifies one or more pre-planned links between the wireless communication node and one or more destination nodes of the network, wherein the information includes identification of the destination nodes;
• establishing connectivity for the pre-planned links between the communication node and the destination nodes;
• determining whether a number of the pre-planned links established meets a connectivity goal for the wireless communication node;
• when the number of pre-planned links established does not meet the connectivity goal, determining that an additional link, which is not specified by the network administrator system, should be added to the network, wherein the additional link is a link between the wireless communication node and another node of the network, and wherein determining that the additional link should be added includes determining that the additional link should be added to the network based on a link priority associated with the additional link;
• determining whether assets are available to establish the additional link;
• when the assets are not available to establish the additional link, establishing connectivity for the additional link using assets of an existing link, the connectivity for the additional link being based on the link priority associated with the additional link, and
• wherein the link priority is based on the following equation:
• Link Priority=β*Old Link Priority+(1−β) New Link Priority, where β is associated with a network plan.