Abstract: Methods and apparatus for efficiently distributing traffic on available best-effort service flows within a system are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for forwarding a packet which includes destination information and source information upstream from a source to a destination includes determining a first value associated with the packet using the destination information and the source information. A first service flow that is suitable for use to forward the packet is identified using the first value. The first service flow is one of a set of service flows between a source and a central access point. Once the first service flow is identified, the packet is sent on the first service flow. In one embodiment, the source is a subscriber unit and the central access point is a headend.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for enabling mobility of a node that does not support Mobile IP through synchronization of access point information (e.g., subnet mapping tables) among AAPs are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, an authoritative access point (AAP) maintains access point information for all functioning access points (APs) and sends updates for all additions or other modifications to the continually changing access point information to other AAPs. This is accomplished by sending a copy of its local subnet mapping table to the other AAPs. The AAPs receiving the subnet mapping table then update their subnet mapping tables corresponding to the received subnet mapping table.