or light weight wireless access points operating in connection with a wireless switch see fig1 b in addition the network infrastructure may also include a wireless lan solution engine wlse offered by cisco systems inc of san jose calif or another wireless network management system in some implementations the network infrastructure may also include one or more wireless control system wcs nodes operative to manage one or more wireless switches and access points of course configuration and management information can be obtained in a variety of manners without departing from the scope of the present invention fig1 b illustrates a hierarchical wireless network including a central controller 70 according to one implementation of the present invention in one implementation the central controller 70 may be implemented as a wireless domain server wds or alternatively as a wireless switch if the central controller 70 is implemented with a wds the central controller 70 is operative to communicate with autonomous or so called u201c fat u201d wireless access points if the central controller 70 is implemented with a wireless switch the central controller 70 is operative to communicate with light weight wireless access points as fig1 b illustrates a central controller 70 may be directly connected to one or more access points 50 alternatively a.