Yes it it is WiLink8 on-chip RAM that is a hardware limit.
I didn't write the documentation so this is my interpretation.
- The mesh can contain up to 32 nodes in the entire network. My guess is that this is a limitation in the open80211 software for the number of nodes that can be kept track of. I have a memory of a conversation that the 32 is actually not a hard limit but actually more of a test limit in that the test network had 32 nodes. So TI said max 32 as that is all that had been tested.
- With in the mesh network each node can maintain a connection to its 10 nearest nodes. This is only a subset of the nodes in the mesh and the mesh will work as long as each node can see at least two other nodes.
To me this makes sense as the main purpose of a mesh is to extend the reach of the Wi-Fi. If all 32 nodes were in range of the AP then it would be much simpler to just connect them all as stations.
Iain