Prior art

US Patent 10,541,883, titled "Playback device connection," was granted on January 21, 2020, and published on the same date. The application was filed on March 11, 2019, and claims priority from a provisional application filed on June 5, 2004. The patent describes techniques for automatically configuring necessary parameters of a device to be coupled to a network, particularly an Ad-hoc (wireless or wired) network, with minimum human intervention.

Here's an analysis of the most relevant prior art cited in US Patent 10,541,883, based on the provided text:

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,326,951 (Millington et al.)

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent No. 8,326,951.
• Publication/Filing Date: Issued on December 4, 2012, from U.S. application Ser. No. 11/147,116, filed on June 6, 2005. This application claims priority to provisional application 60/577,284 filed June 5, 2004.
• Brief Description: This patent is part of the same patent family as US10541883. It generally relates to methods and systems for automatically configuring devices to a network, establishing a rudimentary communication path, and exchanging messages for configuration. Given its familial relationship and the similar description, it likely covers the core concepts of automated device configuration and rudimentary communication paths.
• Potential Anticipated Claims: Given that US10541883 is a continuation of this patent, it is highly likely to anticipate a significant number of claims related to the fundamental method of automatically configuring a second device with a first device, establishing rudimentary communication paths, and exchanging messages for full operation. This would include claims regarding the manual activation of the configuration process, the use of a control point (CP) and zone player (ZP), and the exchange of network parameters like SSID, WEP keys, and channel frequency. Specifically, claims like those describing a method for a playback device detecting a triggering event, establishing an initial communication path outside the secure WLAN, receiving network configuration parameters, and transitioning to the secure WLAN, would likely be anticipated by this earlier patent, as these are foundational to the disclosed invention.

2. U.S. Provisional Application 60/577,284

• Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Application 60/577,284.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed on June 5, 2004.
• Brief Description: This provisional application serves as the priority document for the entire patent family, including US10541883. It would contain the initial disclosure of the invention's concepts, including the automatic configuration of networked devices, the establishment of a temporary communication link, and the secure exchange of network parameters.
• Potential Anticipated Claims: As the earliest priority document, this provisional application would anticipate any claims in US10541883 that were adequately described and enabled in its original disclosure. This would likely encompass all the broad claims related to the system and method of automatically configuring playback devices to a secure wireless network, activated by a user, and involving the exchange of network parameters over an initial communication path. Any specific details or improvements introduced in subsequent applications within the family might not be anticipated, but the core inventive concept would likely be present here.

Without access to the full text of U.S. Patent No. 8,326,951 and U.S. Provisional Application 60/577,284, it is challenging to provide a precise claim-by-claim anticipation analysis. However, given the nature of continuation applications, the claims of US10541883 would be very closely related to, and in some cases, identical to, claims in the parent patents, with potential distinctions lying in narrower scope or specific combinations of features.