Prior art

The USPTO provides tools for conducting patent searches, including Patent Public Search, which offers both basic and advanced search functionalities for patents and patent application publications. To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 11950105, I will access the patent's own cited references.

Based on the full patent text of US11950105B1, the patent itself lists "Citations (89)" which are prior art references cited by the examiner or a third party. I will focus on the references that appear to be most directly related to the core claims of US11950105, which involve using virtual MAC/PHY layers for bandwidth allocation across multiple transceivers and extending wireless range.

Here are some of the most relevant prior art documents cited within US Patent 11950105, along with their details and potential anticipation:

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 11950105:

1. US5818830A

   • Full Citation: US5818830A - Method and apparatus for increasing the effective bandwidth of a digital wireless network.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed 1995-12-29, Published 1998-10-06.
   • Brief Description: This patent describes a method and apparatus for increasing the effective bandwidth of a digital wireless network by dynamically allocating sub-channels to user groups based on their bandwidth requirements. It discusses combining multiple physical channels to form a single logical channel with increased bandwidth.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent potentially anticipates aspects of Claim 1 related to identifying portions of bandwidth and aggregating resources to satisfy bandwidth requirements. Specifically, the concept of increasing effective bandwidth and allocating resources (sub-channels) to user groups for data transmission. The patent 11950105's Claim 1 describes identifying at least one portion of bandwidth and using it to transmit data to satisfy a wireless bandwidth requirement. The dynamic allocation of sub-channels in US5818830A to increase effective bandwidth could be seen as a precursor or similar concept.

2. US20090034460A1

   • Full Citation: US20090034460A1 - Dynamic bandwidth allocation for multiple virtual MACs.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed 2007-07-31, Published 2009-02-05.
   • Brief Description: This application details systems and methods for dynamically allocating bandwidth among multiple virtual MAC entities operating over a shared physical medium. It focuses on optimizing bandwidth utilization for different types of traffic.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference is highly relevant to Claim 1, particularly the "forming in the processing interface (i) at least one virtual MAC interface" and "bandwidth allocator to allocate at least a portion of each of the first and second actual bandwidths to virtual MAC and virtual PHY layers". The core concept of dynamic bandwidth allocation for multiple virtual MACs directly addresses a central feature of Claim 1, and potentially Claim 9 (multiple virtual MAC interfaces) and Claim 10 (bandwidth allocator).

3. US20060140123A1

   • Full Citation: US20060140123A1 - Methods and apparatus for distributing link-state information associated with a wireless mesh network.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed 2004-12-29, Published 2006-06-29.
   • Brief Description: This patent application describes techniques for distributing link-state information in a wireless mesh network to facilitate routing and resource management. While not directly virtual MAC/PHY, it relates to managing wireless resources in a multi-node environment.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This could potentially anticipate elements related to the overall management of wireless resources, particularly in distributed systems or extending coverage. Although US11950105's Claim 1 focuses on a single device, the broader patent description discusses multi-node systems (FIG. 7, FIGS. 10A-10C, FIG. 11), and this prior art shows concepts of managing network state for efficient resource use, which could be argued to apply to the underlying mechanisms of bandwidth allocation across transceivers, especially as described in the broader specification of US11950105.

4. US20070121573A1

   • Full Citation: US20070121573A1 - Hybrid system having multiple downlink channels and a single uplink channel.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed 2005-11-25, Published 2007-05-31.
   • Brief Description: This application describes a hybrid wireless system with multiple downlink channels and a single uplink channel. This concept of asymmetrical links and varied channel usage has relevance to how bandwidth is managed.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): While not explicitly using "virtual MAC/PHY," the idea of asymmetric transmit/receive profiles and managing different channels for different data flows (as discussed in the detailed description of US11950105, e.g., FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 6), could be seen as partially anticipated by this reference. It addresses the concept of managing different link characteristics.

5. KR20070061684A

   • Full Citation: KR20070061684A - Sub-media access layer device of wireless internet system and data processing method using the same.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed 2005-12-10, Published 2007-06-14.
   • Brief Description: This Korean patent application describes a sub-media access layer device and a data processing method for a wireless internet system. It deals with efficiently processing data in a wireless network.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): While the specifics are not fully detailed in the provided Google Patents snippet for this foreign prior art, the title and general description suggest it might cover aspects of data processing and sub-MAC layers in wireless systems. This could potentially anticipate elements of the "processing interface" and "virtual MAC interface" in Claim 1, depending on the specifics of how the "sub-media access layer" operates and interacts with actual physical resources.

It is important to note that a full anticipation analysis would require a detailed claim-by-claim comparison with the complete text and drawings of each prior art reference, as well as an understanding of the state of the art at the time of the earliest priority date (October 30, 2013, for US11950105). However, these selected references appear to be particularly relevant based on their titles and brief descriptions.