Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 11974143, I will examine the citations listed within the patent itself. Prior art, according to 35 U.S.C. 102, includes any publicly known information (patented, described in publications, in public use, or on sale) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Prior art is crucial for evaluating the novelty and non-obviousness of a patent claim.

The patent US11974143B2 lists several prior art documents. I will now detail the most relevant ones.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US11974143

The following prior art documents are cited in US patent 11974143:

1. US Pat. No. 9,788,305

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 9,788,305, titled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING BANDWIDTH INTENSIVE DATA STREAMS USING VIRTUAL MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL AND PHYSICAL LAYERS"
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed Oct. 29, 2014. The issue date would be the publication date for this granted patent.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method and apparatus for processing bandwidth-intensive data streams using virtual MAC and physical layers. It details a system where a processing layer evaluates application bandwidth requirements and transceiver availabilities, allocating portions of actual bandwidths to virtual MAC and virtual PHY layers to satisfy these requirements. The patent also discusses concepts like variable duplex links and systems for extending wireless network range.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US Pat. No. 9,788,305 is expressly incorporated by reference in US11974143B2 and appears to be a foundational patent. Given its title and description, it likely covers many of the core concepts presented in US11974143B2. Specifically, it appears to anticipate aspects of:
  • Claim 1: The fundamental method of using virtual MAC and PHY layers to manage and allocate bandwidth from multiple physical transceivers based on application requirements, including the transparency to higher layers, and the simultaneous transmission and reception capabilities.
  • Claim 20 (and its parent claims like Claim 19): The adaptive management of bandwidth allocation, including re-identifying available bandwidth and reconfiguring links without disassociating recipients, especially since US Pat. No. 9,788,305 describes adaptive generation of predictive models for optimal link operation.
  • Many dependent claims (e.g., claims relating to the components of the virtual MAC/PHY layers like decision blocks, processing blocks, ultra-streaming blocks, RF blocks, and bandwidth allocators) would also likely be anticipated or rendered obvious by US Pat. No. 9,788,305, as these are explicitly mentioned in the description of US11974143B2 as part of the management system for which further details are disclosed in the '305 patent.

2. US Pat. No. 10,034,179

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 10,034,179, titled "System and Method For Extending Range and Coverage of Bandwidth Intensive Wireless Data Streams"
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed Oct. 29, 2014.
• Brief Description: This patent focuses on systems and methods for extending the range and coverage of bandwidth-intensive wireless data streams, describing linear and radial architectures for deploying multiple wireless access points or nodes to increase wireless network access. It also mentions that each node employs a management system for allocating and configuring wireless transceiver resources.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US Pat. No. 10,034,179 is cited as claiming the benefit of the same provisional applications as US11974143B2 and describes a related inventive concept. This patent likely anticipates aspects of:
  • The general concept of extending wireless network range and coverage using multiple access points or nodes, as described in the detailed description of US11974143B2 (e.g., with reference to FIG. 7 and FIGS. 10A-10C). While Claim 1 and Claim 20 of US11974143B2 are focused on the virtual MAC/PHY layers, the broader system described in US11974143B2 (which includes the range extension aspect) would be impacted by this prior art.

3. US Pat. No. 11,115,834

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 11,115,834, titled "System and Method For Extending Range and Coverage of Bandwidth Intensive Wireless Data Streams"
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed Jul. 19, 2018.
• Brief Description: This patent is also titled "System and Method For Extending Range and Coverage of Bandwidth Intensive Wireless Data Streams" and is a continuation of an earlier application. It further elaborates on systems and methods for extending the range and coverage of bandwidth-intensive wireless data streams, particularly through linear and radial arrangements of wireless access points.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US Pat. No. 10,034,179, this patent covers the range extension aspects of the invention described in US11974143B2. It claims benefit from the same priority chain, indicating a close relationship. It would likely anticipate elements related to:
  • The multi-node wireless networking system architectures (linear or radial) and the use of multiple transceivers within nodes to extend coverage and manage bandwidth, as detailed in the specification of US11974143B2.

4. US Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/897,219 and 61/897,216

• Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/897,219, filed Oct. 30, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/897,216, filed Oct. 30, 2013.
• Publication/Filing Date: October 30, 2013 for both.
• Brief Description: These are provisional patent applications, and their full content is not provided in the extracted text. However, US11974143B2 claims priority to both. Provisional applications establish an early effective filing date for a later-filed non-provisional application and generally describe the invention at that earlier date.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As US11974143B2 claims priority to these provisional applications, the subject matter disclosed in these provisional applications would be considered prior art against any claims in US11974143B2 that are not supported by the provisional applications. If the claims of US11974143B2 are fully supported by these provisional applications, then the provisional applications would establish the priority date for those claims, and would not act as prior art against them. However, if any claims in US11974143B2 introduce new subject matter not sufficiently disclosed in the provisional applications, then the provisional filing dates would not apply to that new subject matter, and the provisional applications themselves (or any other intervening prior art) could potentially anticipate or render obvious those claims. It is highly probable that substantial portions of the invention in US11974143B2 are disclosed in these provisional applications, effectively pushing the priority date of those concepts back to October 30, 2013.

In summary, the patents US Pat. No. 9,788,305, US Pat. No. 10,034,179, and US Pat. No. 11,115,834 are highly relevant prior art. US Pat. No. 9,788,305 is particularly significant as it details the core virtual MAC/PHY architecture and bandwidth allocation, directly addressing the subject matter of Claim 1 and Claim 20 of US11974143B2. The other two patents (US Pat. No. 10,034,179 and US Pat. No. 11,115,834) are relevant to the range extension aspects described in the specification of US11974143B2. The provisional applications, while serving as priority documents, could also act as prior art if any claims in US11974143B2 lack support in them.