Prior art — US Patent 6961310

The current date is April 26, 2026.

Here is an analysis of the patent citations listed in US patent 6,961,310, identifying the most relevant prior art and their potential anticipation of claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Prior Art Analysis for US Patent 6,961,310

The following patent citations are listed in US6961310:

US5412654A
- Full Citation: Perkins, C. E. "Highly dynamic destination-sequenced destination vector routing for mobile computers." U.S. Patent 5,412,654, issued May 2, 1995.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: May 2, 1995. Filing: January 10, 1994.
- Brief Description: This patent describes the Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV) routing protocol, a proactive (table-driven) routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks that maintains routes to all destinations and uses sequence numbers to ensure loop-freedom.
- Potential Anticipation: This patent is foundational for mobile ad hoc network routing but focuses on proactive single-path routing, typically using hop count as the primary metric. It does not describe discovering multiple routes, ranking them by diverse link metrics, or simultaneously distributing message data across a plurality of ranked routes, as claimed in US6961310 (Claims 1, 13, 25). It may anticipate the general concept of "discovering routing" in an ad hoc network.
US5754543A
- Full Citation: "Connectivity matrix-based multi-cost routing." U.S. Patent 5,754,543, issued May 19, 1998, to Alcatel Data Networks, Inc.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: May 19, 1998. Filing: July 3, 1996.
- Brief Description: This patent pertains to routing in communication networks where decisions are based on multiple cost metrics (multi-cost routing) derived from a connectivity matrix.
- Potential Anticipation: This patent potentially anticipates the general idea of using "at least one link metric" for route evaluation (Claims 1, 13, 25) by describing multi-cost routing. However, it does not specifically teach ranking multiple discovered routes in a reactive ad hoc network and then simultaneously distributing message data across a plurality of these ranked routes based on those metrics, nor does it detail temporary resource reservation and route confirmations in the manner of US6961310.
US5832197A
- Full Citation: "Alternate routing by increasing initially low QOS value of a selected alternate path during failure to user-specified value." U.S. Patent 5,832,197, issued November 3, 1998, to NEC Corporation.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: November 3, 1998. Filing: December 6, 1995.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a method for alternate routing in a communication network, particularly in the context of Quality of Service (QoS), where an alternate path's QoS can be adjusted (e.g., increased) when a primary path fails or has insufficient QoS.
- Potential Anticipation: This patent is highly relevant as it addresses QoS-aware routing and the use of alternate paths upon failure, which relates to reliability and fault tolerance in routing. It could potentially anticipate aspects of US6961310 concerning reacting to failed routes (Claims 10-12, 22-24, 34-36) and the general concept of considering QoS in routing. However, US6961310 distinguishes itself by focusing on the simultaneous distribution of data across multiple ranked routes proactively (for load balancing or redundancy before a failure), rather than merely switching to an alternate path after a failure.
US5974236A
- Full Citation: "Dynamically reconfigurable communications network and method." U.S. Patent 5,974,236, issued October 26, 1999, to AES Corporation.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: October 26, 1999. Filing: March 25, 1992.
- Brief Description: This patent generally describes a communication network and method that can dynamically reconfigure its topology, which is a fundamental characteristic of ad hoc networks.
- Potential Anticipation: This is broad background art concerning dynamic network adaptation. It does not specifically teach the reactive multi-path routing, metric-based ranking, and simultaneous data distribution as claimed in US6961310.
US5987011A
- Full Citation: Toh, C. K. "Routing method for Ad-Hoc mobile networks." U.S. Patent 5,987,011, issued November 16, 1999.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: November 16, 1999. Filing: August 30, 1996.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a routing method specifically designed for ad hoc mobile networks. Without a detailed review of the full patent, its exact scope is broad, but Chai-Keong Toh is known for work on associativity-based routing which considers link stability and multiple paths.
- Potential Anticipation: This patent is potentially one of the most relevant. If it discloses discovering multiple routes, ranking them using specific link metrics (e.g., beyond simple hop count), and utilizing more than one route for data transmission (e.g., for load balancing or reliability), it could anticipate elements of Claims 1, 13, and 25 of US6961310. The key distinction for US6961310's novelty lies in the explicit "simultaneously distributing the message data to the destination node along a plurality of the discovered routes based upon the ranking," often with usage factors and for different traffic classes, which may not be fully anticipated if Toh's method primarily involves selecting a single "best" route or using backup routes only upon failure, similar to conventional DSR as described in US6961310's background.
US6026073A
- Full Citation: "Route finding in communications networks." U.S. Patent 6,026,073, issued February 15, 2000, to British Telecommunications Public Limited Company.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: February 15, 2000. Filing: August 7, 1995.
- Brief Description: This patent describes methods for finding routes in general communication networks, likely including considerations for network dynamics or certain performance criteria.
- Potential Anticipation: Similar to US5974236A, this is broad background art for the general process of "route finding" or "discovering routing" (Claims 1, 13, 25). It is unlikely to anticipate the specific combination of metric-based ranking and simultaneous data distribution across multiple paths in a reactive ad hoc context.
US6111941A
- Full Citation: "Telecommunication system with loop-free switching tables." U.S. Patent 6,111,941, issued August 29, 2000, to U.S. Philips Corporation.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: August 29, 2000. Filing: February 28, 1997.
- Brief Description: This patent focuses on mechanisms for ensuring loop-free routing paths within a telecommunication system, a fundamental aspect of network routing integrity.
- Potential Anticipation: This patent addresses a general problem in routing that US6961310 (specifically for AODV modifications) also acknowledges as important. However, it does not anticipate the core novelty of multiple path discovery, metric-based ranking, and simultaneous data distribution of US6961310.
US6304556B1
- Full Citation: Haas, Z. J. "Routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks." U.S. Patent 6,304,556, issued October 16, 2001, to Cornell Research Foundation, Inc.
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: October 16, 2001. Filing: August 24, 1998.
- Brief Description: This patent describes the Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP), a hybrid routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks that combines proactive routing within a local "zone" with reactive routing for destinations outside that zone.
- Potential Anticipation: ZRP is a significant ad hoc routing protocol that US6961310 mentions as a type of protocol to which its method can be applied. While ZRP uses both proactive and reactive approaches, its description does not inherently include the specific multi-path, metric-based ranking, and simultaneous data distribution (with usage factors for load balancing or reliability) that are central to US6961310's independent claims.

Most Relevant Prior Art:

Among the listed patent citations, US5987011A (Toh) and US5832197A (NEC Corporation) appear to be the most relevant.

US5987011A (Toh) is directly related to routing methods in ad hoc networks and could potentially disclose aspects of discovering and using multiple paths with various metrics. Its anticipation would hinge on whether it details the simultaneous distribution of data across a plurality of ranked routes as a core function, rather than just identifying multiple paths for backup or single-path selection.
US5832197A (NEC Corporation) is relevant for its discussion of QoS and alternate routing upon failure. While it addresses the use of multiple paths for reliability, its primary focus on switching to an alternate path after a failure distinguishes it from US6961310's focus on simultaneously distributing data across paths before failure for performance or enhanced reliability.