Patent ID: 9479426
Filing Date: 2016-10-25
CPC Classification: H04L,H04M

Claim Text:
1. A method of transmitting data over a computer network, comprising the steps of: at an originating terminal connected to the computer network, receiving a stream of data and forming a first level packet payload based on the stream of data; identifying a network destination address for the stream of data; forming a first level packet including the first level packet payload and a first level header containing data representing the network destination address; encrypting at least a portion of the first level packet to form a second level packet payload; forming a second level packet including the second level packet payload and a second layer header containing a router address of an intermediate router connecting the originating terminal to the network destination address; including in one of the first and second layer headers, an indicator of a number of hops to be made by the first level packet before arriving at the network destination address; and sending the second level packet to the intermediate router at the router address; wherein the intermediate router determines, based on the indicator, whether to forward the second level packet to another intermediate router at another router address or to forward the second level packet to the network destination address.