Patent ID: 7916648

Claim:
A radio communications system comprising individual nodes capable of distribution arbitrarily relative to each other, wherein a plurality of said nodes can be assembled into at least one radio communication route between an originating node and a destination node, each node of at least some of said nodes in said route comprising: a transmitter for transmitting radio signals used to establish radio links with other said nodes and a receiver for receiving said radio signals directly from other said nodes without regard to the relative location of said nodes transmitting and receiving said signals, wherein at least some of said received radio signals include associated routing messages having content (i) identifying at least one preferred multi-link route segment to a different said node and (ii) including at least one value of a radio parameter of said radio signals associated with said radio links in said route segment; a measuring device for measuring values of said radio parameter associated with at least some of said received radio signals; a storage device for storing said measured values of said radio parameter and said content of said routing messages included in said radio signals associated with at least some of said measured values; and a computer for using said stored measured and received values of said radio parameter to select from said storage device a said routing message associated with a preferred multi-link route segment between another said node transmitting said routing message and said different node identified in said routing message and for using said selected routing message to generate a routing message for transmission in a radio signal from said node, said transmitted routing message identifying said node and said different node, wherein said computers in said nodes use said selected routing messages to assemble said radio communication route using at least one said preferred multi-link route segment, said route being assembled by said computers in said nodes independently of any computer separate from said nodes in said route.