Patent ID: 8081641

Claim:
A method of transmitting data from a sending network node over a network comprising a plurality of nodes including the sending network node, at least some of the plurality of nodes being coupled by a broadcast medium, wherein the sending network node has a queue of messages to be transmitted, the queue including a first message received from a first previous hop and a second message received from a second previous hop, and wherein the method comprises acts of: identifying the first message to be transmitted from the sending network node to a first destination node via a first network node; identifying the second message to be transmitted from the sending network node to a second destination node via a second network node, wherein the second network node is not the first previous hop; determining whether the first network node stores the second message; determining whether the second network node stores the first message; if it is determined that the first network node stores the second message and the second network node stores the first message, coding together the first and second messages to generate an encoded message; and transmitting the encoded message over the broadcast medium.