Patent ID: 8359511

Claim:
A method for data transmission from a transmitting host to at least one receiving host, wherein the transmitted data is coded for forward error correction, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a pre-defined set X k of symbols, comprising k symbols, at the transmitting host; b) providing an individual subset X n h of said pre-defined set X k , comprising n h symbols, at each of the at least one receiving host, wherein hε {1, . . . , H} with H equaling a number of the at least one receiving host; c) providing a pre-defined value n; d) calculating a probability density P* k having k components with a sum of 1, by the transmitting host, from a pre-defined probability density P k-n having k-n components with a sum of 1; e) calculating an encoded symbol by the transmitting host by using an encoding algorithm based on a pre-defined rateless code depending on the pre-defined set X k of symbols, wherein the encoded symbol is associated with at least one randomly selected symbol of the set X k , and wherein the number of symbols of set X k which are associated with the encoded signal is determined by using the probability density P* k ; f) transmitting, to each of the at least one receiving host, the calculated encoded symbol and information regarding which of the symbols of the set X k the calculated encoded symbol is associated with; g) decoding the encoded symbol by each of the at least one receiving host using a decoding algorithm based on a pre-defined rateless code and corresponding to said encoding algorithm; and h) repeating steps e) through g) until each of the at least one receiving host has retrieved from the received encoded symbols a respective difference set of symbols (X k -X n h ).