Patent ID: 8457005

Claim:
A method for establishing barrage relayed communications between a source node and destination node in a wireless network of nodes, the method comprising: sending a request message from the source node to the destination node through a plurality of intermediate nodes, each of the plurality of intermediate nodes relaying the request message by receiving the request message, incrementing a request hop count included as part of the request message that represents number of hops from the source node, and transmitting the request message, the request message transmitted by each of the plurality of intermediate nodes being free if identifying parameters associated with those intermediate nodes that have transmitted the request message, each of the plurality of intermediate nodes being capable of receiving the request message as transmitted from more than one other node in the plurality of intermediate nodes; receiving the request message at the destination node; in response to receiving the request message at the destination node, sending an acceptance message from the destination node to the source node through a subset of the intermediate nodes, the acceptance message including a total hop number representing a minimum number of hops between the source node and the destination node, each of the subset of intermediate nodes determining to participate in relaying the acceptance message by comparing (1) a first sum obtained by combining the request hop count and an acceptance hop count, the acceptance hop count including as part of the acceptance message and representing number of hops from the destination node, and (2) a second sum obtained by combining the total hop number and a route width parameter N (where N is a non-negative integer), wherein each of the subset of intermediate nodes relay the acceptance message by receiving the acceptance message, determining to participate in relaying the acceptance message, incrementing the acceptance hop count, and transmitting the acceptance message, the acceptance message transmitted by each of the subset of intermediate nodes being free of identifying parameters associated with those intermediate nodes that have transmitted the acceptance message, each of the subset of intermediate nodes being capable of receiving the acceptance message as transmitted from more than one other node in the subset of intermediate nodes; and after the acceptance message is received at the source node, sending a data message between the source node and the destination node through the subset of intermediate nodes, each of the subset of intermediate nodes relaying the data message by receiving the data message and transmitting the data message, each of the subset of intermediate nodes being capable of receiving the data message as transmitted from more than one other node in the subset of intermediate nodes.