Patent attributes
A source node selects a plurality of transmitting nodes to cooperatively encode a set of original packets to transfer to a destination node. Encoding produces a plurality of coded packets and a corresponding code matrix of coefficients. The coded packets and the corresponding code matrix comprise a set of independent equations of independent variables in a system of linear equations, wherein the independent variables comprise the original packets. A destination node may select a set of receiving nodes to cooperatively receive the transmissions. The destination node collects the coded packets and code matrix from the receiving nodes, which provide a sufficient number of independent equations for decoding the original packets. Decoding comprises calculating a solution for the system of linear equations.