Mechanism
The forward-error-correction (FEC) mechanism operates as follows. An encoder generates a sequence of encoded symbols from a source governed mesh message. The encoded symbols have the property that a receiving device reconstructs the source message from any subset of the encoded symbols exceeding a reconstruction threshold, regardless of which specific encoded symbols of the sequence are received. The encoder is rateless: it generates an unbounded sequence of encoded symbols and does not require foreknowledge of which receivers will be served, what loss rates they will experience, or what aggregate erasure pattern the mesh will impose.
A receiving device accumulates received encoded symbols and reconstructs the source message upon accumulation of the reconstruction threshold of encoded symbols. Because each encoded symbol carries the partial-receive-and-reconstruct property, the receiver does not depend on which symbols arrive, in what order, or by what path. The mechanism provides graceful degradation as channel quality degrades, reconstruction succeeding so long as the received symbol count exceeds the reconstruction threshold.
A transmitter broadcasts the sequence of encoded symbols through a signaling interface, the broadcast continuing independently of receipt acknowledgment or of any receiving device's presence within signaling range. The transmitter does not require knowledge of which encoded symbols will be received, does not require channel feedback from any receiving device, and does not require coordination between the transmitter and any receiving device regarding timing, rate, or completion of the transmission. The mechanism supports transmission without session establishment, without delivery confirmation, without retransmission negotiation, and without prior knowledge by the transmitting device of when a receiving device will enter signaling range.
This mechanism eliminates the structural dependencies of prior session-based protocols on delivery confirmation, retransmission, acknowledgment, session negotiation, channel-quality feedback, and rate adaptation. Each receiver that captures a sufficient subset of encoded symbols reconstructs the source governed mesh message autonomously, without a session between the transmitter and any specific receiver.
Scheme Selection
The specific forward-error-correction scheme is selectable in accordance with signaling-medium characteristics, receiver computational capability, transmitter energy budget, expected channel loss rate, and governance-policy-defined redundancy requirements. The choice of scheme is not a limitation of the FEC primitive itself; the disclosure specifies the partial-receive-and-reconstruct property that any conforming scheme must satisfy.
The mechanism is implementable with any of a plurality of schemes satisfying that property, including rateless erasure codes comprising Luby Transform codes, Raptor codes, RaptorQ codes, LDPC Staircase codes, and Online codes; fixed-rate erasure codes operated in high-redundancy configuration comprising Reed-Solomon codes, Low-Density Parity-Check codes, and Turbo codes; repetition codes in which the transmitter broadcasts each source symbol, source block, or complete message a plurality of times; network codes in which the transmitter generates linear combinations of source symbols; timed re-broadcast schemes in which the message is broadcast at intervals shorter than the signaling-range transit time of any expected receiver, each broadcast being independently decodable; and hybrid schemes combining two or more of the foregoing.
The mechanism is structurally relied upon for environmental-device-to-operating-unit exchange because the signaling-range transit time is determined by physical characteristics of the operating unit's trajectory through the environmental device's signaling volume, not by protocol negotiation. An operating unit traversing a signaling volume more slowly remains within signaling range longer, accumulates more encoded symbols, and reconstructs the source message with greater redundancy margin above the reconstruction threshold; an operating unit traversing more quickly accumulates fewer symbols and reconstructs with lesser margin above the threshold. A plurality of operating units entering the signaling volume at different times each accumulate symbols from the continuous broadcast and each reconstruct the message independently, without inter-unit coordination.
Alternative Embodiments
The disclosure contemplates hybrid schemes that combine two or more of the conforming forward-error-correction approaches, so that one scheme handles a portion of the redundancy budget and another handles the residual. The choice among schemes is made against signaling-medium characteristics, receiver computational capability, transmitter energy budget, expected channel loss rate, and governance-policy-defined redundancy requirements.
The mechanism extends beyond environmental-device-to-operating-unit exchange. In a further embodiment it is applied to operating-unit-to-operating-unit exchange and to cognitive-infrastructure-agent-to-operating-unit exchange under variable channel conditions, providing graceful degradation as channel quality degrades and reconstructing the source message so long as the received symbol count exceeds the reconstruction threshold.
The mechanism also carries governed mesh messages over the mobile store-and-forward path, in which an operating unit buffers a message and rebroadcasts it after carrying it across a gap in direct signaling range. Because the broadcast continues independently of any receiver's presence, and because each receiver reconstructs autonomously from a sufficient subset of symbols, the same encoded stream serves receivers that arrive at different times without per-receiver negotiation.
Composition With Mesh Substrate
The forward-error-correction mechanism composes with the governed mesh message format of the substrate: the encoder operates on a source governed mesh message, and the reconstructed output is again a governed mesh message carrying its authority credential, dynamic device hash, and cryptographic integrity attestation over its fields. Reconstruction does not bypass governance; the reconstructed message is evaluated under the same admissibility rules as any directly received message.
Because the broadcast continues independently of receipt acknowledgment, and because reconstruction succeeds from any sufficient subset of symbols, the mechanism composes with the substrate's mobile store-and-forward carriage: an operating unit can buffer the encoded stream and rebroadcast it across an infrastructure gap, and receivers entering signaling range at different times each reconstruct the message autonomously, without inter-unit coordination.
Prior-Art Distinction
The novelty of the present disclosure is not any particular erasure code family but the broadcast-and-reconstruct integration. The mechanism is structurally distinguished from session-based forward-error-correction employed in unicast reliable-delivery protocols: in those protocols the transmitter must know which symbols will be received, must obtain channel feedback, and must coordinate timing, rate, and completion with a specific receiver.
The mechanism disclosed here operates in a broadcast-and-reconstruct mode without a session between the transmitter and any specific receiver. The transmitter does not require knowledge of which encoded symbols will be received, does not require channel feedback, and does not require coordination with any receiver regarding timing, rate, or completion. Each receiver that captures a sufficient subset of encoded symbols reconstructs the source governed mesh message autonomously.
Degradation and Integrity
A receiver that does not accumulate the reconstruction threshold within its operational window does not reconstruct the message, and it signals nothing: the mechanism does not depend on feedback from any receiver. The disclosure addresses this through the relationship between signaling-range transit time and redundancy margin. Because the broadcast is continuous and independent of receiver presence, a receiver that remains in signaling range longer accumulates more encoded symbols and reconstructs with greater margin above the reconstruction threshold, while a receiver in range only briefly reconstructs with lesser margin, and the mechanism provides graceful degradation as channel quality declines.
Integrity is handled by the governed mesh message itself rather than by any FEC-specific construct. The reconstructed message carries an authority credential, a dynamic device hash, and a cryptographic integrity attestation comprising a signature over its fields. A receiver evaluates the reconstructed message under the same admissibility and attestation rules as a directly received message, so a reconstruction that does not verify against its integrity attestation is rejected.
Disclosure Scope
The provisional application teaches a forward-error-correction mechanism for disconnected broadcast of governed mesh messages: the encoder and its partial-receive-and-reconstruct property, the reconstruction threshold, the broadcast-and-reconstruct mode without session establishment or feedback, the relationship between signaling-range transit time and redundancy margin, application to environmental-device-to-operating-unit, operating-unit-to-operating-unit, and cognitive-infrastructure-agent-to-operating-unit exchange, and graceful degradation as channel quality declines. The disclosure is scheme-agnostic, enumerating rateless erasure codes including Luby Transform, Raptor, RaptorQ, LDPC Staircase, and Online codes, fixed-rate erasure codes in high-redundancy configuration, repetition codes, network codes, timed re-broadcast schemes, and hybrid combinations, and reserving the same treatment for any future scheme that provides the partial-receive-and-reconstruct property. The specific scheme is selectable in accordance with signaling-medium characteristics, receiver computational capability, transmitter energy budget, expected channel loss rate, and governance-policy-defined redundancy requirements.
This disclosure is drawn from U.S. Provisional Application No. 64/049,409.
