TR's short list of 2003 U.S. patents with the potential to transform fields from security to cancer diagnostics. Plus: The 2004 TR Patent Scorecard.
A Good Call for the Internet
Patent No. 6,529,499
Lucent Technologies
INVENTION: Method for ensuring that voice data packets get high priority on the Internet
BENEFIT: Could give Internet telephony the same reliability and high quality as landline phone calls
In theory, using the Internet to make phone calls could revolutionize telecommunications by enabling cheap links to anywhere in the world, the convenient bundling of voice messages and e-mails, and services that integrate voice and video. But in practice, service quality is still a major stumbling block to widespread implementation. An Internet call-like all other data on the Internet-is broken into packets that travel along myriad pathways where they must compete for bandwidth. The result: Internet calls can become riddled with clicks and short delays.
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