Media converter and transmission system using the same
First Claim
1. A transmission system for transmitting data between a first communication point and a second communication point along a link, comprising:
- a plurality of media converters included in the link, each of which comprises;
a first physical-layer interface to a first transmission medium;
a second physical-layer interface to a second transmission medium;
a memory connected between the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for temporarily storing data to be transferred between the first and second physical-layer interfaces; and
a media converter controller controlling such that, when a trigger signal has been received, a response block of data corresponding to the trigger signal is transmitted from a corresponding one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces back to a source that has transmitted the trigger signal; and
a test manager connected to one of the media converters, comprising;
an interface to a network manager; and
a test manager controller controlling such that a trigger signal is transmitted to another media converter, and a location of a failure is determined depending on whether a response block of data is received from a corresponding media converter within a predetermined time period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A transmission system allowing a response test to be activated from cable side and easy detection of occurrence of a failure is disclosed. In a transmission system for transmitting data between a first communication point and a second communication point along a link, a test manager transmits a trigger signal to a media converter on the link, and determines a location of a failure depending on whether a response block of data is received from a corresponding media converter within a predetermined time period. When a media converter has received the trigger signal, a response packet corresponding to the trigger signal is transmitted back to a source that has transmitted the trigger signal. A packet buffer is preferably provided in a media converter so that when one link is disconnected, the other link can be used to transmit packets, allowing a link test.
29 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A transmission system for transmitting data between a first communication point and a second communication point along a link, comprising:
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a plurality of media converters included in the link, each of which comprises;
a first physical-layer interface to a first transmission medium;
a second physical-layer interface to a second transmission medium;
a memory connected between the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for temporarily storing data to be transferred between the first and second physical-layer interfaces; and
a media converter controller controlling such that, when a trigger signal has been received, a response block of data corresponding to the trigger signal is transmitted from a corresponding one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces back to a source that has transmitted the trigger signal; and
a test manager connected to one of the media converters, comprising;
an interface to a network manager; and
a test manager controller controlling such that a trigger signal is transmitted to another media converter, and a location of a failure is determined depending on whether a response block of data is received from a corresponding media converter within a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A transmission system for transmitting data between a switching office and each of a plurality of subscriber devices, wherein the switching office comprises a switch having a plurality of ports corresponding to respective ones of the subscriber devices, wherein
the switching office further comprises: -
a plurality of first media converters, each of which is connected to a different port of the switch at one end thereof through a metal cable and is connected to a different optical cable at the other end thereof; and
a test manager connected to each of the first media converters; and
each of the subscriber devices comprises;
a personal computer; and
a second media converter which is connected to the personal computer at one end thereof through a metal cable and is connected to a corresponding optical cable at the other end thereof, wherein the test manager comprises;
an interface to a network manager; and
a test manager controller controlling each of the first media converters such that a trigger signal is transmitted to a corresponding second media converter, and a location of a failure is determined depending on whether a response block of data is received from the corresponding second media converter within a predetermined time period, and each of the second media converters comprises;
a first physical-layer interface to a metal cable;
a second physical-layer interface to an optical cable;
a memory connected between the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for temporarily storing data to be transferred between the first and second physical-layer interfaces; and
a media converter controller controlling such that, when the trigger signal has been received, a response block of data corresponding to the trigger signal is transmitted back to a corresponding first media converter that has transmitted the trigger signal.
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11. A media converter for converting from one type of media to another, comprising:
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first and second ports which are connected to the one type of media and the other type of media, respectively;
a packet buffer for storing a received packet; and
a controller controlling such that, when a link on the first port is disconnected, another link on the second port is kept in a connection state and a packet received through the second port is stored in the packet buffer.
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12. A media converter for converting from one type of media to another, comprising:
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a first physical-layer interface to a first transmission medium;
a second physical-layer interface to a second transmission medium;
a first memory connected between the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for temporarily storing data to be transferred between the first and second physical-layer interfaces;
a second memory included in at least one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for storing data received through a corresponding one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces; and
a controller controlling such that, when a link on one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces is disconnected, another link on the other one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces is kept in a connection state and data received through the other link is stored in the second memory. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A control method for a media converter for converting from one type of media to another, wherein the media converter comprises:
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a first physical-layer interface to a first transmission medium;
a second physical-layer interface to a second transmission medium;
a first memory connected between the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for temporarily storing data to be transferred between the first and second physical-layer interfaces; and
a second memory included in at least one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces, for storing data received through a corresponding one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces, the control method comprising the steps of;
a) monitoring the first and second physical-layer interfaces to determine whether a link is disconnected;
b) when a link on one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces is disconnected, keeping another link on the other one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces in a connection state;
c) when data has been received through the other link on the other one of the first and second physical-layer interfaces, storing the received data in the second memory. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A transmission system comprising:
first end device and second end device which are connected to each other by a link through a plurality of media converters, wherein at least one of the media converters comprises a packet buffer for storing a received packet, wherein the packet buffer divides the link into a first collision domain of the first end device and a second collision domain of the second end device. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A transmission system comprising:
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a first media converter installed in a subscriber house; and
a second media converter installed in a switching office, wherein the second media converter is connected to the first media converter by an optical fiber cable, wherein the first media converter comprises a packet buffer for storing a received packet, wherein a missing link function is released to keep a link to the switching office in a connection state regardless of a state of a link to the subscriber house.
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Specification