SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING PACKETIZED DATA OVER A CHANNEL BANK
First Claim
1. An apparatus for communicating packetized data over a communications link using a channel bank having a time division multiplexing addressing scheme, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link including a framing bit and a frame period defined by the framing bit, the apparatus comprises:
- a plurality of channel units for generating packetized data, each piece of packetized data having a packet period corresponding to a sufficient amount of time to communicate the packetized data over the communications link;
means for allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for the packet period;
means for skipping the framing bit when communicating said packetized data if the framing bit occurs during the packet period;
means for determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link, the determining means being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is the next sender; and
means for allocating the communications link to the channel unit that is the next sender of packetized data after said packet period so that the time division multiplexing addressing scheme of the channel bank is ignored, and the channel bank is communicating packetized data.
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Abstract
An apparatus for communicating packetized data over a communications link using a channel bank having a time division multiplexing addressing scheme, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link including a framing bit and a frame period defined by the framing bit, is provided wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of channel units for generating packetized data, each piece of packetized data having a packet period corresponding to a sufficient amount of time to communicate the packetized data over the communications link, a system for allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for the packet period, a system for skipping the framing bit when communicating said packetized data if the framing bit occurs during the packet period, a system for determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link, the determining system being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is the next sender, and a system for allocating the communications link to the channel unit that is the next sender of packetized data after said packet period so that the time division multiplexing addressing scheme of the channel bank is ignored, and the channel bank is communicating packetized data. A method for communicating packetized data over a channel bank is also disclosed.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. An apparatus for communicating packetized data over a communications link using a channel bank having a time division multiplexing addressing scheme, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link including a framing bit and a frame period defined by the framing bit, the apparatus comprises:
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a plurality of channel units for generating packetized data, each piece of packetized data having a packet period corresponding to a sufficient amount of time to communicate the packetized data over the communications link;
means for allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for the packet period;
means for skipping the framing bit when communicating said packetized data if the framing bit occurs during the packet period;
means for determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link, the determining means being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is the next sender; and
means for allocating the communications link to the channel unit that is the next sender of packetized data after said packet period so that the time division multiplexing addressing scheme of the channel bank is ignored, and the channel bank is communicating packetized data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for communicating packetized data over a communications link using a channel bank having a time division multiplexing addressing scheme, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link including a framing bit and a frame period defined by the framing bit, the method comprises:
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generating packetized data by a plurality of channel units, each piece of packetized data having a packet period corresponding to a sufficient amount of time to communicate the packetized data over the communications link;
allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for the packet period;
skipping the framing bit when communicating said packetized data if the framing bit occurs during the packet period;
determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link, the determining system being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is the next sender; and
allocating the communications link to the channel unit that is the next sender of packetized data after said packet period so that the time division multiplexing scheme of the channel bank is ignored, and the channel bank is communicating packetized data. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for communicating packetized data over a communications link, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link, the apparatus comprises:
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a plurality of channel units for generating packetized data, the packetized data having an allocated priority selected from a predetermined number of priorities;
means for allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for a time sufficient to enable the current sender to communicate its packetized data over the communications link;
means for generating a fairness period during which each channel unit has the opportunity to communicate a predetermined of packetized data;
means for generating a fairness signal for each channel unit indicating whether that channel unit has previously sent a predetermined amount of packetized data at a particular priority level during the fairness period;
means for determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link based on said fairness signal, the determining means being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is selected to be the next sender; and
means for allocating the communication link to the next sender of packetized data after said current sender has finished sending its packetized data. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for communicating packetized data over a communications link, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link, the method comprises:
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generating packetized data by a plurality of channel units, the packetized data having an allocated priority selected from a predetermined number of priorities;
allocating the communication link to a channel unit that is currently sending data over the communications link for a time sufficient to enable the current sender to communicate its packetized data over the communications link;
generating a fairness period during which each channel unit has the opportunity to communicate a predetermined of packetized data;
generating a fairness signal for each channel unit indicating whether that channel unit has previously sent a predetermined amount of packetized data at a particular priority level during the fairness period;
determining a next sender of packetized data over the communications link based on said fairness signal, the determining means being distributed over the plurality of channel units so that each channel unit independently determines whether it is selected to be the next sender; and
allocating the communication link to the next sender of packetized data after said current sender has finished sending its packetized data. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for communicating packetized data over a communications link, the communications link having a predetermined format for data transmitted over the communications link including a framing bit and a frame period defined by the framing bit, using a channel bank, the channel bank having a plurality of channel units for generating packetized data, the packetized data having an allocated priority selected from a predetermined number of priorities, the method comprises:
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generating a next sender signal for each channel unit indicating the channel unit that is the next sender of packetized data;
generating a priority signal for each channel unit corresponding to the allocated priority of the packetized data to be sent by each channel unit;
generating a slot signal indicating a slot address of a channel unit within said channel bank; and
comparing each of said contention signals from each channel unit to the corresponding contention signals from every other channel unit to determine a next sender of packetized data. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification