Method and apparatus for group reception and fault-tolerant group transmission of frames in network

• US 20030212793A1
• Filed: 05/13/2002
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Vineet Kumar
• Original Assignee: Vineet Kumar
• Inventors: Kumar, Vineet
• Application Number:
  US10/142,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20030212793A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Stations that periodically transmit and receive small amounts of data in the network, such as Ethernet, are grouped to collectively transmit and receive large amounts of data in the Ethernet frame thereby increasing the network bandwidth utilization. Groups of stations are formed by physically installing stations in such a way that the gap between frames transmitted by stations in a group is less than the Inter Frame Gap, which makes these frames look like a single frame to all stations in the network. The stations in a group collectively transmit a frame by counting the bytes already transmitted by other stations in a group, and by transmitting their part of data when the byte count reaches a predetermined count. Another group of stations in the network receive their part of data from a frame by counting the bytes in the frame and retrieving their part of the data from the frame when the byte count reaches a predetermined count. The group transmission is made fault tolerant so bursts of stations in the group fail but the group continues to operate properly.

Claims

1. A method for forming group of transmitter stations in a network so stations in the group collectively transmit a frame of data, said network including a plurality of stations including said group of transmitter stations, a communication medium between neighbor stations, said method comprising:

having less than a predetermined maximum round-trip propagation delay on the communication medium between neighbor stations in said group of transmitter stations, in said network.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said network is a collision domain.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said network is wireless.

4. A method for a group of transmitter stations to transmit a frame of data in a network, said network including a plurality of stations including said group of transmitter stations, said method comprising:

means for order of transmission of stations in said group of transmitter stations so head station starts transmission of said frame and other stations transmit data in said frame in said order of transmission;

head station in said group of transmitter stations starts transmitting data in said frame;

frame identification means for station in said group of transmitter stations to identify said frame in said network in which to transmit;

data counting means for station in said group of transmitter stations to determine when to transmit data in said frame in said network; and

data transmission means for station in said group of transmitter stations to transmit data such that data transmitted are perceived as part of said frame by said plurality of stations in said network.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said network is a collision domain.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein said network is wireless.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein said head station transmits Frame Header in said frame.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein said group of transmitter stations changes dynamically.

9. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

station in said group of transmitter stations to transmit data as it becomes available instead of assembling all data before transmission.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein said frame identification means includes a unique destination multicast address in the header to identify said frame in said network in which to transmit.

11. A method for a group of receiver stations to receive data from a frame in a network, said network including a plurality of stations including said group of receiver stations, said method comprising:

frame identification means for station in said group of receiver stations to identify said frame in said network in which to receive, and

data counting means for station in said group of receiver stations to determine when to retrieve data in said frame in said network.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said network is wireless.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said group of receiver stations change dynamically.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said data is sub-frames.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein sub-frames are variable in size.

16. A method or fault tolerance from bursts of failures in a group of transmitter stations that transmit a frame in a network, said network including a plurality of stations including said group of transmitter stations, said group of transmitter stations including failed and operating stations, said group of transmitter stations transmit in a predetermined order, said method comprising:

failure detection means for operating stations in said group of transmitter stations to determine failure of station in said group of transmitter stations;

means for determining the operating station that is next to transmit after the burst of failed stations in said group of transmitter stations;

group forming means for forming another group of transmitter stations from said group of transmitter stations; and

means for said another group of transmitter stations to transmit a frame in said network.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said network is a collision domain.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said network is wireless.