INTELLIGENT START COUPLER FOR TIME TRIGGERED COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN NODES WITHIN A NETWORK USING A TIME TRIGGER PROTOCOL
First Claim
1. Star coupler connected to a plurality of nodes within an automotive network using a time triggered protocol on a time slot basis, wherein the information flow within this network is based on a predetermined communication schedule determining which node may transmit in a predetermined time slot, wherein the star coupler comprises a switch having a plurality of input branches and output branches, wherein a branch may be connected to at least one node, a switch controller is provided for controlling the switch, further comprising means for deriving knowledge about the protocol timing, which knowledge is used for selectively forward incoming data in a certain time slot to at least one predetermined output branch.
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Abstract
This invention relates to a star coupler connected to a plurality of nodes within a network using a time triggered protocol on a time slot basis. The invention further relates to a network including a cluster having at least one node. Further, the invention relates to a method for communication between nodes within a network using a time trigger protocol. To provide a star coupler, which is able to increase the bandwidth and to communicate with low propagation delay for communicating the relevant data it is proposed to provide a star coupler (11) comprising a switch (12) having a plurality of input branches and output branches, wherein a switch controller (13) is provided for controlling the switch (12), further comprising means (14, 15) for deriving knowledge about the protocol timing, which knowledge is used for selectively forward data in a certain time slot to at least one predetermined output.
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Citations
21 Claims
- 1. Star coupler connected to a plurality of nodes within an automotive network using a time triggered protocol on a time slot basis, wherein the information flow within this network is based on a predetermined communication schedule determining which node may transmit in a predetermined time slot, wherein the star coupler comprises a switch having a plurality of input branches and output branches, wherein a branch may be connected to at least one node, a switch controller is provided for controlling the switch, further comprising means for deriving knowledge about the protocol timing, which knowledge is used for selectively forward incoming data in a certain time slot to at least one predetermined output branch.
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16. Star coupler according to clam 14, wherein the FlexRay protocol includes a static protocol segment and a dynamic protocol segment, wherein during the dynamic protocol segment of the FlexRay protocol the protocol engine of the star coupler observes the received traffic for recognizing the position within the communication schedule, wherein based on this observation and the predetermined communication schedule only the input branch determined in the current slot is allowed to transmit.
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21. Method for communicating between nodes within a network using a time triggered protocol on a time slot basis, wherein the nodes are coupled to a star coupler, comprising:
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receiving input data at an input branch of the star coupler; decoding communication elements within the data and deriving a position within a communication schedule from the communication elements; providing the communication schedule to a switch controller; controlling a switch having a plurality of input branches and output branches on a time slot basis, wherein the switch may depending on the switch controller connect each input branch to one or multiple output branches, wherein a plurality of input branches may be active within the same time slot.
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Specification