Packet-switched data communications system
First Claim
1. A packet-switched data communications system comprising:
- means for receiving message information from one or more message sources;
means for subdividing said message information from each of said message sources into a plurality of data packets, each of said packets including at least a portion of said message information;
means for independently transmitting said data packets over said communications system including a network of a plurality of switching nodes for selectively storing and forwarding said packets over said network in accordance with information contained by said packets; and
processing means for storing said data packets for reassembly of said packets into said message information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A packet-switched digital data communication system operable in a store-and-forward mode is provided for enabling substantially simultaneous full-duplex communication between a plurality of telecommunications terminals, facsimile transceivers or other data input sources over a communications network with a plurality of other terminals, facsimile transceivers or other data sources having access to the communications network and with which such communication is desired. The disclosed packetizing of data and transmission thereof in a store-and-forward mode with dynamic routing provides a highly efficient utilization of the transmission facilities, substantially error-free data transmission and a handshake capability between a wide variety of dissimilar and otherwise incompatible terminal devices such as facsimile transceivers having differing protocols, modulation techniques and other speed and code characteristics. Large blocks of data and other message information from data terminals are subdivided into data packets prior to transmission, converted into a systemwide compatible protocol, compressed, transmitted independently, time multiplexed with other packetized data from other terminals on the communications network, stored and forwarded on a priority basis and in accordance with network availability at one or more switching nodes in the network, reassembled from the received packets at a destination processor into the original data messages for coupling to the message destination terminals such that the received message is decompressed and reconverted into a format compatible with the destination terminal characteristics to enable information interchange therebetween.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A packet-switched data communications system comprising:
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means for receiving message information from one or more message sources; means for subdividing said message information from each of said message sources into a plurality of data packets, each of said packets including at least a portion of said message information; means for independently transmitting said data packets over said communications system including a network of a plurality of switching nodes for selectively storing and forwarding said packets over said network in accordance with information contained by said packets; and processing means for storing said data packets for reassembly of said packets into said message information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A packet-switched data communications system operable in store-and-forward mode for providing bidirectional communication between a plurality of source and destination data terminals at a plurality of locations over a communications network comprising:
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first data processing means having coupled thereto input data from one or more of said source data terminals for subdividing said input data from each of said terminals into a plurality of packets, and having means for coupling said packets onto said communications network, said first data processing means including a first store-and-forward packet-switching means associated with said communications network for storing and independently routing said packets on said network; second data processing means coupled to said network for reassembling said packets into said input data, said second data processing means including a second store-and-forward packet-switching means associated with said communications network for coupling said reassembled input data to one or more of said destination data terminals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A packet-switched communication system for transmitting digital data messages between a plurality of data terminal devices having differing operating characteristics, comprising:
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first processing means for receiving data from one or more source terminal devices, each of said source terminal devices having a particular set of operating characteristics, said first processing means including; means for converting each of said digital data messages into a digital data bit stream; means for subdividing said digital data bit stream into a plurality of data packets, each of said packets including a portion of the message from which said packets were subdivided; means for temporarily storing said packets; and means for transmitting said stored packets onto a communications network; second processing means including; means for receiving said packets from said communications network; means for reassembling said packets into said digital data bit stream; and means for coupling the bit stream derived from the packets associated with each of said messages from said source terminal devices to one or more destination terminal devices such that said messages are reproduced by said destination terminal devices. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for the transmission of message information from a data source terminal to a data destination terminal over a communications network, comprising the steps of:
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A. coupling data representative of said message information from said data source terminal to a first processor; B. converting said coupled data at said first processor into digital data having a predetermined protocol; C. packetizing said digital data into a plurality of packets, each of which packets includes at least a portion of said message information, a header indicative of the destination of said packet, and information for use in later reassembly of said packets into said message information; D. temporarily storing said packets; and E. dynamically routing said packets onto said communications network for transmission to a second processor associated with said data destination terminal. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification