Switched point-to-point local area network control mechanism
First Claim
1. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed transmission medium through the use of transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations, so that said first and second stations may convey messages therebetween over said communication link comprising the steps of:
- (a) establishing a spectrum of carrier frequencies within which are defined a control carrier frequency to be modulated with control information to be exchanged among stations of the network and a plurality of data carrier frequencies to be modulated with data to be exchanged among stations of the network;
(b) at said first station, controllably tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to locate a pair of data carrier frequencies that are available for use for conveying data messages thereover;
(c) at said first station, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and transmitting a control message over said control frequency to said second station identifying said located pair of data carrier frequencies; and
(d) at said first and second stations, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said pair of data carrier frequencies so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed therebetween by the modulation of said pair of data carrier frequencies with signals representative of data to be exchanged, and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station,(c1) tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and examining the utilization of said control carrier frequency, and(c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control carrier frequency to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A local area network employs a shared control channel over which control messages between frequency agile modems for each of the user nodes of a distributed architecture-configured network are exchanged. In addition to the shared control channel, a plurality of data channel pairs is available for effecting full duplex communications between any two nodes of the network. Because all data channel assignments depend upon successful use of the control channel, a prescribed control channel contention access scheme is employed to optimize use of the control channel by all users of the network irrespective of the demand for its use. Pursuant to this scheme, each requesting node must first compare an accumulated activity measure with a traffic density threshold that is continuously optimized for the current level of control channel activity. Unless the accumulated measure is less than the threshold, the requesting user node is temporarily forbidden access to the control channel by a period of time designed to reduce traffic to the optimal level.
95 Citations
37 Claims
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1. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed transmission medium through the use of transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations, so that said first and second stations may convey messages therebetween over said communication link comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a spectrum of carrier frequencies within which are defined a control carrier frequency to be modulated with control information to be exchanged among stations of the network and a plurality of data carrier frequencies to be modulated with data to be exchanged among stations of the network; (b) at said first station, controllably tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to locate a pair of data carrier frequencies that are available for use for conveying data messages thereover; (c) at said first station, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and transmitting a control message over said control frequency to said second station identifying said located pair of data carrier frequencies; and (d) at said first and second stations, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said pair of data carrier frequencies so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed therebetween by the modulation of said pair of data carrier frequencies with signals representative of data to be exchanged, and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station, (c1) tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and examining the utilization of said control carrier frequency, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control carrier frequency to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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3. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed transmission medium through the use of transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations, so that said first and second stations may convey messages therebetween over said communication link comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a spectrum of carrier frequencies within which are defined a control carrier frequency to be modulated with control information to be exchanged among stations of the network and a plurality of data carrier frequencies to be modulated with data to be exchanged among stations of the network; (b) at said first station, controllably tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to locate a pair of data carrier frequencies that are available for use for conveying data messages thereover; (c) at said first station, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and transmitting a control message over said control frequency to said second station identifying said located pair of data carrier frequencies; and (d) at said first and second stations, tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said pair of data carrier frequencies so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed therebetween by the modulation of said pair of data carrier frequencies with signals representative of data to be exchanged, and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station, (c1) tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and examining the utilization of said control carrier frequency, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control carrier frequency to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station, (c1) tuning the transceiver equipment thereat to said control carrier frequency and examinating the utilization of said control carrier frequency, and (c2) inhibiting the transmission of a control message on said control carrier frequency as long as the utilization of said control carrier frequency is greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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18. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed communication link, a method of controlling access to said link by one station desiring to convey a message over said link to another station comprising the steps of:
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(a) examining said link for the presence of communication utilization thereof; and (b) upon detection communication utilization of said link to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a message over said link from one station to another station, proceeding to access said link and wherein step (b) includes the step of, upon detecting the communication utilization to be greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a message over said link from said one station to another station, delaying access to said communication link until a subsequent reexamination of the communication utilization indicates that the communication utilization is representative of at least said probability of success in conveying a message over said link from said one station to another station. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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19. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed communication link, a method of controlling access to said link by one station desiring to convey a message over said link to another station comprising the steps of:
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(a) examining said link for the presence of communication utilization thereof; and (b) upon detection communication utilization of said link to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a message over said link from one station to another station, proceeding to access said link, and wherein step (a) comprises the steps of; (a1) successively sampling said link for the presence of a communication utilization thereof and deriving therefrom a measure of the communication utilization of said link over a prescribed interval of time; and (a2) determining the probability of success in conveying a message from said one station to said another station over said link in accordance with a prescribed probability characteristic defined in accordance with said measure of communication utilization on said link. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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24. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed signal transmission medium, a method of establishing a communication link between respective stations of said network so that said stations may convey messages therebetween comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a control channel over which control information among stations of the network may be exchanged, and a plurality of data channels available for use by said stations for conveying data messages therebetween; (b) providing at each station a transceiver capable of being tuned to said control channel and any of said data channels; (c) tuning the transceivers of respective ones of stations between which data messages are to be exchanged to said control channel and exchanging control information thereover; and
, thereafter,(d) tuning the transceivers of said respective ones of stations to prescribed data channels so that data may be exchanged thereover between said respective stations, and wherein (c) includes the step of, at one of said stations, examining the utilization of said control channel and inhibiting access to said control channel by said one of said stations until the utilization of said control channel has been detected to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying control information thereover to another of said stations. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another over a prescribed signal transmission medium, a system of establishing a communication link between respective stations of said network so that said stations may convey messages therebetween, comprising:
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at each station, a transceiver capable of being tuned to a control channel over which control information among stations of the network for assigning data channels may be exchanged and any of a plurality of data channels over which data messages are exchanged between stations of the network, and; at respective ones of stations between which data messages are to be exchanged, means for tuning the transceivers thereat to said control channel and exchanging control information thereover and for tuning, thereafter, the transceivers of said respective ones of stations to prescribed data channels so that data may be exchanged thereover between said respective stations, and wherein each transceiver includes means for examining the utilization of said control channel and inhibiting access to said control channel by said one of said stations until the utilization of said control channel has been detected to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying control information thereover to another of said stations. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another via transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed between said first and second stations over said communication link comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a control channel over which control information among stations of the network may be exchanged, and a plurality of data channels available for use by said stations for conveying messages therebeteen; (b) at said first station, locating a data channel among said plurality that is available for use for conveying messages thereover; (c) at said first station, transmitting a control message over said control channel to said second station identifying said located data channel; and (d) at said first and second stations, tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said data channel so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations over said located data channel, and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station, (c1) tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said control channel and examining the utilization of said control channel, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message, and wherein step (c2) includes the step of, upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, delaying the transmission of said control message until a subsequent reexamination of the utilization of said control channel indicates that its utilization is representative of at least said prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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31. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another via transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed between said first and second stations over said communication link comprising the steps of:
(a) establishing a control channel over which control information among stations of the network may be exchanged, and a plurality of data channels available for use by said stations for conveying messages therebeteen;
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32. (b) at said first station, locating a data channel among said plurality that is available for use for conveying messages thereover;
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(c) at said first station, transmitting a control message over said control channel to said second station identifying said located data channel; and (d) at said first and second stations, tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said data channel so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations over said located data channel, and wherein step (c) includes (c1) tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said control channel and examining the utilization of said control channel, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message, and wherein (c2) includes the step of, upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, delaying the transmission of said control message until a subsequent reexamination of the utilization of said control channel indicates that its utilization is representative of at least said prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, and wherein step (c) includes, at said first station, (c1) tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said control channel and examining the utilization of said control channel, and (c2) inhibiting the transmission of a control message on said control channel as long as the utilization of said control channel is greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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33. For use in a communication network wherein a plurality of stations may communicate with one another via transceiver equipment thereat, a method of establishing a communication link between first and second stations so that messages may be conveyed between said first and second stations over said communication link comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a control channel over which control information among stations of the network may be exchanged, and a plurality of data channels available for use by said stations for conveying messages therebeteen; (b) at said first station, locating a data channel among said plurality that is available for use for conveying messages thereover; (c) at said first station, transmitting a control message over said control channel to said second station identifying said located data channel; and (d) at said first and second stations, tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said data channel so as to effectively establish said communication link between said first and second stations over said located data channel, and wherein step (c) includes (c1) tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said control channel and examining the utilization of said control channel, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message, and wherein (c2) includes the step of, upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be greater than that representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, delaying the transmission of said control message until a subsequent reexamination of the utilization of said control channel indicates that its utilization is representative of at least said prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, (c1) tuning transceiver equipment thereat to said control channel and examining the utilization of said control channel, and (c2) upon detecting the utilization of said control channel to be representative of a prescribed probability of success in conveying a control message thereover to said second station, proceeding to transmit said control message, and wherein step (c1) includes the steps of; (c1-1) successively sampling the output of said transceiver equipment as tuned to said control channel for the presence of a control carrier frequency and deriving therefrom a measure of the utilization of said control channel over a prescribed interval of time; and (c1-2) determining the probability of success in conveying a control message to said second station over said control channel in accordance with a prescribed probability characteristic defined in accordance with said measure of utilization of said control channel. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification