Flow control arrangement for the transmission of data packets to a communication network
First Claim
1. A packet data bus interconnecting a plurality of data transmitting and receiving devices via a plurality of interfaces where each interface control bus access for the transmission of data packets over said bus from a group of associated devices, a flow control arrangement for controlling the flow of data packets through said interface comprising:
- an interface processor for processing data transmissions;
an interface buffer for storing a plurality of data packets received from said group of devices associated with said interface;
means including said interface processor for detecting when said interface buffer contains insufficient space to store a specified maximum length data packet; and
means connected to said interface processor and responsive to a detection of insufficient space for inhibiting the transmission of data packets by said group of devices associated with said interface.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A data transmission flow control arrangement for controlling the flow of data packets to a network as tramsmitted by one or more data transmitting and receiving devices via an interface is disclosed. The disclosed flow control arrangement provides circuitry in the interface responsive to the storage capacity of a buffer included in the interface. If the buffer contains sufficient space to store a data packet of maximum length, data transmissions continue unencumbered. However, if the buffer contains insufficient space to accomodate a data packet of maximum length, the specialized circuitry of the interface responds to this condition and applies a signal to all of the associated transmitting and receiving devices of the interface. The jamming signal simulates the conditions associated with a busy network and therefore, inhibits the transmission of data from any of the associated transmitting and receiving devices. The specialized circuitry of the interface terminates the application of the jamming signal to all associated transmitting and receiving devices when the buffer again contains sufficient space to accommodate a data packet of maximum length.
127 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A packet data bus interconnecting a plurality of data transmitting and receiving devices via a plurality of interfaces where each interface control bus access for the transmission of data packets over said bus from a group of associated devices, a flow control arrangement for controlling the flow of data packets through said interface comprising:
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an interface processor for processing data transmissions; an interface buffer for storing a plurality of data packets received from said group of devices associated with said interface; means including said interface processor for detecting when said interface buffer contains insufficient space to store a specified maximum length data packet; and means connected to said interface processor and responsive to a detection of insufficient space for inhibiting the transmission of data packets by said group of devices associated with said interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A packet data bus interconnecting a plurality of data transmitting and receiving devices via a plurality of interfaces where each interface controls bus access for the transmission of data packets over said packet data bus from a group of associated devices to said network, a method for controlling the flow of data packets through said interface to said packet data bus, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
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monitoring an interface buffer to detect when said interface buffer contains insufficient space to accommodate a specified maximum length data packet transmitted from any one of said group of devices associated with said interface; generating a jam signal when said interface buffer contains insufficient space to store a next transmitted maximum length data packet; and applying said jam signal to said group of devices to inhibit any further transmission of data packets from said group of devices.
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9. A packet data bus interconnecting a plurality of data transmitting and receiving devices via a plurality interfaces where each interface controls bus access for the transmission of data packets over said packet data bus from a group of associated devices, a method for controlling the flow of data packets through said interface to said packet data bus, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
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identifying an occurrence or non-occurrence of data transmission activity from at least one of said devices associated with said interface; monitoring available space in an interface buffer to determine sufficient or insufficient space in which to store a specified maximum length data packet; activating a defer transmission state at all of said devices associated with said interface during a non-occurrence of data transmission activity from any of said devices associated with said interface when said interface buffer is determined to have insufficient space in which to store said maximum length data packet thereby preventing further data transmissions from said devices associated with said interface; activating a collision transmission state at all of said devices associated with said interface during an occurrence of data transmission activity from at least one of said devices associated with said interface when said interface buffer is determined to have insufficient space in which to store said maximum length data packet thereby terminating said occurrence of said data transmission; switching to said defer transmission state to prevent further data transmissions from said devices associated with said interface in response to the occurrence of said termination of said data transmission; and deactivating said defer transmission state at said devices associated with said interface when said interface buffer is determined to have sufficient space in which to store said maximum length data packet thereby enabling further data transmissions from said devices associated with said interface. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification