Redundant and fault tolerant communication link
First Claim
1. An assembly for communicating electrical signals along multiple links while being tolerant of shorting to a positive or negative supply or to discontinuance of any one of the links, said assembly comprising;
- at least two communication links (12) for transmitting signals therealong between inputs (14) and outputs (16) thereof, transmitter means (11) connected to said inputs (14) of said communication links (12) for identical and continuous transmission of a pulsed signal containing at least one pulse along said communication links (12), receiver means (13) connected directly to said outputs (16) of said communication links (12) for producing at least one control signal in response to receiving said pulsed signal, said assembly characterized by including detector means (44,
45) independently interconnecting each of said communication links (12) and said receiver means (13) for producing enabling signals to electrically disconnect said receiver means (13) from any one of said communication links in response to an absence of a successive pulsed signal within a predetermined period of time on said output (16) of said one of said communication links (12).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multiplexor system includes a transmitter (11) and receiver (13) with a communication link (12) interconnecting therebetween. One embodiment includes at least two communication links (12) transmitting identical information therealong producing a redundant system being tolerant of shorting to a positive or negative supply or discontinuance of any of the communication links (12). The transmitter (11) selects (22) the digital data to be transmitted which is encoded and serially transmitted along the communication links (12). The receiver decodes (52) the serial signals producing the digital data. A detector (44, 45) interconnects the communication links (12) and the decoder (52). If no pulses are detected (44, 45), the respective link (12) will be electrically disconnected (46). The remaining links (12) will be OR'"'"'ed (50) and sent to the decoder (52). If a short to the positive or negative supply, or discontinuance occurs on any of the communication links (12), the output (16) will be held high and electrically disconnected by the detector (44, 45). An additional or alternative embodiment includes a transmitter power control (36), which discontinues power to the transmitter (11) when no data is selected by switches (22). There is also a receiver power control (60) which discontinues power to the decoder (52) and latches (55, 56) while waiting for a pulsed signal.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An assembly for communicating electrical signals along multiple links while being tolerant of shorting to a positive or negative supply or to discontinuance of any one of the links, said assembly comprising;
- at least two communication links (12) for transmitting signals therealong between inputs (14) and outputs (16) thereof, transmitter means (11) connected to said inputs (14) of said communication links (12) for identical and continuous transmission of a pulsed signal containing at least one pulse along said communication links (12), receiver means (13) connected directly to said outputs (16) of said communication links (12) for producing at least one control signal in response to receiving said pulsed signal, said assembly characterized by including detector means (44,
45) independently interconnecting each of said communication links (12) and said receiver means (13) for producing enabling signals to electrically disconnect said receiver means (13) from any one of said communication links in response to an absence of a successive pulsed signal within a predetermined period of time on said output (16) of said one of said communication links (12). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- at least two communication links (12) for transmitting signals therealong between inputs (14) and outputs (16) thereof, transmitter means (11) connected to said inputs (14) of said communication links (12) for identical and continuous transmission of a pulsed signal containing at least one pulse along said communication links (12), receiver means (13) connected directly to said outputs (16) of said communication links (12) for producing at least one control signal in response to receiving said pulsed signal, said assembly characterized by including detector means (44,
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23. A method for communicating electrical signals along multiple communication links from a transmitter means to a receiver means while being tolerant of shorting to a positive or negative supply or discontinuance of any one of the links, said method including the steps of;
- transmitting identical and continuous pulsed signals containing at least one pulse between inputs and outputs of the multiple communication links, receiving the pulsed signal by the receiver means and producing at least one control signal in response thereto, sensing the absence of the pulsed signal on the communication links, and electrically disconnecting any of the communication links from the receiver means by producing enabling signals to the receiver means in response to an absence of a successive pulsed signal within a predetermined period of time on any one of the outputs.
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An assembly for communicating electrical signals along a communication link said assembly comprising;
- at least two communication lines (12) having inputs (14) and outputs (16) for transmitting signals therealong between said inputs (14) and said outputs (16) thereof, transmitter means (11) connected to said inputs (14) of said communication links (12) for identical and continuous transmission of a pulsed signal containing at least one pulse along said communication links (12), receiver means (13) connected to said outputs (16) of said communication links (12) for producing at least one control signal in response to receiving said pulsed signal, detector means (44,
45) independently interconnecting each of said communication links (12) and said receiver means (13) for producing enabling signals to electrically disconnect said receiver means (13) from any one of said communication links in response to an absence of said continuous pulses signal on said output (16) of said one of said communication links (12), said receiver means (13) including fault selection means (46) for receiving said outputs (16 and said enabling signals to produce data signals replica of said outputs (16) when said pulsed signal is received and redundant combining means (50) for receiving said data signals and OR'"'"'ing respective pulses from each of said communication links (12) to produce a single data output.
- at least two communication lines (12) having inputs (14) and outputs (16) for transmitting signals therealong between said inputs (14) and said outputs (16) thereof, transmitter means (11) connected to said inputs (14) of said communication links (12) for identical and continuous transmission of a pulsed signal containing at least one pulse along said communication links (12), receiver means (13) connected to said outputs (16) of said communication links (12) for producing at least one control signal in response to receiving said pulsed signal, detector means (44,
Specification